Lady Bulldogs place two in the win column

ST. IGNATIUS — The Mission girls’ basketball team notched two wins last week.

The first came when the Bulldogs beat Arlee 35-27 last Tuesday.

“We didn’t play great, but we played well enough for the win,” head coach Les Rice said. “No one had an outstanding game, but we got the win.”

Junior Kyla Mitchell led with 11 points, six rebounds and five steals. Junior Adessa Durglo added eight points and eight rebounds. Rice said the pair lead the team on both ends of the court.

“They are two of our better defenders,” Rice said. “But they also lead us offensively.”

The game against Ronan last Saturday was a better contest than the last time the two teams had met, Rice said.

“Both teams played better,” he said. “The ball control and shooting was improved. There were fewer turnovers”

After the first, the Bulldogs were down 11-9. A 12-point second quarter combined with tough defense gave Mission a six-point lead at the half.

Despite the win, Rice wasn’t happy with the way his team performed at the free throw line.

“It was the one area I was disappointed in,” he said. “Our best player went four-for-10. We didn’t shoot free throws well.”

Mitchell led with 12 points and 10 rebounds plus five assists.

This weekend, Mission will face the top two teams in the conference this week, traveling to first-place Bigfork tonight and hosting second-place Eureka on Saturday.

Rice said the fourth-place Bulldogs need to win one of those games.

Last time the Bulldogs faced Eureka, Mission was down by two with two minutes left, but couldn’t complete the game.

“We need to finish better this time,” Rice said.