Superior snaps 3-year skid

If hunger really is the best cook, then the Lady Bobcats' 56-49 victory over the Lady Tigers' Saturday had to taste extra sweet.

In the 14-C District Tournament at the Ronan Event Center, Superior was facing the possibility of finishing their third-straight year winless and extending their losing streak to over 60 games when they took on St. Regis Saturday.

The Bobcats first win in three years didn't come easy. The Bobcats came out on fire and had built a 17-point lead going into the final quarter, before a bruised and battered Tiger team started fighting back. Led by Brianna Managhan and Heather Pruitt, St. Regis started chipping away at the lead and had whittled it down to two with just under a minute to play, but baskets by Nicole Lucier, Tamara Rennick and a free throw by Caitlin Bailey iced the game for the Bobcats and gave them their first victory in over three years.

Once the final whistle blew, the event center's walls couldn't contain the excitement and relief of the Bobcats.

Overcome with emotion, which moved some of the girls to tears, they stormed to the middle of the court to celebrate, as their parents and fans that had watched them suffer through the three-year drought lined up off the court waiting to embrace them.

Bobcat coach Jeff Schultz couldn't escape the emotion of the much-needed win either.

"It's awesome, it's so awesome. Everybody's so stoked. They're just jacked up," Schultz said. He said he was very proud of the dedication and devotion his team displayed through the losing streak. "I told the girls, any other team, any other girls, they would've all quit. You go three years without a win, most other schools wouldn't even have enough girls to have a team," Schultz said.

"They should be so proud of this," Schultz said. "Everybody on the team was part of it. Everybody played today. We couldn't have done it without any of them."

"It's just a huge weight off our shoulders," said Nicole Lucier a senior and three-year starter, who exemplifies the dedication and devotion that Schultz was so proud of. Lucier, who finished with 19 points and nine steals, said the thought of quitting never entered her mind during the losing streak. "I love the game. Whether we win or not, I love to play," she said.

Even when the Tigers mounted their late charge, Lucier said she never doubted the Bobcats would win, but the 19-point quarter by the Tigers led to some tense moments for Schultz and the seconds couldn't tick away fast enough. "It took forever. I was just hoping it would go away," Schultz said. Managhan had nine of her 21 points and Pruitt had seven of her 23 points for the Tigers in the fourth quarter.

Schultz said with the victory, the Bobcats won't have to dwell on the losing streak next year and just focus on basketball. "We had to get the first one off our backs," Schultz said. "We didn't know how to win, now we do," he said.

Superior went on to face Noxon in a consolation match, a team they had loss to 46-31 in their first game of the tournament Thursday. The Bobcats were leading 11-10 with just over four minutes to play in the second quarter, but then the shots stopped falling for them. The Bobcats went over three minutes with scoring and went into halftime trailing 22-13.

Superior couldn't recover from the Lady Red Devils second-quarter run and fell 49-39 to finish in fourth place at the tournament.

St. Regis started the tournament with a 78-74 overtime win over Two Eagle. The Tigers had a 59-49 lead heading into the final quarter, but Two Eagle came back and tied the score at 67 with 29 seconds left to play in the game. The Tigers seemed to have the victory in hand when senior Ryanne Burklund calmly sank two free throws to give the Tigers a two-point lead with 18 seconds to play, but Two Eagle was able to sink a shot in the waning seconds to send the game into overtime. "She's definitely a clutch player; she's got the experience," St. Regis coach Kevin Managhan said of Burklund.

In overtime, Pruitt continued her dominance, scoring seven of the Tigers nine points in the period to give the Tigers the first-round win. Pruitt finished with a career-high 37 points and a triple double, with 10 assists and 14 rebounds. "That's a huge contribution; she did an outstanding job," Managhan said. Tailor Davis also had a career-high in points for the Tigers, finishing with 17 points.

The victory over Two Eagle didn't come without a price, as Tyler Cheesman injured her shoulder in the first quarter and played the rest of tournament with the use of only one arm. The Tigers, who only have six players on the roster, already had two players nursing injuries. Brianna Managhan had a sprained ankle and Burklund was playing with a hyper-extended thumb. "They're real tough girls," Kevin Managhan said.

The injuries took a toll on the Tigers, when they took on the one-seed Hot Springs Savage Heat Friday. The depleted St. Regis squad never had a chance as Hot Springs jumped out to a 15-4 lead after the first quarter and went on to win 72-29.

The Charlo Lady Vikings won the tournament with a 52-31 win over Hot Springs Saturday. The Noxon Red Devils and the Savage Heat faced off Monday in a challenge game that resulted in a 51-44 victory for Hot Springs in Ronan.