Lady Scotties Place 2nd in Districts

It was the Lady Scotties' first showing in a district championship game since 2012. Of course, they were matched up against the undefeated Malta M-Ettes. Although anything can happen during tournaments, the Scotties were unable to upset their rival, closing out the tournament with a 47-29 loss.

The greatest parts of the game for the Lady Scotties were the first three points, and the last three points of the contest, with a whole lot of good stuff in-between.

To start off the game, Glasgow claimed the lead with a two-point shot from Abbi Kolstad and a successful free throw from Jordan Kulczyk. It would be the only time during the game that the Scotties were ahead, but they maintained that three-point lead for as long as they could. The M-Ettes eventually gained the lead and at the end of the first quarter were up 12-3. Malta would dominate the rest of the game, but not without some bumps in the road for them.

Without a doubt, Malta consistently rolled over each team they played this season, usually scoring 40-50 points more than their opponents – except the Scotties. In each of the games they played against Malta, the Scotties were able to minimize the scoring margin to less than 27 points, and at the end of the championship game, Malta had only 18 more points than the Lady Scotties.

Glasgow did a good job of forcing turnovers on the M-Ettes as well. While Glasgow had 20 turnovers, Malta had a comparable 15.

The Lady Scotties defensively also did a good job of shutting down their best scorers. Sophia Stiles and Jada Nicholson had low scoring games (compared to the rest of the season) with 14 and 11 points respectively. Hailey Nicholson, Malta's powerhouse shooter, was only able to put a mere 4 points on the board for her team.

To finish the game, Coach Kolstad sent his bench in and saw some good results. Sophomore Kaylee King threw a hail mary at the final buzzer and boosted the team score by three points.

Leading scorer for the Lady Scotties was Kolstad with 11. Also putting points on the board were Khloe Krumwiede 4, Demi Aune 4, Kulczyk 3, Leinie Hughes 2, Tyra Johnson 2, Ashtyn Myrick 1, and King with her 3-point buzzer-beater. The Scotties went 8 for 15 at the line for 53 percent.

For the M-Ettes, Stiles led the team with her 14 points, followed by J. Nicholson with her 11 points. Also contributing were Marley Manoukian 6, Mystic Striker 2, Mary Kalal 4, Eva Harms 1, Adrianna Bibeau 4, Shay Garfield 1, and H. Nicholson with her 4 points. Malta went 7 for 10 at the line for 70 percent.

When all was said and done, the Glasgow girls earned themselves a respectable trophy and secured a solid spot in the Northern B Divisional tourney in two weeks. The Lady Scotties will play Rocky Boy Thursday, March 3 at 2:30 p.m.