Lady Bulldogs nab three-point, overtime win over Merino Rams

The Haxtun Lady Bulldogs pulled off a close, overtime win in front of a home crowd Saturday night as they took down the Lady Rams from Merino by three. The win followed a disappointing loss to Akron the night before. As of Tuesday morning, Feb. 16 the Lady Bulldogs hold an overall 4-4 record and are 2-2 in league play.

Haxtun found themselves down by two after a quarter of play against the Lady Rams from Merino on Saturday. The Lady Rams outscored the home team by three in the second to hold onto a five-point advantage at the half. Haxtun came out firing from the mid-way break, putting 16 points on the scoreboard while defensively holding Merino to just six. Later in the fourth as both teams battled for an advantage, Haxtun pulled ahead but a late game shot from the Lady Rams tied it sending the game into overtime, 41 all.

The Lady Bulldogs connected with crucial free throws down the home stretch and put pressure on the Rams in a full-court press to outscore their opponent by three to claim the 51-48 conference win.

Senior Bella Tori put up 19 points Saturday, the team high, followed by K'Lyn Bornhoft and Taylor Schram, each with nine. Allie Thompson added eight and Cassidy Goddard put up six.

As a team, the Lady Bulldogs connected with 14 of 31 free throws for 45 percent on the night. Tori shot 60 percent from the line, sinking nine of 15, followed by Thompson, who went 50 percent, making two of four.

Thompson pulled down nine rebounds to lead the Lady Bulldogs. She nabbed five on offense and four on defense. Goddard tallied eight rebounds followed by Tori with six. Schram added four assists against the Lady Rams while she and Bornhoft led in steals, each with seven.

"Our full court press really bothered them causing them to turn the ball over many times and the true character of this team shined through and they continued to fight and bring home the overtime victory," Head Coach Arlan Scholl said of his team's performance.

The night before, Haxtun took the road to Akron where they faced off with the Lady Rams. The Lady Bulldogs jumped to a 15-8 advantage after the first quarter, but Akron answered back in the second to gain a one-point lead at the half.

Akron held the Lady Bulldogs to just five points in the third and four in the fourth while upping their score by 21 in the second half to seal a 46-33 win.

"We struggled to put the ball in the basket at Akron. We could only manage to shoot 23 percent from the field and the same 23 percent from the free throw line," Scholl said. "As one of the Denver Nuggets announcers often comments, 'we couldn't throw a pea in the ocean.' The kids worked hard and played a great floor game causing many turnovers, but it just wasn't meant to be. The girls bounced back from that down night to play a great game against a very good Merino team."

Schram led the Lady Bulldogs in Akron with 10 points. Tori added nine followed by Bornhoft with seven. Goddard put up double-digit numbers in the rebounding column, pulling down five on offense and five on defense for a total of 10. Tori brought down five followed by Bornhoft with four. Thompson and Bornhoft both led in assists and steals, each with three assists and three steals.

On Monday night, Feb. 15, the Lady Bulldogs traveled for a varsity match up against the Lady Longhorns in Lone Star. Haxtun led 8-6 after the first quarter, but Lone Star battled for a lead in the second, holding onto a 17-14 advantage at the half. Haxtun managed one more point than the Longhorns in the third to close in on the gap, but a tight fourth quarter gave the home team the edge and the 47-44 win.

"I was so proud of how hard the girls played against Lone Star," said Scholl. "Our press was again the best and caused them many turnovers. We got down by 11 points in the second half, but as always, these girls never give up and actually came back to take the lead late in the game. We played a great all-around game, but a few of our shots did not fall, including a great three-point try that just fell off the rim in the last seconds that would have tied the game. Lone Star is a very good team and we should feel good about the way we competed with them."

Individual stats were for the Lone Star contest were not available as of press time.

On Tuesday, Feb. 16, the Lady Bulldogs were set to host the Yuma Lady Indians for a conference contest. Results of that match up were not available as of press time either.

Later in the week, Haxtun will host Caliche for a home contest slated to begin with junior varsity at 4 p.m.

According to Maxpreps, the Lady Buffs from Caliche are currently 2-4 overall and 0-1 in league play.