Plains Trotters claim victory at Chamber Classic Tourney
Photos by Ed Moreth<br>Trotter Emma Ehret goes up for two points as Stillwater Christian Cougar Nicole Danz tries to stop her. Plains won 45-27 as part of the Chamber Classic Basketball Tournament Saturday evening.
For the last two years, it's been the Noxon Lady Red Devils finishing first at the Plains Chamber Classic Basketball Tournament. Not this year.
It was Walt Hermiston's Plains Trotters that went undefeated, climbing to the top after beating the Valley Christian Lady Eagles 51-35 Friday and thwarting the Stillwater Christian Cougars 45-27 in the final game of the weekend Saturday evening.
Trotter Ashton Vulles, a 5-foot, 7-inch senior, chalked up 12 of 13 free throws against the Lady Eagles Friday evening, and led the girls with 26 points. Teammate Emma Ehret, a junior, grabbed 10 points, followed by sophomore Heather Earhart with eight.
Ehret and Bethany Catalanello, also a senior, had nearly a dozen rebounds apiece to help the Trotters pick up 41 rebounds against Valley Christian, said Hermiston, who's in his first year as the Trotter head coach.
"They played with a lot of intensity," said Hermiston. The first quarter ended at 8-8, but in the second quarter, the Trotters collected 14 points, while holding the Eagles to only seven. The Lady Eagles bounced back in the third to take a four-point lead. Plains led by a mere two points at the end of the quarter, but came back to win by 16 points.
Plains took the lead from the beginning against the Cougars, a Kalispell team. Earhart scored 20 seconds into the game and by the end of the first quarter, the Trotters had an 11-8 lead, widening the gap by seven points by halftime. When the third quarter clock buzzed, Plains led 35-22. The girls chalked up a 20-point lead in the fourth with three minutes in the game. The Cougars managed only two baskets in the fourth.
Vulles again was the high scorer, this time with 19 points, including one three-pointer. Her free throw rate was 66 percent. Brittany Mount, a senior, led in rebounds with seven and with four steals for the night. Ehret and Bethany Catalanello had six rebounds each.
Hermiston said the girls are starting to play more like a team. He said he's happy with their shooting and rebounding. The Trotters took third place at the Chamber Classic last year.
The Trotters face the Hot Springs Savage Heat Thursday at Plains.
The Red Devils, this year coached by Ted Miller, won one and lost one. They beat Stillwater Friday 45-30, but Saturday fell to Valley Christian 45-36.
Lady Red Devil Lindsey Franz, a junior, led with 13 points against the Cougars Friday. Teammate Sarah Larkin, on of three seniors on the team, had nine points. But on Saturday, it was Kimmy Moore, a senior, who led the Noxon girls with 14 points, followed by Rachel Stettler with 10.
Noxon started out against Stillwater Christian 7-6 in the first quarter. By halftime, the Lady Devs pulled ahead by nine, and by the end of the third, the score was 35-20.
The Lady Red Devils were behind 10-9 at the end of the first quarter against Valley Christian, but reversed to lead by one point at halftime. By the end of the third, they led 33-31, but in the final quarter, the Lady Eagles put on the pressure to win 45-36.
"Those girls didn't quit; they kept trying," said Miller, who added that his girls are aggressive players. Moore chalked up six of the team's nine rebounds against the Eagles. And Bethany Brown, a junior, led the team with three steals.
Plains has been hosting the Chamber Classic since the mid 1980s.