Scarlets one win away from divisionals

RONAN - Arlee head coach Richard Bachmeier went into the 14 C

District Tournament last weekend knowing that whatever team got hot

and strung together three good games was going to be crowned

champions.

RONAN - Arlee head coach Richard Bachmeier went into the 14-C District Tournament last weekend knowing that whatever team got hot and strung together three good games was going to be crowned champions.

The Scarlets put together two good games and came just one win away from advancing to the Western C Divisional Tournament play-in game. They finished the season with a 12-10 record and have plenty of talent returning next year to make another run.

"I think we did pretty well," Bachmeier said of the season. "That's the best record we've had in the past three years that I've been coaching the team."

Arlee started the district tournament on Thursday with a first-round 54-37 victory over Hot Springs thanks to 15 points from speedy guard Whitney Malatare.

Both teams got off to a slow start offensively, but the Scarlets pushed ahead for a 20-16 lead at halftime. Arlee got its offense humming in the second half with 34 points, keyed by a 17-9 run in the third quarter, and pulled away for victory.

Despite shooting just 23 percent from the field, the Scarlets got twice as many offensive rebounds as Hot Springs, shot 80 percent and scored 21 points from the free throw line and forced 18 turnovers.

Mahalia Hendren and Tiffany O'Neill got the dir ty work done for the Scarlets. Hendren notched nine points and seven rebounds while O'Neill scored eight and grabbed seven boards as well.

In the district semifinals on Friday, Charlo's defense was a hard nut for the Scarlets to crack and the Lady Vikings came away with the 49-25 victory. Arlee got in a 17-3 hole after the first quarter and couldn't recover from the deficit.

"Charlo played really well and we didn't play so well," Bachmeier said.

Charlo led 28-12 at halftime, and after both teams played evenly in the third, the Lady Vikings outscored Arlee 13-5 in the fourth. Charlo was able to get to the free throw line 14 more times than the Scarlets and got 15 points from the charity stripe.

While the rebounding was fairly even, Charlo scored 18 points in the paint compared to the Scarlets' eight near the basket.

"People really sagged into the middle against us and we didn't have our normal scoring inside," Bachmeier said.

Hendren and Alexis Shick both had seven points to lead Arlee. The loss put Arlee in a loser-out game against St. Regis on Saturday.

Malatare again showed her worth for the Scarlets, scoring 15 points in the fourth quarter and Arlee came away with the 55-36 victory.

After falling behind 11-6 in the first quarter, the Scarlets outscored St. Regis 18-11 in the second quarter and led 24-17 at halftime. The Lady Tigers cut the lead to four in the third before Malatare and the Scarlets went off for a 22 point fourth quarter.

Malatare finished the game with 30 points while Shick and O'Neill both added eight.

"We let Whitney shoot more than she usually does because they kept sinking inside," Bachmeier said.

That same day, Arlee played for third place in the district and the chance to move on in the postseason against Noxon. The Scarlets just couldn't clamp down enough on defense and fell 55-45 to the Lady Red Devils.

Kim Marich scored 32 points for Noxon and proved to be the difference-maker.

"We didn't stop Marich and she had a tremendous game," Bachmeier said. "We did OK offensively but we didn't play good defense in the second half."

It was a close battle, as Noxon had a 29-23 lead at halftime. They would keep the six point lead going into the fourth quarter and extended their lead by four points for the win.

Malatare scored 16 points for the Scarlets, while Hendren scored nine and grabbed nine rebounds. Schick had nine points for Arlee.

"I think they were ready to go mentally at the tournament," Bachmeier said. "We just didn't do what we needed to do."

While the season is over for Arlee, the future looks bright with several top contributors coming back next year.

"We'll have pretty much everybody back," Bachmeier said. "And our young kids will have one more year of experience under their belt."

There were several stars on and off the court for the Scarlets and Bachmeier wanted to extend his thanks to everyone around the Arlee basketball program this year.

"I just want to make a special thank you to the parents, without their dedication bringing the kids to us, we wouldn't have anything," Bachmeier said. "Our fans at the tournament were also outstanding, everybody in general deserves a big thanks."

ARLEE VS H.S.

H.S. - 4 - 12 - 9 - 12 - 37

Arlee - 8 - 12 - 17 - 17 - 54

Scarlets scoring - Whitney Malatare 15, Mahalia Hendren 9, Tiffany O'Neill 8, Alexis Shick 7, Tayla Desjarlais 5, Jenna Pablo 5, Desirae Nault 3, Violet Pablo 2

ARLEE VS CHARLO

Arlee - 3 - 9 - 8 - 5 - 25

Charlo - 17 - 11 - 8 - 13 - 49

Scarlets scoring - Alexis Shick 7, Mahalia Hendren 7, Violet Pablo 5, Whitney Malatare 3, Tiffany O'Neill 3

ARLEE VS ST. REGIS

Arlee - 6 - 18 - 9 - 22 - 55

St. Regis - 11 - 6 - 12 - 7 - 36

Scarlets scoring - Tiffany O'Neill 8, Desirae Nault 2, Whitney Malatare 30, Alexis Shick 8, Mahalia Hendren 5, Bailey Rice 2

ARLEE VS NOXON

Noxon - 14 - 15 - 10 - 16 - 55

Arlee - 11 - 12 - 10 - 12- 45

Scarlets scoring - Whitney Malatare 16, Mahalia Hendren 10, Alexis Shick 9, Tiffany O'Neill 4, Tayla Desjarlais 3, Violet Pablo 2, Jenna Pablo 1