Lady Mavs go 2-2 at Divisionals

The season ended for the North Country Lady Mavericks as they fell in the consolation finals against Froid-Lake, a team they defeated in the opening round.

In all, the Lady Mavericks went 2-2 at the 2020 Eastern C Divisional in Glasgow last week. The tournament featured teams from the 2C and 3C District Tournaments.

The tournament was won by the Scobey Spartans who defeated the Mon-Dak Thunder 40-36 in the Championship Game on Saturday, February 29.

The Lady Mavericks were off to a solid start, winning a nail-biter against Froid-Lake on Thursday, February 27. The score was 45-44.

The team was led by Kaitlyn McColly who had 24 points, six rebounds, three steals, and two assists. Kia Wasson had 14 points, nine rebounds, and two assists.

Teams traded buckets throughout the first half of the game, but the Lady Mavs were able to get ahead by a few possessions in the third quarter.

"We let down our intensity a little bit defensively and they hit some shots and were leading by eight with under four minutes to go," Coach Amber Erickson said. "The girls kept fighting and we finally knocked down some big shots that got us back into the game."

McColly and Kelsee Cummings were tasked with knocking down free throws in the last minute of the game, and the duo knocked them down for North Country's last four points of the game.

"We made a great defensive stop at the end preventing them from getting a shot to win it," Coach Erickson said. "The girls played with a lot of positive emotion and fire and even though we did not shoot the ball well at all we dug in and did enough things right to win the game."

The Lady Mavs made 11 of their 15 free throw attempts and only turned the ball over eight times.

The Lady Mavericks suffered their first loss of the tournament during the semi-finals on Friday, February 28, to Mon-Dak. The score was 51-34.

"Mon-Dak is a quick and tough team," Coach Erickson said. "Their guards really put the pressure on you for 32 minutes and they have a 6'1" athletic, strong post that is tough to stop."

The team was led by McColly who had 11 points, four rebounds, and two assists. Wasson had 10 points and four rebounds. Jaycee Erickson had nine points, two rebounds, and two steals.

"We had a tough time getting things rolling offensively. Again we struggled to knock down shots but we were within 8-10 points most of the game," Coach Erickson said. "The biggest difference I would say is they hit their open shots and we didn't. The girls played very hard all the way to the final buzzer but it just wasn't our night."

North Country was able to make short work of Fairview on Saturday morning, defeating the Lady Warriors 57-32.

The Lady Mavericks outrebounded Fairview 38-15. North Country also had 17 total assists and shot 49 percent from the floor.

McColly had 17 points and 13 rebounds. J. Erickson had 12 points, seven assists, and four rebounds. Kora LaBrie had seven points and two assists.

"Fairview game was a fun game where we came out and really got rolling both offensively and defensively," Coach Erickson said. "We matched up with them as far as size goes very well."

Coach Erickson went on to say that they were familiar with Fairview due to their matchups in volleyball. The team knew that the Lady Warriors consisted of solid athletes, but the team was able to take control.

"All 12 players got minutes and it was fun to see kids stepping up off the bench," Coach Erickson said.

Making it to the consolation finals, the Lady Mavericks were again tasked with facing Froid-Lake. This time the outcome was different and the Redhawks won 54-36.

"Froid Lake is a tall, lengthy team and they play a 2-3 extended zone," Coach Erickson said. "Their height really gave us some trouble the second time around and we didn't rebound as well Saturday night as we did the first time we played them. We tried to take away more of their inside game on defense and they ended up hitting more outside shots."

The Lady Mavericks were led by McColly who had 14 points and four rebounds. Wasson had ten points and Jaydyn Erickson had seven points.

"Once again it really felt like we struggled to get into any type of rhythm offensively, which was frustrating but the girls left it all out on the floor that last game," Coach Erickson said.

Though the season didn't end at the state tournament, the Lady Mavericks showed growth, according to Coach Erickson.

"The girls had a great season overall and I feel like we improved in every aspect of our game," Coach Erickson said. " Defensively Coach Wasson has helped us become even more solid in our pressure defense, rotations, and communication."

Losing just one senior to graduation this spring, the Lady Mavericks will come back older and with a strong incoming class of freshmen next season and the team hopes to improve before next season.

"We will continue to build on these skills next season striving to become even tougher defensively," Coach Erickson said. "Offensively we put a lot of new stuff in throughout the season, including set plays that the girls really began to execute well these last few weeks. I felt like we learned to compete both in practice and games at a higher intensity level than the last few years and that the girls played very hard every game."