Trotters fall to Mission at home

It was not a good day for the Plains Trotters Saturday when both the varsity and junior varsity squads were both hammered by Mission in the last regular game of the season.

The JV squad of Mike Tatum and Charity Jermyn was defeated by the Lady Bulldogs 54-28. For Brooks Sanford's varsity Trotters, it was worse - they were thoroughly beaten by 62 points, 80-18.

Sanford knew the Lady Bulldogs were going to be a tough opponent because a week prior they were ranked sixth in the state. Mission went into the game with 14 wins and only three losses. The Trotters had a 10-7 record. The coach also stated that the team was a little overwhelmed from their two-point loss to Eureka the night before.

Mission started out strong and aggressive from the start, scoring three times in the first three minutes. Trotter Katelyn Subatch put the team on the board with 2 points, but the Lady Bulldogs didn't let up and by the end of the first quarter led 29-2.

Nearly midway through the second quarter, Trotter Ava Lawyer hit her mark, then quickly followed with a basket by Peyton Wasson for a score of 42-6, followed by a 2-pointer by Lexie Deming. And with less than two minutes in the quarter, Lawyer struck again and the first half finished with Mission in the lead 55-10. Once Mission got 40 points ahead, the clock kept going, except for timeouts.

The third began with two Lawyer baskets and a free throw point by Trotter Claire Lakko. She did it again minutes later and the score was 70-16 at the end of the third. Claire Lakko scored first in the fourth, but it was the last for Plains. Lawyer was the leading scorer with eight points.

"We did not handle full court pressure well tonight and that has been our focus the last month - to improve our play against full court pressure," said Sanford. "This is a very young team and they will become more consistent as they grow and mature," he added.

Trotters Peyton Wasson, Blakely Lakko and Teirainy Bellinger were honored between games for Senior Night. See the Horsemen article for its seniors. The team travels to St. Ignatius for district competition Friday and Saturday. Divisionals will be held at the Salish Kootenai College in Pablo Feb. 22-24.

This was the second season for the Trotters' JV coach, Mike Tatum, who said that despite their loss to the Lady Bulldogs, they played better than their first encounter with Mission in January. "They really improved during the second half of the season, showing up in the win column as well as with their effort and desire to play hard until the end of the game no matter the outcome," said Tatum, who added that they defeated Eureka 43-38 the night before at home with Taryn Meredith as the top scorer with 17 and Ashley Ferlan in second with 10. Against Mission, Meredith had seven points and Ferlan had six.

"Eight out of 12 of our players scored in that game which showed balance and diversity in itself. I felt confident as a coach that I could sub in anyone at any time and they would do well," said Tatum.