Lady Bulldogs placed second at eighth-grade tournament

The eighth-grade Lady Bulldogs hosted the Yellowstone Conference Tournament Saturday and pulled through to the championship. After a first-round bye, they met Powell in the semifinals and won 34-21.

“The girls came out tough against Powell,” coach Lance Anderson said. “Powell is a good team, and we knew we couldn’t look past them. They moved the ball well and were aggressive.”

Morgan Harshman scored 9 points, Macie Anderson 8, Brynlee Spanier 7 and Gracie Angell and Myles May 5 points each.

The win advanced the Lady Bulldogs into the conference championship game, where they battled against Cody, falling 29-23.

“The last time we played Cody we lost to them by three points,” Anderson said. “Cody is a good team with a lot of depth and height. We knew it would be a battle, but the girls to their credit believed they could win. After the first quarter we were up 9-8, but were outscored 12-3 in the second, which was frustrating for the girls. We ended up outscoring them in the third and fourth quarters, but that second quarter drought was the difference in the game.

“We got into some foul trouble in the second quarter, and I had to pull Morgan, who got her third foul. She provides a strong defensive and rebounding presence, and not having her on the court was hard on us. All the girls played really well, and I’m really proud of them. They have a lot of potential, and it will be fun to see what they do in high school.”

Anderson finished with 9 points, Harshman 6, Spanier 5 and Angell 3.

Seventh grade

The seventh-grade Lady Bulldogs ended their season with some grit. Competing against Worland and Riverton at the conference tournament Saturday in Worland, they worked hard.

The Lady Bulldogs fell to Worland 31-24 and played well against Riverton but lost 22-21.

“The girls had a good season,” head coach Collin McArthur said in summing up the season. “They had a lot of close games, losing multiple games by only one to three points. We had some hard losses, but overall, the girls did a great job, improving from day one to the end. At the tournament they didn’t give up and played hard.

“I really enjoyed coaching these girls. They were a very positive group, and they had an incredible ability to work together.”