Lady 'Cats lose one, win one

The Superior girls picked up one win and one loss with games against Arlee and Florence the week before break. The girls won against Arlee on Tuesday, 62-47, and then lost to Florence on Wednesday, 34-51.

Playing against Arlee in Superior, the girls were on fire. Player Kaitlynn Koke had a huge game with a double-double. She had a game-best of 16 points and added 13 rebounds at the basket as well. Ashley Blaylock scored 12 points, nabbed six steals on defense and added four assists. Cary Chamberlain also added 10 points to the team’s overall totals.

The girls outscored Arlee every quarter except for one. They went 14-7 in the first, 16-15 in the second, 14-15 in the third and 18-10 in the fourth.

“Arlee was a very good team, but our girls came out and played extremely well against the quality of their opponent,” Schultz said. “Arlee is young, but they’re basketball players. Our girls applied the pressure and got steals. They did a good job offensively and defensively. They did a nice job rebounding and overall I was happy with how they played.

Kelsey Stenberg also added two points, Nicole Stroot added eight, Malinda Steinebach scored eight and Kaylee Crabb added six points in what was a team effort.

Playing Florence, the Superior girls found themselves under a lot of pressure. Florence had a huge lead at halftime, 31-18, and led going into the fourth quarter, 46-24.

“We didn’t do as well against Florence,” Schultz said. “They came out with an in-your-face full court press and the girls panicked a bit. It’s mainly my fault for not having the girls prepared. Florence’s coach did a nice job in having his girls ready and I didn’t have our girls ready.”

Schultz said that he thought the girls played hard despite the nature of the game. He said that they did things well on the defensive side, but struggled offensively.

“But again, it was my job to get them ready,” Schultz said.

Stenberg scored four points, Stroot added two, Chamberlain scored three, Koke had nine, Blaylock added two and Crabb added four. Steinebach led with ten points.

Schultz said that over break the team will be focusing on trying to do man-to-man and handle the in-your-face defense.

“They girls have been working really hard and been improving. We’re going to try to put in a few new things. We’re getting ready for Valley Christian and Deer Lodge, two conference teams and two quality teams,” Schultz said.

Schultz said that the two games right after a solid week of practice will give the chance to see where they are as they go into the season’s second half.

“They come to practice hungry and that’s how they go into the games,” Schultz said. “We have a fairly young and inexperienced team, but we played a lot over the summer and have five returning starters. I think that in the first couple of games our inexperience showed, but since then I think the girls have done an outstanding job and have played like veterans.”