Superior girls end season on a high note

SUPERIOR – The Lady Bobcats were eliminated after three games in the district tournament in Ronan.

Their first game was against Hot Springs on Thursday, Feb. 20. The game ended with a final score of 47-27.

The team came out a little slow. While the girls played strong and took the first quarter with a score of 15-7, the second quarter had the Lady Bobcats only gain four points. According to Head Coach Jeff Schultz, the Lady Savage Heat did not make any changes to their defense and the Superior girls made some mental errors.

“[We had] a lack of focus in our shooting and on our passing,” Schultz said.

At halftime the Lady Bobcats were up by one point after the Hot Springs team recovered and pulled back. The score was 17-16.

During the break, the Superior coach told the girls they needed to focus and take care of the ball. He said the key was to want it more than the other team. The pep talk worked and the girls came out stronger for the second half.

As the third quarter opened, Superior gained several points right off the bat. Over the course of the second half the Lady Bobcats pulled ahead and won the game by 20 points.

Schultz was proud of the team’s performance and felt they played very well. He knew the girls had lots of improvement over the course of the season and hoped the girls got to show it in their district games.

Sophomore Danielle Ewoniuk was the lead scorer with 10 points. Freshman Celein Parkin was right behind her with nine points.

“It’s always nice to see a sophomore and a freshman lead you in scoring,” Schultz said. “That always means your future is very very bright.”

He said the whole team played well and the victory was a team effort. He especially praised Parkin and felt she could easily do even better if she got more aggressive. Schultz also said senior Michele Smith had a great game.

On Friday, Feb. 21, the girls played against Arlee. The loser of the match would go to a consolation round and fight to stay in the tournament.

Before the game, Schultz was looking forward to playing the Lady Scarlett Warriors but knew it would be a tough one because Arlee is the top team in the conference this season. The coach was confident the girls could compete against them. He said the key was for the team to handle the ball well and keep control of it.

“That more or less sums up our year,” Schultz said. “When we take care of the ball we’re a tough team, when we don’t, we’re not as tough.”

The team did not have time to practice between games. There is only enough time to recover from one before playing the next one. He recalled the hard thing about playing the district tournament was how the games are so close together.

“It’s the next game next day,” Schultz said.

On Saturday, Feb. 22, the girls played two games against Two Eagle River and Charlo. While they took victory against the Lady Eagles, the girls were sent home after a defeat by the Lady Vikings.

The game against Two Eagle was a consolation game for a second chance at continuing in the tournament. The girls had a hard fight where they were behind for most of the game before coming back to take victory in the final quarter.

The game was very close as both teams pushed hard to re-enter the tournament. The Lady Eagles started out with a close lead while Superior followed close behind. The first half ended with a score of 17-22.

The start of the second half had a similar trend to it as Two Eagle brought in more points than the Lady Bobcats. Then, in the fourth quarter, the Superior girls turned the game around as they knocked the opposition back and leapt into the lead. The game ended with a final score of 41-39.

Schultz said the game was more about the team surviving than winning. He recalled telling the team it would be a challenging game because they played first thing Saturday morning after playing Friday night.

“You play in the late game and then you have to get up to play in the early game,” Schultz said. “That’s always the hardest game to get up for.”

It was especially challenging because Two Eagle was pumped from their victory against Noxon the day before. The coach commended the girls for not giving up even when they were 13 points behind.

Schultz attributed the difficulties to not making their shots. He said, for some reason, the girls could not get the ball to go in the basket for the longest time. At the end they were able to make several key baskets, which jumped them ahead to claim the victory.

Mueller was the top scorer of the game as she brought in 12 points. Junior Nadeia Ewoniuk was close behind her with eight points. Schultz described this game as Nadeia’s coming out where she brought her best game of the season.

“She played very hard, very aggressive and she made some big free throws to steal the game for us down the stretch,” Schultz said.

The girls struggled in the game against Charlo and ended with Superior’s elimination from the tournament.

The game was decided in the second and fourth quarters. The teams started close as each team brought in a handful of points. While Charlo was ahead in the first quarter Superior was close behind. The second quarter had the Lady Vikings suddenly pull ahead and gain an even strong lead. The first half ended with a score of 9-21.

The second half opened with another close round where the teams played about the same. Like in the second quarter, the Lady Vikings suddenly pulled away in the fourth quarter. The game had a final score of 25-47.

The coach felt the game was a mental battle. He said the girls had struggled against Charlo before and it had a psychological effect on them.

The team had a bunch of turnovers, which gave the opposition more chances to get points. Schultz said this had been their weakness all season. They were able to make some changes to their tactics as they went in the game.

“I felt like we were learning right up until the very last second of the very last game,” Schultz said.

Sophomore Marissa Koke was the top scorer for the Lady Bobcats with a total of 11 points. Mueller was another strong player as she took seven points for her team.

Schultz was proud of how the girls did, both in districts and the season as a whole. He thought it was a good way to send off the three seniors on the team.

“It was fun and we had a good season,” Schultz said. “It was a very successful year [and] we’ll miss the seniors.”

Schultz plans to coach the girl’s basketball team next year and is looking forward to what the team will bring in the future. He said nothing would keep him away from continuing to coach the girls.

“They’ll have to fire me to get rid of me around here,” Schultz laughed.

With a number of powerful players returning next year, including the top six scorers, Schultz was excited about next season. He said the girls would only have so much time to take it easy.

“I told the girls next season starts Monday,” Schultz said. “So they’ve got to start getting ready.”