Lady Bobcats get two conference wins

With the basketball regular season coming to an end this weekend, every game takes on added importance, particularly seeding for the District 7B tournament two weeks hence.

The Superior Lady Bobcats picked up a pair of conference wins this past week, defeating Plains 54-31 Friday night in Plains, then walloping Troy 70-36 Saturday night in Superior. 

For the Superior boys, it was frustrating experience against the same two teams as the girls played, as the Bobcats fell to Plains 62-52 Friday night, then lost a one-point thriller to Troy, 53-52 Saturday night in Superior. 

Superior’s girls improved to 5-2 over their last seven games with the victories over Plains and Troy. 

In their game versus Plains, the Lady Bobcats employed their high energy defense and held the Trotters to three first quarter points enroute to a 11-3 lead after the first eight minutes of play. 

Superior added four points to their lead by outscoring Plains 12-8 in the second quarter, giving the visitors a 23-11 halftime advantage. 

The Cats kept up the defensive pressure in the third quarter, limiting Plains to seven points while scoring 17 of their own, including six points in the quarter from senior forward Braelynn Mangold. 

With a 40-18 lead in hand, Superior played even up with Plains in the fourth quarter to secure the 54-31 conference win.  Mangold, who finished as the game’s leading scorer with 23 points, had 10 points in the fourth quarter. 

Superior also got double-figure scoring from guard Josie Crabb (12 points) and Maryisa Swope, who added 11 for the Lady Cats. 

The win over Plains boosted Superior to 3-3 in 7B play and 6-8 overall.  Plains fell to 2-6 in the conference and 7-8 on the year with the loss.  Katelyn Subatch had a team-high nine points for Plains, which also got eight points from Trystan Larsen. 

Saturday evening the Lady Cats took on Troy and once again jumped out to an early lead, 18-10, after the first eight minutes.  The Bobcats cranked up the defense in the second quarter, holding Plains to five points while scoring 16 of their own.  That gave the home team a 34-15 halftime edge. 

Superior outscored Troy 36-21 in the second half as they coasted to the 34-point win. 

Mangold was the game’s leading scorer with 23 points, while teammate Perri Jasper tossed in 21 for the winners. Troy was led in scoring by Aspen Orr, who had 14 for the Trojans. 

In the boys’ games, Plains took a narrow 11-9 lead against Superior in Plains Friday night, but the Bobcats outscored the home team 19-18 in the second quarter to cut the Horsemen’s lead to 29-28 at the half. 

Landon Richards, Superior’s 6-4 sophomore post, had six points in the second quarter, but Plains overall play, backed by the 22 points from senior guard Darren Standeford and 21 from senior forward Zayden Allen was able to pull away from the visitors in the second half. 

After three quarters of play, Plains was ahead 44-39.  The Horsemen outscored Superior 18-13 in the fourth quarter enroute to the 10-point conference win. 

Richards and sophomore guard Gannon Quinlan had 18 points each for the Bobcats, with Quinlan dropping a trio of long-range threes in the second half. 

Saturday at home against Troy, the Bobcats fell behind 15-11 after one quarter of play.  But Superior outscored Troy 12-8 in the second quarter to knot the score at 23-23 at halftime. 

Troy regained the lead in a back-and-forth third quarter, outpointing Superior 17-15 to take a 40-38 lead into the final quarter of regulation. 

Superior shaved one point off that lead in the final minutes of play but could not overcome the slim Troy lead as time ran out. 

Richards had 22 points to lead Superior, which also got 17 from Quinlan.  Carson Orr had a game-best 28 points for Troy. 

Next on the agenda for Superior is a busy, three-game schedule, beginning tonight (Feb 11) in Superior with make-up games against Eureka. The Bobcats and Lady Bobcats host St. Ignatius Friday (Feb 14), then travel to Thompson Falls this Saturday night (Feb 15) to close out their regular season. 

Plains closes out its regular season with a pair of road games for the Trotters and Horsemen, beginning this Thursday (Feb 13) at St. Ignatius, then continue on the road for their last regular season game this Saturday night versus Eureka.