North Country Girls Win Eastern C Divisional

The North Country girls basketball team added yet another trophy to their case this past weekend with a win at the Eastern C Divisional Tournament in Glasgow. The Mavericks won each of their three games by at least a 31-point margin in the penultimate tournament of the season. North Country downed the Savage Warriors 66-17 in the opening round Feb. 29 and rolled over the Bainville Bulldogs 52-21 the following day in the semifinals. North Country held the Plentywood Wildcats to single-digit scoring in all four quarters as the Mavericks claimed the title with a 55-23 victory Saturday night.

North Country started the tournament with a dominant 49-point win over the Warriors, holding Savage to single digit-scoring in the first three quarters and shutting them out in the final eight minutes of play. The Mavericks went up 18-7 in the first quarter and outpaced the Warriors 19-3 in the second for a 37-10 lead at the half. Savage put up 6 in the third while North Country hit for 10 points. In the final quarter, the Mavericks added 19 to their side of the scoreboard while Savage failed to get the ball in the basket.

Paige Wasson led all scorers, pouring in 25 points. The senior went 4-for-4 from the three-point line and 7-for-7 at the charity stripe. Teagan Erickson connected for 15 points with a trey and a 2-for-2 showing at the free throw line. Shelbi LaBrie hit a three-pointer on her way to 9 points, Gracie Wasson scored 5, Kendall Scheffelmear 4, Emerson Downing 3, Kennedy Simonson and Josie Brown 2, and CharLee McColly 1 point. P. Wasson also led the Mavericks in assists with four, followed by Scheffelmear with three, and LaBrie and Erickson with two each. Brown and G. Wasson had a helper a piece.

BaiLee McColly, Scheffelmear and Erickson pulled down seven boards each while Brown had five rebounds. P. Wasson snagged four, LaBrie and Simonson three each, and Berkley Hillman, C. McColly and G. Wasson had one board a piece. P. Wasson was the steals leader for the Mavericks with four while LaBrie, Simonson, B. McColly, Erickson and C. McColly had one takeaway each. P. Wasson and Erickson each put a blocked shot on the stats sheet.

The win moved North Country into the semifinals Friday night where they faced Bainville, who had defeated the Lustre Christian Lions in the opening round. North Country shut the Bulldogs out in the first quarter while putting up 14 points. Bainville scored 14 in the second while the Mavericks added another 15 for a 29-14 halftime lead. North Country again outpaced Bainville in the third, 13-6. IN the final eight minutes, the Mavericks scored another 10 while holding the Bulldogs to a single point for the 52-21 victory.

Erickson and P. Wasson both put 14 points in the win while LaBrie scored 9 points. B. MCColly scored 6, Brown 5 and Scheffelmear 4 points. Sceffelmear led the team in assists with four followed by Erickson with three, LaBrie and Wasson both with two, and B. McColly and Hillman one each.

Scheffelmear was also the boards leader with seven. P. Wasson pulled down five rebounds, LaBrie and Erickson two each, and Simonson and Brown pulled one a piece. P. Wasson was North Country's steals leader with six followed by LaBrie with four and B. McColly with two. Scheffelmear, Erickson, Hillman, C. McColly, Brown and Downing each had one takeaway. Erickson knocked down three Bainville shots while P. Wasson stopped two. B. McColly and C. McColly had one blocked shot each.

The second win at Divisionals moved the Mavericks into the now-familiar chipper Saturday night, where they faced Plentywood in a rematch from last year's Divisional Tournament. The Mavericks won the hotly contested 2023 title match by 2 points, 46-44, but the 2024 match-up proved a different story as North Country easily handled the Wildcats 55-23.

The Mavericks doubled the Wildcats in points in the first quarter, 14-7, while outpacing them 10-9 in the second for a 24-16 lead going into the second half. The Mavericks dumped in another 14 in the third while holding the Wildcats to 4 points. North Country went on a 17-3 in the final eight minutes for the dominant 55-23 victory.

Erickson led all scorers with 16 points, going 7-for-11 from the field and 2-for-3 at the free throw line. Wasson added 12 and LaBrie 10 points. B. McColly and Scheffelmear both scored 6, G. Wasson 3 and Brown 2 points. Erickson and Wasson both had four assists in leading North Country while LaBrie and Scheffelmear both had two helpers. Simonson, B. McColly and C. McColly had one assist a piece.

Erickson pulled down seven boards and LaBrie six in leading North Country. Scheffelmear and P. Wasson had three rebounds each while B. McColly, Hillman and Brown added one a piece to the stats sheet. P. Wasson had six steals to lead the Mavericks while LaBrie and Scheffelmear both had three. Erickson had two takeaways and B. McColly and Brown had one steal each. Erickson and P. Wasson knocked down two Wildcats' shots each while Scheffelmear blocked one Plentywood shot attempt.

North Country enters the MHSA 2024 State Class C Girls' Basketball Tournament as the number one seed out of the East. Roberts and Custer-Hysham played a challenge game Monday night for the second seed out of the South, but results were unavailable at press time. North Country will face the winner of that game Thursday, March 7, at noon, at the Montana ExpoPark in Great Falls. The boys and girls state tournament will run Wednesday through Saturday, March 6-9. All North Country games will be covered by Stan Ozark and Derek Beadle, carried live on KLTZ radio. NFHS will also provide coverage.