Three is the magic number for Scarlets

ARLEE - The Scarlets split over the weekend against two 14-C

teams and will have the third seed heading into the district

tournament this weekend.

ARLEE - The Scarlets split over the weekend against two 14-C teams and will have the third seed heading into the district tournament this weekend.

"I'm pretty pleased with how our season has gone," Arlee head coach Richard Bachmeier said. "Our schedule was really tough, so I'm happy that we came out of it 10-8."

Arlee had a big Mission Valley matchup against Charlo last Friday night, but fell 41-24. The Lady Vikings jumped out to a 16-2 lead in the first quarter, but Arlee played Charlo evenly in the second and third quarters. Then in the fourth, the Lady Vikings went on a 16-5 run to finish things off.

"We just didn't hit any shots," Bachmeier said. "In the fourth quarter we were down four with three minutes to go and we lost our composure a little bit and we kind of let Pope get away from us."

Kinley Pope finished with 19 points for Charlo, while Mahalia Hendren led the Scarlets with nine points.

"Mahalia is just solid," Bachmeier said. "She is kind of our workhorse in rebounding and scoring."

The Scarlets then hosted Hot Springs on Saturday where they used a 17-4 surge in the second quarter to pick up the 45-28 victory.

"I thought we played fairly well against them, we played a solid game," Bachmeier said.

Arlee led 27-14 at halftime thanks to their second quarter run, then outscored the Savage Heat 10-4 in the third before cruising to victory.

Hendren led the team with 12 points again while Whitney Malatare added 11 points.

"Whitney just leads with that energy, she's really exciting to watch," Bachmeier said.

Now the Scarlets will face off in the district tournament this weekend in Ronan.

"My mindset is that this is a new season," Bachmeier said. "Everybody goes into the tournament 0-0. Who every strings three good games together is going to win it."

Bachmeier feels that his team is much improved team since they started the team in November. Now with the way the bracket shakes down, if Arlee goes on a run they'll probably have to defeat Charlo to get to the district championship game. One thing the Scarlets have shown all season is an extremely deep bench.

"I believe our bench is as deep or deeper than other teams in the district," Bachmeier said. "Anytime you have to go three or four games the bench better be ready to come in."

Bachmeier has also been happy with the play of starters Alexis Shick and Tiffany O'Neill.

"Alexis is coming along well and Tiffany did a great job on the boards for us," he said.

With multiple weapons, the Scarlets should be a tough battle for anyone at the district tournament.

"We can go inside or we can shoot it outside," Bachmeier said. "We play good, solid defense. We can press or slow it down. We're not anybody's walkover. It's been an enjoyable year so far. I've enjoyed the kids, the fans talking to people."

H.S. @ ARLEE

H.S. - 10 - 4 - 9 - 5 - 28

Arlee - 10 - 17 - 10 - 8 - 45

Scarlets scoring - Marcus Brown 11, Cole Noble 11, Jaylen Ducharme 4, Skyler Rossbach 13, Artie Mendoza 10, Clayton Malatare 10

CHARLO @ ARLEE

Charlo - 16 - 4 - 5 - 16 - 41

Arlee - 2 - 9 - 8 - 5 - 24

Scarlets scoring - Whitney Malatare 5, Alexis Shick 3, Violet Pablo 3, Jenna Pablo 2, Mahalia Hendren 9.