The Lady Mavericks Earn State C Title

The North Country Mavericks basketball team's 2024 State C campaign concluded the same way that it did in 2023, with a Class C State Title!

The Lady Mavericks, a co-op consisting of Saco, Whitewater, and Hinsdale high school students, won their second consecutive title by defeating the Roy-Winifred Outlaws 62-31 in the State C Championship on Saturday, March 9, at the Pacific Steel and Recycling Arena in Great Falls.

The North Country Mavericks played in the first game of the girls' tournament as they defeated the Roberts Rockets 72-45 in the opening round on Thursday, March 7.

To reach the championship game, the Lady Mavericks defeated the Twin Bridges Falcons 58-33 in the State C Semifinals on Friday, March 8, in a rematch of the 2023 state championship game.

The PCN caught up with a few Lady Mavericks after their championship win, including seniors Paige Wasson, Teagan Wasson, Kendall Scheffelmear and sophomore Shelbi LaBrie.

"This is incredible," Wasson, a senior, said. "It's such an indescribable feeling and it's even better being back-to-back state champions with these girls that I have grown up with my entire life. It is just an amazing feeling. I don't even know how to describe it."

Erickson, a fellow senior, was asked what being a Lady Maverick meant to her.

"This program is amazing," Erickson said. "Three schools and we are all so close after being together everyday at practice."

Erickson said that it feels like a family atmosphere.

"I couldn't be anymore proud, being on this team," Erickson said.

Scheffelmear said that this title meant a lot to her, even though the media around the state didn't seem supportive to her.

"All of those articles on Twin Bridges, everyone was waiting on an upset and we just came out and proved everyone wrong," Scheffelmear said. "We proved that it was our game and we were ready. We wanted to be back-to-back champs."

LaBrie, a sophomore, was asked what this year's title meant to her.

"It means quite a bit because of the people that I am sharing it with," LaBrie said. "It feels pretty special when you have such a fun group of girls to share it with."

Lady Mavericks Head Coach Amber Erickson was asked to describe this group of young ladies who have won 54 straight games.

"Special," Coach Erickson said. "Special and unique. This is a group of kids, especially in a small Class C town that will only come along one-in-a- million. Maybe another group will come through but it's really hard in these really small towns, with our lack of enrollment. They have played together for a really long time and they are just so fluent on the floor in finding in each other. They have great chemistry. It has just been awesome and honestly, I feel like we peaked at the right time."

She credited her team for not being complacent throughout the year and improving week-by-week.

The Lady Mavericks are currently on a 54-game win streak, and though the PCN hasn't often asked, Coach Erickson was asked about the "s" word.

"Well. I guess I have never been a streak person," Coach Erickson said. "We never set a goal of being undefeated at the beginning of the season, but when you think about going two years without losing a game, it's pretty amazing, it's pretty remarkable, and it is really hard to do. These guys got it done and I am just really proud and thankful to be a part of their journey."

This is the third state championship team for Coach Erickson, who led the Saco-Whitewater Lady Panthers for a 2011 title, and the Lady Mavericks to titles in 2023 and 2024. She has compiled a 392-150 record as a head coach since 2003 and has reached six title games.

In the Mavericks' championship win over Roy-Winifred, senior Paige Wasson led in scoring with 18 points. Wasson also had three steals. Senior Teagan Erickson had a 16 point, 20 rebound double-double. Sophomore Shelbi LaBrie had 10 points, four assists, and two steals. Senior Kendall Scheffelmear had seven points, four rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Senior Josie Brown had four points. Gracie Wasson had three points. BaiLee McColly had two points.

Roy-Winifred was led by senior Isabelle Heggem, a 6-4 post, who had a 11 point, 15 rebound double-double.

The Lady Mavericks found themselves behind 14-13 at the end of the first quarter, but the Lady Mavericks started to pull away at halftime, outscoring the Outlaws 14-7 in the second quarter. They also outscored Roy-Winifred 14-4 in the third quarter, and 21-6 in the fourth quarter.

Despite falling behind in the first quarter, the Mavericks seemed determined and eventually the points came.

"I think that it was mainly our defense that helped keep us in the game and then eventually helped us pull away," Wasson said. "In the first half we just couldn't buckle down. We were scrambling and we just didn't know where we were, but in the second half we just came through and figured out where we needed to go and be in our rotations to stop them from scoring."

The team saw a few minutes without Erickson, who at 6'2", went head-to-head with Heggem. Erickson was inadvertently hit in the face by an Outlaw defender and the game was stopped due to blood. The Mavericks turned a two possession lead into a three possession lead despite the Outlaws having the height advantage for those two minutes that Erickson was out.

"I am so proud of our teammates," Erickson said. "We are such a hard matchup because we have Paige and myself, our team is so much more. Shelbi can score and anyone off of our bench can score, so that makes it really difficult for other teams when they have their best defenders on Paige and I. I'm very proud of them and our efforts."

LaBrie was asked about her confidence in shooting. She knocked down a pair of treys in the win and was 4-for-7 from the field.

"I was just really feeling it because I just got the ball and there was no hesitation, I just released it and as soon as it went in the air, I knew it was going in. I just kept making shots and felt confident," LaBrie said.

Scheffelmear made 2-of-3 shot attempts and was 3-of-4 from the free throw line. She was asked about her confident and effective mid-range jumper.

"When I was open, I was like, I better shoot it or I will get yelled at by Mrs. Wasson (assistant coach)," Scheffelmear said.

The Lady Mavericks won the rebound battle, racking up 39 rebounds, while Roy-Winifred had 25. The Mavericks had seven turnovers, but forced the Outlaws to turn the ball over 15 times.

The Lady Mavericks made 21-of-50 (42%) shots from the floor. They made 8-of-18 shots (44.4%) from three point range. They also made 12-of-14 (85%) of their free throws.

The Outlaws made 11-of-41 (26.8%) of their field goals. They were 4-of-21 (19%) from three point range and 5-of-9 (55.6%) from the free throw line. The Mavericks had 13 personal fouls and the Outlaws fouled 15 times.

In North Country's win over Twin Bridges, Wasson led the charge with 22 points, seven rebounds, and three steals. Brown had nine points and made all three of her three point attempts. LaBrie had eight points and six assists. Scheffelmear had six points, three rebounds, and two blocked shots. McColly had six points, six rebounds, three assists, and two steals.

LaBrie was asked about North Country's key to victory over Twin Bridges.

"Honestly, the key to all of these wins is really good defense," LaBrie said. "Our offense always comes to us in kind of a flow. We eventually get into that but defense is our main focus, whether man or zone. It's about being in the right position and boxing out. The little things."

North Country made 20-of-43 (46.5%) of their field goal attempts and 8-of-14 (57%) of their shots from three point range.

The Lady Mavericks outscored Twin Bridges 14-4 in the first quarter and 18-8 in the second quarter. Both teams scored 13 points in the third quarter, and North Country expanded their lead in the fourth by holding Twin Bridges to eight points, while scoring 13 points.

Twin Bridges had a total of 13 rebounds and North Country had 28. Both teams had 14 turnovers. North Country had a total of 10 personal fouls and Twin Bridges had six.

In their win over Roberts, Wasson led the Lady Mavs with 25 points, five steals, three rebounds, and two blocks. Erickson had 19 points, nine rebounds, and four assists. McColly had 12 points and three rebounds. LaBrie had 10 points, four rebounds, and three assists.

Roberts was led by Taylee Chirrick, who will be teammates with Erickson at Montana State University next year. Chirrick had 23 points.

The Lady Mavericks led 18-14 at the conclusion of the first quarter. Roberts closed the gap by halftime outscoring North Country 14-12 in the second quarter. The Maverick defense responded in the third quarter, holding Roberts to five points, while the Mavs added 25 points. The Mavericks also outscored Roberts in the fourth quarter 17-12.

The Lady Mavericks made 31-of-50 (62%) shot attempts and were 3-of-8 (37.5%) from three point range. The Mavs outrebounded Roberts 32-to-20.