Maverick Girls Blaze Trail to State

The Lady Mavericks punched their way into the State C Basketball Tournament last Saturday night by defeating the Plentywood Wildcats 63-54 in the Eastern C Divisional Championship game at Sidney High School.

"We are pretty excited," Lady Mavericks Head Coach Amber Erickson told the PCN. "And ready to go."

The Lady Mavericks also defeated the Froid-Lake Red Hawks 64-19 in the semifinal round on Thursday, March 4, and the Circle Wildcats 64-27 in the opening round on Wednesday, March 3.

The Lady Mavericks will play the Jordan Mustangs in game 1 of the State C Tournament on Wednesday, March 10, at 9 a.m. at Lockwood High School in Billings.

Jordan lost the Southern B Championship to the Melstone Broncs on Saturday, February 27. The score was 34-27. The Mustangs were led by Abby Pierce who scored 13 points. In Jordan's semifinal game against Ekalaka, the Mustangs won, outscoring the Bulldogs 67-60. Lindsay Lawrence had 20 points, Brooke Murnion had 18, and Pierce had 14 points.

Depending on the outcome of games one and two, the Lady Mavericks will either see the Western C Champion Seeley-Swan or the Northern C Runner-up Roy-Winifred Outlaws.

"I do like our side of the bracket," Coach Erickson said. "I think that Jordan is physical, and they like to play a zone defense, so we will be ready for that."

Coach Erickson believes that their pressure defense should bode well against the Mustangs on Wednesday Morning.

In their Eastern C Championship win over the Plentywood Lady Wildcats, the Lady Mavericks were led by Kaitlyn McColly, who had 22 points. Kia Wasson had 18 points, Jaycee Erickson had 16 points, Teagan Erickson had four points and Paige Wasson had three points.

Though Plentywood got as close as three points in the third quarter, the Lady Mavericks maintained control and a lead throughout, starting the game off with a 19-7 first quarter. The Lady Mavericks outscored Plentywood 10-9 in the second. The Lady Wildcats had an 11-4 run in the third period, but the Lady Mavericks responded with an eight-point run. Teams traded baskets in the fourth period, but the Mavericks outscored the Wildcats 16-14.

"We know that Plentywood is a great team and that they weren't going to lay down and die," Coach Erickson said. "We knew that they would make runs at us. Even when they did, my girls did an excellent job of weathering the storm, staying calm, making smart decisions, and answering."

Coach Erickson said the team never panicked or had any doubt that they couldn't get the job done.

In their opening win over Circle, nine Lady Mavericks scored, led by T. Erickson, who scored 13 points. J. Erickson had 11 points, Wasson had nine points, McColly had nine points, Kora LaBrie had six points, P. Wasson had five points, Kelsee Cummings had five points, Mattea McColly had four points, and Cienna Strommen had two points.

In their semifinal win over Froid-Lake, McColly led the charge for the Lady Mavs with 15 points. Three other Lady Mavericks scored in double figures. K. Wasson had 13 points, T. Erickson had 11 points, and J. Erickson had had 10 points.

"In both of our first two games, we were able to get defensive pressure going to create turnovers and get our transition game going pretty well," Coach Erickson said.