Haxtun returns to hardwood on the road against the Lady Tigers

The Lady Bulldogs are back in action on the hardwood, ready for the second half of the winter basketball season. Haxtun returned to the court on Saturday, Jan. 4 against Wiggins at the home of the Lady Tigers.

For the second time this season, just seven games in, the Lady Bulldogs took on the Lady Tigers. The two teams met in mid-December in game one of Northeastern Junior College’s annual Holiday Tournament. In that contest, Wiggins came out on top, 43-29. Haxtun ended up 1-2 at the conclusion of tournament play before the holiday break.

This time, the two faced each other in a regular-season match up but the outcome turned out the same. The Lady Tigers jumped to a 30-13 advantage at the half and rolled to a 52-29 win in the end.

“I think we handled the pressure much better than we did a few weeks ago at NJC. That is the most critical aspect of our game right now — learning how to relax a little under pressure and take care of the ball,” said Lady Bulldogs Head Coach Alicia Schram. “We continue to see a downward trend in turnovers so the work that we’ve been putting in is making a difference.”

Two seniors led the Lady Bulldogs’ offense with a combined 13 points in Wiggins. Bobbi Starkebaum made two field goals and three free throws for a total of seven. Jayleigh Bullard connected with two field goals and two shots from the charity stripe for six. Emily Anderson and Kelsie Hadeen both put up five points followed by Lilly Lemesany with four and Leah Edwards, who added two.

Under the basket, Hadeen and Anderson led in rebounds, both pulling down five. Bullard brought down four rebounds and Starkebaum and Lemesany each registered four.

Edwards and Bullard racked up two assists and Anderson led in steals with five.

As a team, the Lady Bulldogs connected with eight of 20 free-throw attempts against Wiggins. Free throws are a category the Lady Bulldogs continue to work on in practice.

“Our free-throw percentage continues to trend upwards. We have definitely been working hard on that aspect. We challenge the girls to make between 100-150 free throws as a team each practice,” Schram said.

This weekend, Haxtun is set to travel on Friday to face the Lady Longhorns in Kimball, Neb. and on Saturday host the Lady Mustangs from Prairie.

“We also need to continue to increase the number of shots we take and make in a game,” said Schram. “Our team is most successful when the scoring is balanced across four or five players. We just have to keep working hard to make improvements each game.”