Lady Bulldogs enter post season play as 6th seed in District bracket

The Lady Bulldogs wrapped up the regular season at home on Friday night and the team heads into Districts as the sixth seed in 2A District 2 rankings.

District action kicked off on Tuesday with the Lady Bulldogs on the road to Akron. Outcomes of District matches will determine seating for Regional play set to take place later next week.

Haxtun took on a tough Merino Lady Rams team in their final outing at home this season. The Rams ran with a 67-26 win. Merino went on to clinch the number one seed in Districts with an 8-0 league record. They will face Caliche, the number eight seeded team, in their first round of Districts.

Bobbi Starkebaum and Cassidy Goddard led the team in double-digits in the scoring column. Starkebaum put 14 points on the board while Goddard trailed with 10. Starkebaum also lead in rebounds, pulling down eight total. Heily Avery brought down four. Kelsie Hadeen registered two assists while Emily Anderson and Hadeen lead in steals, each with two.

As the sixth seeded team, the Lady Bulldogs took on Akron Tuesday night. The two teams met just a few weeks ago. That contest was also at the home of the Lady Rams. In the first outing, Haxtun trailed by just four at half time but ended up suffering a 15-point loss. Outcome of Tuesday's match up was not available as of press time.

Should the Lady Bulldogs win over Akron, they will advance in District action and face the winner of Wiggins and Holyoke later in the week. Wiggins entered as number two and Holyoke came in as number seven in the District 2 bracket.

As the regular season came to a close, the Lady Bulldogs held onto a 7-12 record with some impressive wins over the past few weeks including a nailbiter over Caliche and a third win over the Lady Dragons from Holyoke.

"The growth and determination of my team this year has meant a lot to me," said Goddard. "It is nice to see the girls getting excited to play and to have coach's doing everything they can to give us the resources to make us better. Everyone on our team is willing to work hard to make each other better which has been amazing to experience."

First round wins in the Districts advances teams to play on Feb. 23 and Feb. 25 at Northeastern Junior College in Sterling. For a complete District 2 bracket, see page 8 inside this week's edition of the Herald.

"I think one thing that makes our team special is the fact that we have become a family. It is an ideal I already knew, but this is the first team I've been on that has truly began to show that. I think we have improved in that aspect so much and I can't wait to see where we go," Goddard said. Coach (Alicia) Schram has constantly preached the fact that no one of us girls is any more important than the other and I couldn't agree more. Whether we are on the court playing or on the bench, everyone has a role to play to help our team succeed."