Lady Bulldogs wrap up season with fourth place finish at Districts

A fourth place finish at the 1A District 4 Tournament wraps up this year's basketball season for the Lady Bulldogs.

Haxtun entered the tournament as the fourth place seed and following a win over Caliche and losses to Briggsdale and Fleming, the Lady Bulldogs exited just the same, one seed shy of a chance at Regionals.

Haxtun took the hardwood against Caliche in the first round of District play Tuesday evening for the third match up between the two teams this season.

Just as the first two played out, Haxtun notched a victory over the Lady Buffaloes. Both teams put 11 points on the board in the first quarter but the Lady Bulldogs pushed themselves out front with 23 points before half time for nearly a 20-point lead mid-way through.

The Bulldogs added 13 points in the third and seven in the fourth to seal the deal with a 54-35 win over the Buffs that would later pit them in a contest with Briggsdale for round two.

The Lady Falcons from Briggsdale entered the contest as the number one team in District 4 and also in all of 1A action.

Despite a hard-fought battle from the Lady Bulldogs, Briggsdale went on to earn a 56-30 victory and later to win the tournament with a championship win over Merino Saturday.

A loss to Briggsdale sent the Lady Bulldogs into a third and fourth place battle with the Fleming Lady Wildcats. The Lady Wildcats took their spot in the third and fourth place match following a loss to Merino two days earlier.

Fleming took the lead early in the first few minutes but it didn't take long for Haxtun to find their groove and narrow in on the gap. The Lady Bulldogs held the lead over Fleming at the half but later in the third, the Lady Wildcats took the advantage. Once doing so, they played the clock to earn and keep the lead and take an 11-point win over Haxtun.

"We had a great opening game against Caliche. We played our usual good defense and were able to execute our offense well and got the win," said Arlan Scholl, Lady Bulldogs Head Coach. "Against Briggsdale, we struggled to stop them defensively, which is not the norm for our team. We continued to battle, but could not get the win. We came out strong against Fleming and held a nice lead at half time. In the second half our poor shooting percentage caused us to not be able to get the win."

A handful of Lady Bulldogs led in all categories through the three-game showing at Districts last week. Sophomore Cassidy Goddard totaled 28 points last week, notching eight against Caliche, 12 in the Briggsdale match up and eight in the contest against Fleming. Senior Allie Thompson added 23 points followed by freshman Bobbi Starkebaum with 20, senior Taylor Schram with 18 and senior K'lyn Bornhoft with 17.

Under the basket, Starkebaum registered 28 total rebounds in the District 4 Tournament. She pulled down 11 in the Caliche contest, three against Briggsdale and 14 in the match up with Fleming. Goddard brought down 25 total rebounds followed by Thompson with 12, Schram with nine and Bornhoft with eight.

On offense, Bornhoft added a total of eight assists last week. On the opposite side of the ball, Schram led in steals with five total.

Haxtun concluded their season with a 9-13 overall record; of those nine wins, the Lady Bulldogs registered six of those at home in front of their home crowd.

This year's team will lose three starters to graduation including Schram, Bornhoft and Thompson; all four-year basketball players for the Lady Bulldogs.

"I am very pleased and proud to have coached this hard working group of girls and feel honored to have been their coach," Scholl said at the conclusion of this year's season. "My Assistant Coach Alicia Schram was a great help to me and the team and I thank her for her part in our team's success. Thanks to our Athletic Director, Rich Gerk, Administration and School Board for all of their support. I wish success to the boys' team as they continue to work towards their goal of a State Championship."