Lady Bulldogs take third at District 4C tourney

The Lady Bulldogs went into the District 4C tournament in second place, behind only Melstone. In their first game on Thursday, they defeated Plevna, 63-25. Three Lady Bulldogs finished the game with double-digit points, led by Tyra O'Connor with 16. Kendra Tooke had a team-high 10 rebounds. The girls shot 10 of 49 from the field (20 percent) and 5 of 15 on free throws. They had 10 turnovers; Plevna had 19.

CCHS 14 32 49 63

Plevna 6 16 20 25

CCHS: Tyra O'Connor 16 pts, 4 rbnds, 2 trns, 3 stls; Codi Melton 13 pts, 7 rbnds, 1 trn, 3 asts; Nasya O'Connor 12 pts, 5 rbnds, 2 asts, 1 stl; Heidi LaBree 9 pts, 4 rbnds, 2 trns, 6 asts, 5 stls; Kendra Tooke 7 pts, 10 rbnds, 3 trns, 1 ast; Kendall Kittelmann 3 pts, 5 rbnds, 1 trn, 2 asts; Brynn Loehding 2 pts, 4 rbnds, 1 trn, 1 ast, 1 stl; Kendall Shepherd 1 pt, 4 rbnds.

Plevna: Chloe Tudor 8; Sophia Tudor 6; Sophia Schumacher 5; Breannah Crisler 4; Hayden Lane 2.

The semifinal matchup featuring the Lady Bulldogs and the Lady Mustangs of Jordan on Friday night was a barn-burner. After a tie at the end of the first quarter, Blue found themselves down by 7 at halftime and by double-digits partway through the third. By the end of the third they had cut Jordan's lead to three points.

The fourth quarter was, at the very least, some very exciting basketball. The lead was only one point for Lady Blue with 42 seconds left when Heidi LaBree made three points the old-fashioned way and put them up by 4. That lead was about the most comfortable either team had throughout the fourth. Jordan came right back down the court and drew a foul at the 35 second mark. After making one free throw, the lead was back down to three points for CCHS. Jordan then scored inside the lane with 23 seconds remaining to make it a one point game. Only seconds later, LaBree drove the entire length of the court and scored from the inside to put the 'Dogs back up by three points with 9.2 seconds left in the game.

Then, with 2.9 seconds left in regulation, Jordan inbounded the ball from underneath their own basket, and as the clock expired, Jordan banked in a three-pointer to send the game into overtime.

Lady Blue held the lead for most of the extra period until the 1:09 mark when Jordan went up by one, 57-56. In their next two possessions, CCHS had a turnover and missed a tough inside shot. Jordan gave the girls a few extra chances by missing 3 free throws in a row in the game's final seconds, but with 6 ticks left, banked in a free throw to take a two point lead. CCHS did have the game's final possession, but with hardly any time on the clock they were unable to get a quality look and a last second prayer from inside the key went unanswered. Jordan defeated CCHS, 56-58, in a heck of a good game that was fought hard by both teams. The game was one of the highlights of an exciting District 4C tournament.

Heidi LaBree had a game-high 27 points in the contest. She also finished with six steals. Nasya O'Connor had a double-double; 14 points and 10 rebounds.

CCHS 12 19 35 50 56

Jordan 12 26 38 50 58

CCHS: Heidi LaBree 27 pts, 3 rbnds, 6 trns, 1 ast, 6 stls; Nasya O'Connor 14 pts, 10 rbnds, 3 trns, 1 stl; Codi Melton 7 pts, 6 rbnds, 3 trns, 1 ast, 1 stl; Tyra O'Connor 6 pts, 4 rbnds, 3 trns, 3 stls; Kendra Tooke 2 pts, 1 rbnd, 1 trn, 2 asts; Kendall Kittelmann 3 rbnds, 1 ast, 2 stls; Kendall Shepherd 1 rbnd, 1 trn.

Jordan: Lindsay Lawrence 22; Brooke Murnion 15; Brenna Murnion 9; Lacey Lawrence 4; Tori Murnion 4; Jaelin Twitchell 4.

The girls made their way through the consolation bracket on Saturday, first downing Broadus by 9 that morning and then besting Wibaux by 27 to win the consolation game. LaBree kept her high-scoring weekend rolling with 22 points against Broadus and 20 against Wibaux.

As a team Blue shot 65 percent on free throws and 38 percent from the field in the Broadus game. Three players finished the game in double figure points and Tyra O'Connor led the team in rebounds with 11.

CCHS 12 33 37 57

Broadus 16 28 37 48

CCHS: Heidi LaBree 22 pts, 10 rbnds, 7 trns, 3 asts, 5 stls; Tyra O'Connor 13 pts, 11 rbnds, 2 trns, 2 asts, 1 stl; Codi Melton 11 pts, 5 rbnds, 2 trns, 1 ast, 2 stls; Nasya O'Connor 5 pts, 7 rbnds, 2 trns, 2 stls; Kendra Tooke 3 pts, 2 rbnds; Kendall Kittelmann 3 pts, 1 rbnd, 1 ast; Brynn Loehding 1 trn; Kendall Shepherd 2 trns; 1 stl.

Broadus: Rheanna Schroeder 9; Mia Mader 9; Ciara McDowell 8; Emma Isaacs 7; Oliveah Schaffer 6; Zeason Schaffer 4; Aspen Krantz 3; Lacey Robinson 2.

In the consolation game that CCHS defeated Wibaux in, the Lady Bulldogs committed only 8 turnovers; Wibaux had 14. They also out-rebounded the Lady Longhorns 26-21. CCHS shot 8-16 on free throws, 16-34 on two-point field goals, and 4-18 from deep. Codi Melton led in rebounds with 8.

CCHS 17 26 35 52

Wibaux 5 13 18 25

CCHS: Heidi LaBree 20 pts, 3 rbnds, 5 trns, 6 asts, 3 stls; Codi Melton 13 pts, 8 rbnds, 3 asts, 1 stl; Tyra O'Connor 8 pts, 2 rbnds, 1 trn, 2 stls; Kendra Tooke 7 pts, 4 rbnds, 2 asts, 2 stls; Nasya O'Connor 3 pts, 5 rbnds, 1 ast, 1 stl; Brynn Loehding 1 pt, 2 trns, 1 ast; Kendall Kittelmann 3 rbnds, 1 ast, 2 stls; Kendall Shepherd 1 rbnd.

Wibaux: Rylee Smith 8; Annika Lunde 7; Abby Begger 5; Grace Begger 2; Savanah Amsler 1; Ashlynn Varner 1; Rylee Pederson 1.

With third place at the District 4C, the CCHS Lady Bulldogs will move on to the Southern C divisional tourney set to take place March 2-5 at Custer County District High School in Miles City. The girls' first game is against Broadview/Lavina on Wednesday at 3:15 p.m. CCHS kicked off their season on December 10th against Broadview/Lavina and won that early season contest, 71-49.