Mission does some damage

The Lady Bulldogs went to the Eureka tourney in Mission this past weekend with a wins on their minds, devouring two formidable opponents, Thompson Falls by score of 40-34 and Eureka 31-26.

Head coach Les Rice was pleased with the way his team started out against Thompson Falls and the way his team adjusted their defense throughout the close game.

Although his team started a zone, he said it adjusted well when man-to- man coverage was needed to stop a Thompson Falls ringer. Although they found themselves down by seven at the end of the first, the Mission players rebounded back to settle things with a great third quarter and continue to expand the lead into the fourth.

A late Thompson Falls drive put his team in a familiar position, Rice said. As time wound down and things looked like they could unravel in the last minutes it came down to free throws.

Senior guard Kelsey Cable hit two free throws late in the fourth quarter when Thompson Falls was within three.

“She hit those two to pretty much seal the deal for us,” Rice said.

Hitting those game-winning free throws a problem for his past teams, Rice was very pleased with the effort and the resulting win.

“I thought we played good solid defense,” Rice said in addition.

Senior guard Mattea Grant led with 19 points, 17 of those coming like lightning in the second half.

Sophomore wing Kyla Mitchell added seven and the rest of the scoring was pretty well spread out.

Against Eureka, the team battled to limit Eureka’s star player in shots, and again used all of the players on the court to find points. Nine players scored in the game and Grant again led the team, this time with 14.

“I told the girls that if nine players score and if everyone else makes another basket that’s another 18 points,” Rice said.

Rice said each of his players missed some open shots and that those points were there for the taking.

The win was a landmark for Mission, defeating Eureka on its home court for the first time in several years.

Mission hosts two local matchups this weekend, first hosting Ronan at 6 p.m. on Friday and then Charlo at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday.