Lady Mavs outlast Lady Coyotes

The clash between the North Country Lady Mavericks and Dodson Lady Coyotes in Dodson on Saturday, February 8, featured a pair of tough defensive teams, but ultimately North Country won 42-32.

"They threw a lot of aggressive pressure on us and sometimes we don't always make great decisions during that," Lady Mavericks Head Coach Amber Erickson said. "I think tonight we were a little mentally exhausted from a hard fought game last night, but we have to be able to put two great games together."

Both teams lost their other game of the week as the Mavericks fell 38-36 to the Scobey Lady Spartans on Friday, February 7. The score was identical to their score in their game on Friday, January 10.

"It was great to play our district's two best teams back to back because it forces you to put two good games together, which is something we will need to do down the stretch," Coach Erickson said. "The Dodson girls have some good outside shooters and they have pretty crafty players."

Dodson was defeated 57-24 in their match against the Roy-Winifred Outlaws in Roy on Friday, February 7.

In the Dodson and North Country game, the Lady Mavericks were led by Kia Wasson who had 18 points and eight rebounds. Kaitlyn McColly had ten points and six rebounds, and Jaycee Erickson had eight points, four assists and three rebounds. Danika Soper, Elise Strommen, and Jaydyn Erickson had two points each. Strommen also had four rebounds and four assists.

Dodson was led by Melony Fetter who had 13 points. Lindsey Fetter had six points. Kataya KillEagle had five points. Christina Jaynes had four points. Tiffany Cliff and Ireland Best eached added two points.

North Country outscored Dodson 15-4 in the opening period, thanks in part to their defense and the team's press break. Dodson's defensive pressure eventually started to affect the game and the Lady Coyotes outscored North Country 10-8 in the second quarter and 13-9 in the third. The score at the end of the third quarter was 32-27.

"That's a good team," Dodson Head Coach Frank Benson said of North Country. "We played a few different defenses just to mix it up."

Dodson had a shot at tying the game, bringing the score within three, but eventually North Country picked up a couple of inside buckets and ended up outscoring Dodson 10-5 in the fourth period, and held on to win.

"It was a good old physical Phillips County game," Coach Benson said. "The Mavericks went on a run and closed out the game."

Coach Benson went on to say that he really liked how Coach Erickson's team plays the game.

"That is a fun team and they are one of my favorite teams to watch," Coach Benson said. "I really enjoy how they smile and have fun when they play. That Wasson girl is a shooter. She reminds me of Charlene Noreen Wasson back in the day."

Coach Benson and Mavericks assistant coach Charlene Wasson attended Montana State University Northern in the same years, when Coach Wasson led the Northern Lights during her Hall of Fame College Career.

In Dodson's loss to Roy-Winifred, the Lady Coyotes were led by Mel Fetter who had 14 points. Christina Jaynes had eight points and Kataya KillEagle had two points.

The Lady Coyotes are scheduled to play the Frazer Bearcubs on Friday, February 14, in Dodson. The night will serve as the school's Senior Night. The game is set to begin at 6 p.m. The Lady Coyotes are scheduled to play their last regular season game of the year against the Lustre Christian Lady Lions on Saturday, February 15, at 6 p.m.

In North Country's loss to Scobey, the Lady Mavericks were led by Wasson, who had 20 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals. McColly had eight points, ten rebounds, and three assists. Kelsee Cummings had four rebounds and five assists.

"We had that game last night," Coach Erickson said. "There were some coaching errors that we made, that we own up to. We are not afraid to tell the girls when we make bad decisions and tell them to do things, but as far as our girls went, they had no shame. They fought back from 12 points going into the fourth, tied it up."

During a pivotal part of the game, Scobey's lead scorer had to switch jerseys, which should've netted the team the ball and technical free throws, but no call was made.

"Even so, we had the chance to take a shot to win," Coach Erickson said. "It just wasn't our turn yet."

The Lady Mavs are scheduled to play Frazer and Lustre, but the team will face Lustre on Friday, February 14, at 6 p.m. and then Frazer on Saturday, February 15.

"Both of those two teams will probably zone us, so we will get another chance to finetune our zone offense and find out how to score more consistently in the half court," Coach Erickson said.