Lady Bulldogs set to begin NJC tournament play against Wiggins

The Lady Bulldogs went west on Saturday for an afternoon match up with the 3A Highland Huskies, based out of Ault. Despite an eight-point loss, the team rebounded well and hit-double digits in the steals and deflections column of stat sheets.

"The game was extremely physical, almost too physical at times. We had a few more turnovers in the Highland game than we did against Perkins County, but overall we handled the pressure ok," said Head Coach Alicia Schram. "We still have a ways to go in getting to the confidence level that we need to be at with ball protection. The girls also never gave up. We were able to close the point gap in the fourth quarter, we just ran out of time."

Haxtun put up nine points in the first quarter, a deficit of just two compared to the Lady Huskies. In a low scoring second quarter, the Lady Bulldogs added two points compared to Highlands six for a 17-11 score at the half.

The Lady Bulldogs added double-digits in the scoring department in both the third and fourth quarters, adding 28 points to the board in the second half, but fell 47-39 on the road in their lone game of the weekend.

Senior forward Bobbi Starkebaum connected with six field goals and two free throws for a total of 14 on Saturday. She also brought down seven rebounds and had one blocked shot. Senior guard Emily Anderson added seven points and tallied two rebounds. Anderson also registered two assists and three steals. Senior Jayleigh Bullard and sophomore Emma Lemesany both recorded six points. Bullard led the Lady Bulldogs in rebounds with 12. She brought down seven on offense and five on defense. Lemesany tallied two rebounds and one steal. Senior Kelsie Hadeen put up three points, brought down six rebounds and registered two assists and three steals. Freshman Leah Edwards added two points, totaled five rebounds and grabbed two steals.

"Our rebounding continues to be a high point on our team. My goal is always 40 rebounds and we've definitely hit that goal each game. We need to work on finding a body on rebounds. There were a lot of times we weren't boxing out at all and Highland was able to get second chance points over the top of us. We also had 10 steals and 10 deflections on a very physical team," Schram said.

The Bulldogs open play this week at the annual Holiday Tournament hosted by Northeastern Junior College in Sterling. The Lady Bulldogs are slated to face Wiggins on Thursday morning at 9 a.m.

According to MaxPreps, the Lady Tigers from Wiggins are 3-0 so far this season with wins over Prospect Ridge Academy, Heritage Christian and Sedgwick County. Depending on a win or a loss in the opening round, Haxtun will play on Friday at 12 p.m. or 7 p.m. Holiday Tournament play continues into Saturday based on wins and losses from the two days prior.

After the tournament, the Lady Bulldogs will enter their holiday break until play resumes on Jan. 4 when the team faces Wiggins again.

"The games are very important," said Schram, in terms of contests throughout the Holiday Tournament. "Both regarding the RPI and the confidence level of the girls. I'm not really a fan of the Holiday Tournament because we can end up seeing the same LPAA teams up to four times this year. Depending on who you pull, that could be a blessing or a curse when it comes to record and RPI. It's just going to be important for us to continue to make improvements in our game and continue to control the things we can control."

Other teams slated to compete in tournament play at NJC this week include Merino, Dayspring Christian Academy, Sedgwick County, Holyoke, Akron and Prairie; a solid chunk of the LPAA League.

"We are definitely going to continue to work on taking care of the ball, bringing down more rebounds and getting quality shots off," Schram said. "It seemed like we shot a lot in Highland, but a lot of them weren't quality shots. We need to handle the pressure, move the ball and get our teammates open for good shots."