Lady Blue takes 3rd at 4C

The Lady Bulldogs went into the District 4C tournament as the number 5 seed and came out with a third place finish after defeating the number one seeded Jordan Lady Mustangs in a Saturday consolation game. To get to the consolation game, Lady Blue lost a Thursday afternoon game to Wibaux and then won a Saturday, loser-out contest against Terry. Wibaux went on to finish second in the tournament; the Broadus Lady Hawks finished first.

Last Thursday's tourney opener against Wibaux was a close game throughout. Neither team shot particularly well, especially at the start. At the half the game was knotted at 14 all. CCHS actually had the lead with only a few seconds remaining, but Wibaux hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to win by two points. Lady Blue shot 7 of 13 on free throws; Wibaux went only 1 of 2. CCHS shot 13 of 48 from the field and 7 of 20 from behind the arc. Wibaux shot 17 of 48 from the field and 7 of 27 from behind the arc. Lady Bulldog Kendra Tooke led all scorers with 18 points in the game; she also had 11 rebounds.

CCHS 5 14 24 40

Wibaux 3 14 28 42

CCHS: Kendra Tooke 18 pts, 11 rbnds, 1 trn, 2 stls; Danica Shepherd 11 pts, 7 rbnds, 1 ast, 1 stl; Keli Melton 5 pts, 2 rbnds, 1ast 1 stl; Brynn Loehding 3 pts, 4 rbnds, 4 asts, 3 trns, 1 stl; Corlan Laughery 2 pts, 1 ast; Kendall Kittelmann 1 pt, 1 rbnd, 4 asts, 1 trn, 1 stl.

Wibaux: Savannah Amsler 16, Abby Begger 9, Grace Begger 8, Elorah Amsler 6, Ashlynn Varner 3.

A big third quarter was enough for the Lady Bulldogs to hold off the Lady Terriers late in an early Saturday game that CCHS won to send them to the consolation. After the game was tied at 10 going into halftime, CCHS exploded for 22 points in the third quarter. They held on to win by three, 39-36. Lady Blue shot 5-16 from behind the arc in the game, but an impressive 4-7 in the second half. Kendall Kittelmann shot 3-6 from deep and was Lady Blue's leading scorer with 13 points. Terry's chance to come back late was aided by poor free throw shooting as the girls went 6-24 (25 percent) from the stripe; Terry was 4-6 (67 percent).

CCHS 5 10 32 39

Terry 5 10 22 36

CCHS: Kendall Kittelmann 13 pts, 4 rbnds, 5 trns, 2 stls; Danica Shepherd 12 pts, 15 rbnds, 3 trns, Kendra Tooke 7 pts, 12 rbnds, 2 asts, 5 trns, 4 stls; Keli Melton 5 pts, 3 rbnds, 1 ast, 6 trns; Brynn Loehding 2 pts, 7 rbnds, 1 ast, 6 trns; Nicole O'Connell 2 rbnds; Corlan Laughery 1 rbnd, 1 ast, 3 trns.

Terry: Kiera Chaska 16, Ashley Eaton 7, Sarah Dyer 6, Merideth Sackman 5, Hatty Eaton 2.

CCHS went up 8-2 at the end of the first quarter in their consolation game against the Lady Mustangs of Jordan on Saturday afternoon and never looked back, eventually winning by 9 points. The Lady Bulldog defense was instrumental in the win as they held Jordan senior Brooke Murnion to only 10 points. Kendall Kittelmann again hit a couple of key three-pointers in the third quarter that helped keep a Lady Mustang comeback at bay. CCHS shot 9-15 (60 percent) from the line; Jordan was 8-20 (40 percent). Three players from each team finished with double digit points. Lady Bulldog Keli Melton led all scorers with 15.

CCHS 8 19 33 48

Jordan 2 11 25 39

CCHS: Keli Melton 15, Kendall Kittelmann 10, Kendra Tooke 10, Danica Shepherd 9, Brynn Loehding 2, Corlan Laughery 2.

Jordan: Skylar Lawrence 13, Jada McWilliams 12, Brooke Murnion 10, Krystan Hafla 3, Jaelin Twitchell 1.

Next weekend, the CCHS Lady Bulldogs will head to the Southern C Divisional Tournament in Miles City. Their first game is Wednesday, February 28th at 6:30 p.m. against a familiar opponent, the Melstone Lady Broncs. In recent years, Melstone had been a part of District 4C but recently moved to District 5C where they won the district championship this year. Whether or not Lady Blue wins their game against rival Melstone, they will not play again in the tournament until Friday, March 1st.