Bragging rights
Lady Bulldogs survive slugfest with Charlo and cruise past Ronan to sweep valley rivalry games and move to 4-0
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Physical or finesse, a young Lady Bulldog team showed they could play whatever style it takes to get a win last week.
After grinding out a 30-23 against Charlo Thursday, the Lady Bulldogs completed the valley sweep by playing their best basketball of the season for three quarters in a 43-29 rivalry win in Ronan Saturday.
“We’re where I thought we would be at the end of the season, but I didn’t think we would be playing like this the second weekend of the season,” said Mission coach Les Rice after watching his team with only one returning starter improve to 4-0 with the victory over the Maidens.
The Lady Bulldogs were led by sophomore Loren Erickson, who finished with 18 points.
“She shot the heck out of the ball. But she just wasn’t making shots. I thought she did a great job in running the show and controlling the pace of the game,” Rice said of his sophomore guard who plays like she’s been starting for years and not just four games.
It wasn’t just Erickson doing the scoring for the Maidens, like they’ve been doing all season the Lady Bulldogs used a balanced attack to best their opponent.
“That’s exciting to see,” said Rice pointing to the line of scorers in the scorebook. “We’re getting great contribution from everyone, which is exciting to see.”
Bryanna Steele finished with seven. Stephanie Lewandowski, another sophomore, and Kyla Mitchell pitched in with six. LaGlen Mitchell and Cecilia Koskela each finished with three.
Holding onto a narrow 15-14 lead with about four minutes to play in the first half, Erickson sparked a 14-4 run to end the half with a 3-pointer. LaGlen Mitchell and Lewandowski also had a 3-pointer in the Lady Bulldogs’ run to close the half . The Lady Bulldogs shot 40 percent from behind the 3-point arc.
The Lady Bulldogs put the game away by holding the Maidens to only one point in the third quarter and went into the final quarter leading 42-19.
After watching his Lady Bulldogs build a commanding lead over a team that has dominated him in his 20 years at Mission, Rice couldn’t leave well enough alone and decided to switch to man defense in the fourth quarter, which was a big mistake. The Lady Bulldogs only scored a point in the quarter – Erickson hit one of two foul shots with 2:44 remaining in the game – but even with Rice’s unnecessary tinkering the Lady ‘Dogs held on for a 43-29 victory to continue their three-year win streak over the Maidens.
While the Lady Bulldogs’ offense was firing on all cylinders against the Maidens, that wasn’t the case against the Lady Vikings at the Dog House Thursday.
“It was your typical Charlo-Mission game,” Rice said of the Lady Bulldogs’ 30-23 win. “They play really good defense, and they seem to know our offense, better than we do.”
“It was a really physical game, there wasn’t really a lot of fouls, but it was physical, trust me,” Rice said.
Kyla Mitchell, led the Lady Bulldogs with 12 points and hit some key foul shots down the stretch. The senior went 5 for 6 from the line. Mitchell was the only Lady Bulldog to finish in double digits, but six different Lady Bulldogs scored, compared to three Lady Vikings.
Lewandowski finished with six. Erickson added five and hit some key shots in the final quarter. Ashley Courville had three and Steele and Koskela each added two.
“Every point seemed to matter. Stephanie (Lewandowski) had six points, but it was the timing of her baskets. Every basket seemed to change the momentum,” Rice said.
Rice said he tries to downplay the rivalry games before the game because their non-league games and don’t really matter, but to the victor goes the spoils.
“It was fun. We don’t put a lot of emphasis on them because their nonconferene games, but it’s big. It’s exciting for the girls,” Rice said.
Next year the Mission-Ronan game will be a conference game.
Summary
Mission 30, Charlo 23
Charlo 5 3 9 6 – 23
Mission 11 3 6 10 – 30
CHARLO - Rachel Hoyt 15, Dawn Blevins 2, Deondra Brown 6.
MISSION - Ashley Courville 3, Loren Erickson 5, Kyla Mitchell 12, Stephanie Lewandowski 6, Bryanna Steele 2, Cecilia Koskela 2.
Mission 43, Ronan 26
Mission 10 19 13 1 – 43
Ronan 1 2 6 17 – 26
MISSION - Loren Erickson 18, Kyla Mitchell 8, Stephanie Lewandowski 6, Bryanna Steele 7, LaGlen Mitchell 3, Cecilia Koskela 3.
RONAN - Courtney Clairmont 3, Alice Van Gunten 7 Ashleigh Lynch 2, Ashley Grandchamp 7, Tailyr Irvine 7.
