Lady Bobcats cap impressive season

Most coaches will agree the ideal situation during a basketball season is that the team gets better as the season goes on.

Nowhere, perhaps, is there a better example of this than the Superior High School Lady Bobcats, who stunned Charlo’s girls to win the 14C District title, then advanced to the Divisional tournament where they showed everyone they belong.

After flirting with a .500 record for the first half of the year, the Lady Cats advanced to the consolation round of the Western B Girls Divisional tournament in Frenchtown, where they were eventually eliminated by powerful Seeley-Swan 55-43 Saturday morning.

How is being eliminated progress?

Early on in the 2021-22 season, in a December game with the Lady Blackhawks, Superior was soundly beaten 64-33 by the always tough Seeley-Swan crew.

Saturday they displayed how much they have improved, after putting an exclamation point on that fact the day before.

With diminutive point guard Isabella Perieira diving for seemingly every loose ball, and scrappy senior post Cassie Green going toe-to-toe with the big girls from Seeley, along with junior sharpshooter Darby Haskins draining long-distance threes while barely ruffling the net, the Lady Cats fought were still fighting in the fourth quarter where they came close but could not overtake the tall and talented Lady Blackhawks.

Fresh off their 34-32 squeaker of a championship upset over the heavily-favored Charlo Lady Vikings in the Distrct 14C title game, Superior fell behind early in the tournament’s opening game Thursday morning.

By the end of the first quarter they were down 19-9, then 32-15 by the end of the first half.

That’s when evidence of their resolve and grit began to surface.

Although they were outscored 16-10 in the third quarter to fall behind by a 48-25 count heading into the final eight minutes of play, Superior showed there was no quit in them.

As Perieira and crew got plenty of help from guards Payton Milender and Lanie Crabb, they furiously fought back and won the fourth quarter 18-7.

However, the early hole they dug proved to be an impossible obstacle to overcome and their season came to an end. For coach Jeff Schultz and assistant coach Jessica Nagy the successful late season Lady Bobcat surge served as testimony to the talent and will of their players and the coaching staff’s ability to craft a skilled team by season’s end.

Green, who bruised and battled her way throughout the game, led all scorers with 12 points, while Haskins added nine points on three crowd-pleasing three point bombs from well beyond the three-point arc.

Tegan Mauldin scored a game-high 16 points to lead Seeley-Swan.

The loss left the LadyBobcats with a 12-8 season record in a year many thought would be a rebuilding year.

Seeley-Swan improved to 22-1 on the year, their only loss at that point coming during their tournament game against eventual runner-up Manhattan Christian.

Twin Bridges won the Divisional title this year by beating Manhattan Christian 45-41.

Superior advanced to the second round of consolation play by defeating the Philipsburg Lady Prospectors, a team which had beaten the Cats twice during the year by 55-37 and 37-13 scores.

Revenge for those two losses came after a long, hard-fought battle in which both teams had the lead or were tied several times.

Philipsburg opened the game looking like they would hang loss number three in their seasonal battle on Superior. The Lady Prospectors jumped out to a quick and efficient 15-5 first quarter lead and appeared to be on their way to eliminating the Bobcats.

But in this third meeting of the year between the two teams, Haskins was there to shoot them down from long distance. She dropped five threes as part of the Bobcats resurgence and helped the Cats erase the first quarter deficit and gain a 21-all tie at the half.

The Bobcats also got another outstanding game from the lightning quick Perieira, who constantly hounded the Prospectors on defense and capped several steals with lay-ups in the third quarter as Superior took the lead 35-31 heading into the final quarter of play.

Both teams offenses found the range during the final period, with Superior outscoring the Philipsburg five 20-18 over the last eight minutes to secure the win and keep their tournament hopes alive.

Perieira scored a game-high 17 points to lead the Lady Bobcats, who also got 15 from Haskins and nine from Green.

Asha Comings paced Philipsburg with 15 points.

Superior opened tournament play Thursday afternoon against the Shields Valley Rebels, who entered the game with a sparkling 19-3 record on the season.

As had been the case during the regular season, the Rebels’ superior height played a key role in them building a 9-2 first quarter lead, as did their smothering brand of defense.

By halftime Shields Valley had built a 27-13 lead.

Perieira, who was held scoreless during the first half, scored seven points in the third quarter, including a three-pointer, as the Cats tried to cut into the Rebels’ lead, but by the end of the third period Shields Valley had opened up a 41-25 lead.

Perieira and Crabb scored six and five points respectively in the final quarter as the Lady Bobcats fought back but were unable to overcome the early deficit.