Fourth Place Finish Ends Season for Lady Mavericks

In their first game of the 2016 Girls Eastern C Divisional Tournament held in Wolf Point last Thursday, the North Country Lady Mavericks caused several of the Maverick faithful to need oxygen. This game was not for the timid or faint of heart. It was a battle royale from the opening bell to the closing wheezle as are all the games between these two powerhouse teams. MonDak has lost the last four meetings between them and Hinsdale, Saco/Whitewater or a combination thereof.

Tonight was no different although it looked very much like it would end differently for most of the game. MonDak had a five-point lead several or more times during the 32-minute contest. The Lady Mavs always came back to at least tie the game but would only claim the lead a few times.

The MonDak Lady Thunder held a slim two point advantage after 16 minutes of play and out-scored the Lady Mavs 12 to 9 in the third act taking a five point lead into the fourth period.

With just 41 seconds left and the score tied at 45 each, the Lady Maverick's smothering defense caused the Lady Thunder to lose possession on a five second inbound infraction at the North Country end of the court. But the Mavericks lost the ball when Fallon Garman committed grand theft basketball and took off like a chicken thru the burning corn toward her bucket making the layup to give MonDak a 47 to 45 lead.

At the other end of the court, Mickayla Johnson got fouled and made two really big freebies, which tied the game again at 47 and 15 ticks left.

I have to give the game ball to Johnson even though teammate Tatum Moore scored the game high 22 points. My reason? It's my story and I can tell it like I want to. The main reason is that Johnson scored on two ORPB's (Offensive Rebound and Put Back) in the first half of play and came up huge with a defensive rebound of a Thunder shot very late in the fourth stanza and with the Thunder ahead by two beans. It went exactly or so just like this:

MonDak's Salina Carter stole an errant North Country pass and fled quickly or quicker to her end of the court to dispose of the ball in that little orange hoop thingie and be rewarded with points. Maverick's Bailey "Fleetfoot" Funk caught Carter and forced her to miss the layup (7 seconds left). NC's Johnson was right behind Funk and saw it all happen (5 seconds left). She then snagged the rebound from a couple Thunder players and tossed the ball out to Kayleigh Cummings who noticed that Moore was standing all alone at mid court so Cummings tossed her the ball (3.5 ticks left).

While all this was happening Jada Sudbrack noticed there was an empty spot on the court right under the Mavs' own bucket so she went to it and waved her arms loudly. Moore heard her plight and tossed her the ball. Sudbrack made the bucket (2 or so seconds left) and was awarded a free throw as well. The crowd went absolutely wild. Sudbrack clunked the free throw but who cared. MonDak tried to make something work in the 2 ticks they had left but came up short. Game over. North Country Lady Mavericks advanced on to the semi's 49-47. For the Lady Thunder it was Garman with 17 points followed by Carter with 13.

After a thrilling win over the MonDak Thunder in round one, the North Country Lady Mavericks of Saco/Whitewater/Hinsdale got sent to the recycle bin (57-52) by the Lady Red Hawks of Froid/Medicine Lake in the semi-finals of the 2016 Girls Eastern Division Tournament held in Wolf Point last weekend.

This put the Lady Mavs in the 11 a.m. Saturday game for a contest with the Fusion of Richey/Lambert. I don't have the stat sheet for this game and all I can tell you about it is that the Lady Mavericks won and the Lady Fusion didn't. The Lady Mavericks led the whole game proving my theory that "if you get ahead and stay ahead you can't be beat." North Country advanced to the consolation game.

After losing to the Lady Mavs in the first round, the Lady Thunder of Westby/Grenora took the measure of the Lady Lions of Lustre and the Lady Wildcats of Circle in their quest for a spot in Saturday evening's consolation game.

There was an air of excitement and great anticipation for this rematch. The two powerhouse teams had met at divisional three times in the past with North Country holding the edge 3-0.

(It wasn't actually North Country. It was the old Hinsdale Lady Raiders before the merger, but some of the North Country girls were on the Hinsdale team).

With a very quick ORPB (Offensive Rebound and Put Back) by the Mavericks' 6' Mickayla Johnson, a threebie by Jada Sudbrack and another ORPB by Johnson, the North Country girls got off to a strong start. The Thunder came thundering back riding a ten to two run. Salina Carter stole a Maverick pass and took it coast to coast, and later she tallied an ORPB of her very own. The buzzer beeped ending the first eight minutes of play. Mavericks 9, Thunder 12.

Sudbrack opened the second stanza with a PB (basket in the paint) off the glass and at the other end she had a huge BWA (Block With Attitude). Kayleigh Cummings hit a runner off the glass and Tatum Moore sank a freebie for North Country's 5 points in the quarter. MonDak scored 11 giving them a 23 to 14 lead after two quarters.

Bailey Funk hit a couple free throws and harassed the Thunder to a frazzle with three steals. Casity Boucher had a few take-aways and hit a sweet 10' floater. Sara Boucher saw a little action in this game.

For the Thunder, it was Carter with a threebie and Fallon Garman nailed a three off the glass that brought an embarrassed smile to her face!

Moore hit a 10' floater and drove the lane for a PB. The scoring for act four was close (13-10 favoring MonDak) but the Mavs were running on empty and the Thunder still had a sixteenth of a tank. Final score: MonDak Lady Thunder 48, Lady Mavericks 35. This ended the season for the Lady Mavericks.

It was a good year for the newly formed Lady Mavericks who won the conference and district championships and a fourth place at divisional. Plus, they're a young team and I'm looking forward to a return trip next year to the Wolf Point gym for more great high school basketball.

That's it for now folks. Thanks for listening.