Lakko nets 23 in Plains' consolation loss

Despite a game-high 23 points from senior forward Blakely Lakko, the Plains Trotters could not fend off the Eukeka Lady Lions in the Western 7B consolation round final Saturday afternoon in St. Ignatius.

After falling behind 19-2 after one quarter of play, the Trotters could not catch Eureka and wound up on the losing end of a 60-37 Lady Lions victory.

Plains, the fourth seeded 7B girls team, still moves on to the Divisional tournament this coming weekend at Salish Kootenai College in Pablo where they are scheduled to play Loyola Sacred Heart at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.

Eureka, the third seed going into District play, emerges as the third seed coming out of District 7B and will face Anaconda in the Divisional first round Thursday at 1:15 p.m.

After falling behind in the first quarter, Plains tried to climb out of the hole, but could not do so against the Lady Lions, who outscored them 16-7 in the second quarter to create a 35-9 halftime advantage for Eureka.

Plains righted the ship in the second half, outscoring Eureka 14-11 in the third quarter but the damage had been done.

The loss dropped Plains to 11-10 on the year, while the Lady Lions also improved their overall record to 11-10. Eureka was 7-3 in 7B regular season play, while Plains was 3-7.

Lakko was a rock for Plains throughout the game as she scored 23, the only Trotters player in double figure scoring.

Eureka got a team-high 17 points from Aubrey Casazza and 15 from Dylan Sharp.