Trotters take third at districts
A new coach, new team and a new attitude made all the difference last weekend as the Trotters finished third in the District 7-B Tournament last weekend.
After playing a brutal schedule of three games within a 24-hour span, the Trotters emerged from districts with a 3-1 mark. Plains will face Deer Lodge at 5:45 p.m. on Wednesday in Pablo during their opening game of the Western B Divisional tournament.
Had the Trotters lost their first two games, they still would have had their best season in recent memory. Their 14 regular-season wins tallied more than they had won in the previous three seasons combined.
Although head coach Richard Griffin is pleased with his teams play, he’s not surprised.
“We had the tools to do good things,” Griffin said. “With the girls that we have and the individual strengths that each one of them brings to the table, you could put together a heck of a team and we have.”
To open the tournament, the Trotters would squeak past Troy, 48-42 on Thursday. The Trotters had already beaten the Trojans in both their attempts earlier in the season.
Although Troy rallied late, outscoring Plains 17-13 in the fourth quarter, the Trotters held on for the victory and advanced to the semifinals the following day. A cold snap from the charity stripe, 6 of 14 in the final quarter by Plains, allowed Troy to cut into the lead.
Kayla Revier led Plains, scoring 14 points. Kelsey Beagley and Malena Sweet each added eight, Diamong LaDeaux six, Laurel Danhof four, Ashley Thompson two and Nikki Kunzer one point in the win.
Jackie Pepiot scored 13 points to pace Troy.
St. Ignatius seemed to have Plains’ number during the regular season, coming away with a pair of wins, and Friday was no different, as the Bulldogs battled to a 41-32 victory.
“We had chances to take it to Mission and we just never did,” Griffin said. “They have something on us mentally that we’ve got to get past.”
Griffin thought his girls played good defense, but they were unable to get any kind of offensive rhythm and it wound up costing them the victory.
Kyla Mitchell scored a game-high 15 points for Mission, which advanced to the championship game.
LaDeaux scored nine points to lead the Trotters in the loss. Felicia Earhart added six points, Beagley five, Revier five, Kunzer, Laurel Danhof and Jessica Hanson with two apiece and Sweet one.
With their back against the wall, the Trotters completed a season sweep over Eureka, 37-29, eliminating the Lions in a loser out game on Saturday morning. The loss would guarantee Plains a trip to Pablo.
Plains outscored Eureka in each quarter during the victory. The Lions left twenty points at the free-throw line, as they shot just 8 of 28 from the charity stripe during the loss.
Earhart scored eight points to lead the Trotters. LaDeaux added seven, Hanson six, Danhof and Aspen Rude four each, Beagley and Revier three apiece and Kunzer two points in the win.
Eureka’s Cassidy Morgan led all scoring, netting 17 points in the loss.
Although they had already clinched a divisional tournament birth, the Trotters were far from satisfied as they entered their consolation game matchup with Troy. Plains came away with their second win of the day, 51-28, just hours after their victory over Eureaka.
The Trotters wasted little time, emerging with a 31-12 halftime lead on their way to blowing out Troy and earning a third seed heading into divisionals.
Griffin was very happy with the way his team finished out the tournament, citing that the win showed his team’s conditioning, strength, character and mental toughness when things mattered most.
LaDeaux, 15, and Revier, 11, were both in douible digits in Plains. Earhart scored five points, Sweet four, Kunzer four, Beagley three, Jessica Read two and Ashley Thompson one.