Mavericks Win 2023 Eastern C Championship

The North Country Lady Mavericks Basketball team won the 2023 Eastern C Divisional Title last weekend in Wolf Point, after defeating the Plentywood Wildcats 46-44 last Saturday, March 3, in the Girls Eastern C Championship.

The matchup was a rematch of last year's Eastern C Championship match, one that North Country lost 58-53.

"It feels pretty good," Lady Maverick Head Coach Amber Erickson said. "Not only does it save us from that dreaded Challenge Game that we would've had to play(against third place finisher Scobey), but it also puts us on the opposite side of the bracket against Winifred-Roy, who is one of the other favorites in Class C."

To reach the Eastern C Championship, the Lady Mavericks also defeated the Mon-Dak Thunder in the opening round 66-32 on Wednesday, March 1, and the Culbertson Cowgirls 63-20 in the semi-finals on Thursday, March 2.

Coach Erickson was asked what the key to their run has been.

"I think the key was that all season long, we've just been really trying to focus on getting better every week and no matter what our games looked like or what the scores of our games were, we found things that we wanted to improve every week in practice. I think the girls just really have never gotten complacent."

She said that they are still finding ways to improve and reach their full potential.

The Lady Mavericks will play the Chinook Sugarbeeters in the opening round of the State C Girls' Basketball Tournament.

The Sugarbeeters lost their semifinal game 45-38 in the Northern C Divisional to Roy-Winifred Outlaws, but fought back defeating Northstar 48-40 and Belt 55-39 in the consolation rounds, forcing a challenge game to Fort Benton, on Monday, February 27.

Chinook won the challenge game 48-37 behind Alexus Seymour's (daughter of Malta Elementary School Principal Shiloh Seymour) 15 point effort. Hannah Schoen had 11 points, and Bree Swanson had 10 points.

The loss to Roy-Winifred was the only blemish on the Sugarbeeter's record this season.

"Chinook is scrappy," Coach Erickson said. "They get after every loose ball and they play with a lot of energy and a lot of emotion. They really thrive on full-court pressure, making you make bad decisions and take quick shots, so I feel pretty comfortable with our ability. We take pretty good care of the ball and like to play uptempo of course, but we are disciplined as well."

In the Eastern C Championship game, the Lady Mavericks were led by junior Paige Wasson who had 26 points, four rebounds, three assists, one block, and one steal.

Junior Teagan Erickson had 12 points, five rebounds, two assists, and one steal. Sophomore Shelbi LaBrie had four points, three rebounds and three steals. Senior Kora LaBrie and senior Mattea McColly each had two points.

The Lady Mavericks jumped out to a 12-8 lead at the end of the first quarter, but Plentywood outscored North Country 17-11 in the second. The halftime score was 25-23 in favor of the Wildcats. The Mavericks outscored the Wildcats 10-8 in the third quarter, tying the score 33-all.

The teams traded a few buckets throughout the fourth quarter as well as the lead. Down 39-38 with 2:41 remaining, K. LaBrie was able to draw a shooting foul, and made both free throws, giving North Country a late 40-39 lead. After a solid defensive possession, Kendall Scheffelmear found Wasson on top of the key, and set a screen that paved the way for a three point field goal by Wasson, which put the Mavericks up 43-39 with 2:01 remaining. Plentywood's Annie Kaul scored on a floater with 1:36 to bring the score to 43-41.

After a Plentywood timeout, the Mavericks were unable to score on their next possession and Wildcat Paityn Curtiss was able to break away in transition for a layup while drawing a foul. She made the foul shot and put Plentywood up 44-43 with 52.3 seconds remaining. Wasson was fouled on the Lady Mavs' next possession. She converted the 1-and-1 attempt, putting North Country up 45-44 with 37.2 seconds remaining.

Plentywood would miss a shot on their next possession and then fouled S. LaBrie, who made the first one-and-one attempts. With seven seconds remaining, S. LaBrie would miss the second attempt and though Plentywood rebounded the ball and found Kaul as an outlet, Wasson smacked the ball out of Kaul's hands in the final seconds and the Wildcats did not get the ball down court.

"Playing a close game like that against Plentywood, who is very disciplined, they move the ball really well, and they defend well, and they are fast, great athletes," Coach Erickson said. "Having to overcome and play from behind the entire game, while not shooting well, and finding a win by being gritty, there are definitely some things that I am going to take away from that game. We got better that night. Much better than if we had come in and won by 15 or 20 points."

Coach Erickson was asked about the performance of Wasson and T. Erickson, who were selected to the Eastern C Divisional's All-Tournament team, as voted by the tournament's coaches. Wasson was named Most Valuable Player.

"I just think that they know as the level of competition gets better, that they have to elevate their game," Coach Erickson said. "I felt like both of them had very good games. All three of their games were solid. They are just so well-rounded and versatile."

In the Lady Mavericks' semifinal win over Culbertson, Wasson led with 21 points, four steals, and three rebounds. T. Erickson had 19 points, five rebounds, and two steals. K. LaBrie had five points, four steals, and three rebounds. Berkeley Hillman and CharLee McColly each had four points. S. LaBrie, Scheffelmear, Wisher, and BaiLee McColly had two points.

The Lady Mavericks were dominant in every quarter of the game, outscoring Culbertson 13-2 in the first quarter, 12-5 in the second quarter, 19-10, in the third quarter, and 19-3 in the final quarter.

The Lady Mavericks made 48 percent of their field goals, going 19-of-24 (55.9%) from two point range and 5-of-16 (31.3%) from three point range. The Lady Mavericks scored 29 points off of the 29 turnovers they forced and had a total of 19 steals. North Country also had 19 pass deflections. The team made 10-of-14 (71.4%) of their free throw attempts.

The North Country Lady Mavericks started the Eastern C with a bang, outscoring Westby-Grenora 24-0 in the first quarter. Things slowed up for North Country in the second, as both teams scored 12 points each. The Mavericks maintained control in the second half, outsourcing Mon-Dak 15-10 in the third quarter, and 15-10 in the fourth quarter.

Wasson led the Lady Mavs in scoring with 21 points. She also had five assists and four rebounds. T. Erickson had 16 points,eight rebounds, three assists, two steals and one block. Senior Mattea McColly had 14 points and three rebounds.

"Mattea did a great job, she had some nice moves," Coach Erickson said. "She played really confident offensively in that game."

Scheffelmear and S. LaBrie both had six points. K. LaBrie had three points.

The Mavericks made 63% (22-of-35) of their two point field goals and 6-of-20 (30%) three point attempts. North Country scored 34 points off of 23 forced turnovers. The Lady Mavs also scored 12 points in transition, while Mon-Dak scored no points in transition.