North Country Brings Home First Co-op State Basketball Title

Total domination. Those two words sum up the North Country Mavericks' performance at the Class C State Basketball Tournament in Billings this past weekend. The girls from Hinsdale, Saco and Whitewater brought home their first co-op state title as the undisputed top team in the state. 

Coming off their only true challenge of the season – a 46-44 Eastern C Divisional win over Plentywood – the Mavericks applied the lessons learned from that game, playing to win at the most elite level of Class C girls basketball. 

And win they did. 

North Country opened the tournament Wednesday with a 65-25 running-clock win over the Chinook Sugarbeeters, the number two seed out of Northern Division. The victory advanced the Mavericks to the semi-finals Thursday night to take on the Manhattan Christian Eagles. The Eagles took the lead after one, before the Mavericks found their footing again. Once they did, the game was all North Country as they went on to win 52-25. Win number two afforded the Mavericks a day off and they returned to the hardwood Saturday night for the most important game of all: the championship game they had worked towards for years. 

North Country faced the Twin Bridges Falcons, who had knocked off defending state champions, the Roy-Winifred Outlaws, also in semi-final action. Mattea McColly scored first for North Country but Twin Bridges answered with a 2-pointer of their own. That was the closest the Falcons would come to the Mavericks for the remainder of the game. North Country went on to win 59-26, coming within a bucket of a running clock late in the game. 

Offensively as well as defensively, the Mavericks were a force on the court. In each of their games, the Mavericks allowed their opponents to hit double-digit scoring in only one quarter. Chinook and Twin Bridges maxed out at 11 in a quarter while Manhattan Christian scored 10 in one frame. North Country posted more steals than their opponents and fewer turnovers in each game, while also earning more points off the conversion and in the paint. 

The Mavericks' dominating run to the trophy started Wednesday in their game against Chinook. The Sugarbeeters got on the board first with two free throws before Kora LaBrie stole the ball and tied the game with a layup. A Chinook three-pointer was answered by Paige Wasson for the second and last tie of the game. A drive and jumper by Teagan Erickson put the Mavericks up and they retained their lead for the rest of the game. They ended the first quarter with a 15-9 lead. 

Chinook would get their only quarter of double-digit scoring in the second with 11 points, but the Sugarbeeters could not keep up with the Mavericks who set the nets on fire with 23 points. North Country's full-court press and teamwork along with a perfect offensive showing by Wasson powered the Mavericks. Wasson scored 19 of North Country's 38 first half points, hitting 5-of-5 two-pointers and 3-of-3 from beyond the perimeter. 

After the intermission, LaBrie scored first, converting on a Chinook turnover. Chinook scored their 5 points in the first half of the third quarter and North Country kept them off the board for the remaining 12 minutes of the game. The Mavericks led 50-25 at the end of three quarters.

Even after laying off their full-court press, the Mavericks continued a strong conversion game, following tough defense with good offense. With a commanding 63-25 lead in the fourth, Coach Amber Erickson sent in her bench. North Country's future stars hit the running clock for the last 40 seconds of the game. 

North Country shot 59.6 percent from the court and 50 percent from the line while Chinook hit both of their free throws with a 25.7 shot percentage from the field. Wasson finished the game with 23 points. Teagan Erickson added 15 with a three-pointer and LaBrie scored 13 points, also with a trey. Shelbi LaBrie and McColly scored 6 each with Josie Brown hitting a bucket. The Mavericks had 37 points off turnovers. 

North Country had nine fouls in the game while Chinook held theirs to seven. McColly drew four whistles while K. LaBrie and Erickson each had two fouls. Brown had one call against her. The Mavericks gave up only two free throws on two attempts by Chinook while hitting 4-of-8 on their end of the court. 

The Mavericks grabbed 26 boards to the Sugarbeeters' 21 boards. Erickson dominated with eight followed by S. LaBrie, Kendall Scheffelmear and Wasson with three each. McColly grabbed two rebounds with Brown and Bailee McColly coming down with one each. 

North Country had nine assists and 13 turnovers to Chinook's six helpers and 27 giveaways. S. LaBrie, Scheffelmear, Erickson and Wasson had two helpers a piece with K. LaBrie getting the other assist. The Mavericks had 18 steals to Chinook's eight, along with six blocked shots. Wasson led the Mavericks with six takeaways followed by K. LaBrie with five, Erickson three, Brown two, and S. LaBrie and Scheffelmear one each. Wasson also led in blocks with three. Sheffelmear stopped two and Erickson knocked down one Chinook shot. 

The win moved the Mavericks into the semi-finals Thursday night against the Eagles, who fielded 5 players standing 6' or more which would prove to be a challenge early for North Country. North Country's defense kept them in the first quarter as Manhattan Christian's shots dropped and the Mavericks' did not. The Eagles went up 8-3 but a late baseline jumper off a rebound by Erickson closed the lead to 8-5 at the end of the first. 

North Country hit the court in the second believing that if they kept shooting they would find the sweet spot and they succeeded. An Erickson jumper from the key brought them within 1 point and a baseline three from Wasson gave North Country their first lead early in the second. Manhattan Christian tied the game at 10-10 but another trey from Wasson gave the Mavericks a lead they held onto. Baskets from K. LaBrie and M. McColly put North Country up 18-12 at intermission. 

The third quarter belonged to North Country with their tenacious defense forcing turnovers and stopping inbound plays. With 2:16 remaining in the third, Erickson drained a three and added a bonus point after being fouled to increase North Country's lead to 20 points. Manhattan Christian did not score until 6:31 had elapsed in the third when a fouls sent them to the stripe. They would score once more before the end of the frame. An attempted buzzer beater three by Wasson did not count, leaving the score at 34-15. 

North Country added another 18 points in the fourth, proving the game was theirs completely now. Manhattan scored 10 in the final eight minutes, notching their only double-digit frame of the game. Both teams sent in their benches with under two minutes on the clock, acknowledging the impending North Country victory. 

North Country shot 42.6 percent from the field and 62.5 percent at the line on eight attempts in their 52-25 victory. Manhattan Christian shot 45.5 percent on 11 bonus shots and 28.1 percent from the court. The Mavericks had 26 points off turnovers to the Eagles' 5 points. North Country outscored Manhattan Christian 18-10 in the paint despite the Eagles' height advantage. 

Erickson led the Mavericks with 23 points, hitting three from downtown and two at the line. Wasson added 11 with a three treys and S. LaBrie scored 6 points. M. McColly added 5 and K. LaBrie 3 while Scheffelmear and Berkley Hillman both scored a basket. 

The Mavericks had 12 fouls to 11 for the Eagles. S. LaBrie, K. LaBrie and M. McColly had three calls each while Erickson, Wasson and Brown heard one whistle a piece. 

In a rare occurrence, the Mavericks found themselves outrebounded, 33-23, and on the receiving end of the blocked shots state, 6-1. Erickson had nine boards followed by M. McColly with five, Wasson three, S. LaBrie and Scheffelmear two each, and Sammie Wisher with one. Scheffelmear had the lone stopped shot. 

North Country had 15 assists and 10 turnovers to three and 22 for Manhattan Christian. Wasson had six helpers and Erickson five with S. LaBrie, M. McColly, Scheffelmear and CharLee McColly adding one a piece. The Mavericks put 13 steals on the books while the Eagles had six takeaways. S. LaBrie and M. McColly both had three with Erickson and Wasson notching two each. K. LaBrie, Scheffelmear and C. McColly added a steal a piece. 

The semi-final victory moved the Mavericks into the long-sought-after championship game. Before warm-ups, the Mavericks showed no signs of nerves. "They're excited," said Coach Amber Erickson with an excited smile of her own. 

The day off between games may have slowed both teams a bit early in the game Saturday night, but North Country quickly found their footing offensively and used their press to full advantage. By the end of the first eight minutes, the Mavericks led 17-9, hitting from all over the court. 

Twin Bridges took a play from Culbertson's Eastern Divisional showing, and assigned defenders to Wasson with the sole intention of keeping her from the ball. The plan did not work for Culbertson and Twin Bridges fared no better, perhaps overlooking the team aspect of North Country's play. After several of her teammates padded the lead, Wasson shed her defender with a head fake and drained a three. She then drove straight through the defense to put up a jumper from the free throw line. Far from stopping her, Twin Bridges' defense seemed only to up North Country's determination to win. 

By the half North Country led 29-11, with 12 points off 11 Falcon's turnovers. 

Returning to the court, Coach Erickson allowed a quick smile, acknowledging her pleasure with her team so far, before immediately putting her game face back on for another 16 minutes of action. 

T. Erickson lit up the scoreboard just 21 seconds into the third from inside and North Country immediately gained the ball back, setting the stage for the Mavericks' show. The eventual-champions led 39-13 on scores from a number of players, before Twin Bridges found the bottom of the net with 2:08 left in the frame. By the end of the penultimate eight minutes, North Country led 41-15 with zero fouls in the frame. 

Twin Bridges would score 11 in the fourth quarter, notching their only double-digit frame against North Country. It would prove too little, too late as the Mavericks dumped in another 18 points, including a three-pointer from Cienna Strommen. A shot by Scheffelmear gave North Country a 38-point lead late in the game, only a bucket from starting the running clock and leaving Twin Bridges head coach Hannah Konen shrugging her shoulders, with no counter to the Mavericks' dominance. 

The Falcons would score twice more before the buzzer but it was the Mavericks who celebrated a 59-26 championship victory at the buzzer. 

North Country shot 51.1 percent from the court and 66.7 percent at the line while Twin Bridges saw only 23.8 percent of their field goals drop while hitting 62.5 percent at the stripe. The Mavericks had 27 points off turnovers while the Falcons had 8 on the conversion. North Country also dominated in the paint, outscoring Twin Bridges 32-14. 

Wasson and Erickson combined for 38 points, split evenly between them. Erickson hit a trey and 4-of-4 bonus shots while Wasson hit two threes and her lone free throw. M. McColly scored 10 on 5-of-6 shooting from the field. Scheffelmear scored twice from two-point land while Strommen and K. LaBrie  hit one from downtown. S. LaBrie scored once from the charity stripe. 

North Country held their fouls to 11, just four in the second half, while Twin Bridges also had 11, six after intermission. Wasson had four calls against her, M. McColly three, K. LaBrie two, and S. LaBrie and B. McColy one each. 

The Mavericks pulled down 33 boards to the Falcons' 27 rebounds. Erickson earned a double-double with 11 rebounds. Wasson snagged six rebounds, K. LaBrie and Scheffelmear three each, S. LaBrie, M. McColly and Brown two a piece, and B. McColly one. 

North Country had 13 assists with 18 turnovers while Twin Bridges put six and 24 in the books. K. LaBrie, Erickson and Wasson had three helpers a piece with M. McColly and Brown each notching one. The Mavericks had 12 steals to 10 by the Falcons. Wasson had eight takeaways with K. LaBrie snatching two, and Erickson and Hillman one each. Scheffelmear and Erickson both put two blocked shots on the stats sheet. 

"Amazing" is how Coach Erickson felt after the game. When asked about what was key to their wins, she told the Courier, "I think the confidence and calm. Our kids are ready for big moments like this. We've been here for three years in a row. You know, we had the heartbreak two years ago of our only loss coming in the state championship, when my junior group were freshmen. And then last year, I wouldn't say getting upset but losing a close one to Big Sandy, and this year ever since then our mindset was we need to bring home the gold. And these kids are relentless and they were relaxed the whole tournament. I thought they flowed so well."

M. McColly said the whole experience was "indescribable" from her chocolate milk and cornbread muffins. The Hinsdale senior turned in a stellar postseason for the Mavericks. She added, "I felt like I did a lot better. I'm more of a physical player and when you get into more physical teams, it's a lot more fun for me. I can do my stuff." 

North Country loses seniors K. LaBrie, M. McColly, Strommen and fan-favorite Wisher this year, but Coach Erickson's bench and program will have the Mavericks in the running for state titles for years to come.