Lady Bulldogs' season ends prematurely at state tourney

Though it ended in a strange way, the Lady Bulldogs' trip to the state basketball tournament in Missoula last week started how one would imagine. The school held a pep rally for the team on Tuesday and townsfolk gathered on Main Street that evening to wish the Dogs good luck and to cheer as they left Ekalaka on the team bus.

The Lady Bulldogs played at noon on Thursday. Both District 4C boys teams that were represented at state, the Melstone Broncs and the Jordan Mustangs, played Wednesday and lost their first round games. The Lady Broncs played later on Thursday, at 5 p.m.

The Lady Bulldogs played the Lady Thunder in that first round game. Westby-Grenora was the number two seed out of the east. Thunder center Jenna Rust looked to be a lot for the Dogs to handle early. Blue struggled with her height before making proper adjustments on defense as she had a big first quarter.

Midway through the period though, the Bulldogs adjusted. By the end of the first, they had a 17-14 lead, and fans knew they were going to get their money's worth during the first girls state game.

The Dogs good defense was evident in the second quarter again as they held the Thunder to just seven points while putting up 14 of their own on 31 percent shooting. At halftime, Blue had opened up a solid ten point lead, 31-21.

The lead was still nine at the end of the third, but as time was winding down in the fourth quarter, MonDak upped their pressure, and CCHS committed untimely turnovers, letting the Thunder creep back into the game. In the final minutes the lead had vanished. The Thunder had the ball in a tie game with 16 seconds remaining, but Blue forced overtime.

In overtime the Dogs relaxed and got back to the same game plan that had given them the lead. They outscored the Thunder 13-2 in the extra period to eventually come away with an 11 point victory.

CCHS committed twenty-two turnovers in the contest compared to 14 for Westby-Grenora. As a team, they went 13-53 on two-point field goals and 9-26 on threes. The Thunder went 15-72 on twos and 8-32 on threes as they attempted 25 more shots from the field. CCHS finished with 47 rebounds, led by Heather LaBree with 14. MonDak had 44.

What won the Bulldogs the game, though, was an astounding percentage from the free throw line. Lady Blue shot 17-19 (89 percent) for the game. Heather LaBree was a perfect 8-8, she also led the Dogs in scoring with 18. Four Dogs finished the game with double-digit points.

CCHS 17 31 40 57 70

MonDak 14 21 31 57 59

CCHS: Heather LaBree 18, Hannah LaBree 16, Heidi LaBree 14, Kari Kittelmann 11, Whitney Kittelmann 6, Kenzie Tooke 3, Codi Melton 2

After a 5-1 lead in the early going of Friday night's semifinal, CCHS struggled against Roy-Winifred. The Lady Outlaws had two six-footers on their roster in addition to 5'11" senior leader Dyauni Boyce. By the end of the first quarter, the Outlaws had an 8-14 lead. They never looked back.

Blue was out rebounded 25-45 and committed ten more turnovers than Roy-Winifred. As a result, they took 21 fewer shots while going only 15 percent from the field. The Lady Outlaws' length was stifling on defense. Blue shot 1-4 on free throws. Heather LaBree led CCHS with 7 points and 7 rebounds.

CCHS 8 11 17 19

Roy-Winifred 14 33 50 62

CCHS: Heather LaBree 7, Hannah LaBree 6, Heidi LaBree 6.

At halftime of the Lady Bulldogs and Lady Outlaws game, the PA announcer at Dahlberg Arena in Missoula stated that MHSA had made the decision to continue with all state basketball tournaments as their had been no confirmed cases of the COVID-19 virus in the state of Montana. Immediately after the next game, the final semifinal matchup in which the Melstone Lady Broncs lost to the Belt Lady Huskies, the announcer stated that the remainder of the tournament had been canceled. All teams scheduled to play in Saturday's championship games across the state would be named co-state champions.

The announcement came with a rush of different emotions for players and fans. The Class C Girls Championship between Roy-Winifred and Belt was sure to be a barn-burner. At the Northern C Divisional, the Lady Outlaws defeated the Lady Huskies 47-46.

No third or fourth place trophies will be handed out. Girls teams still alive in the tournament included the CCHS Lady Bulldogs and the Melstone Lady Broncs out of the Southern C, and the Scobey Lady Spartans and Westby-Grenora Lady Thunder out of the Eastern C. The CCHS lady Bulldogs had a chance to continue their play and possibly win third place at the state tournament but due to COVID-19 concerns, players and fans will never know the outcome.

Yet, in this writer's mind, and the minds of most Bulldog fans, the 2019-20 Lady Bulldogs are, and will always be, champions.