Both Mission squads bounced from districts
<p>Mission Lady Bulldogs Loren Erickson releses a 3-point shot over a defender in regular season action. Erickson came into the district tournament as the Lady Bulldogs second leading scorer. But managed to score just two points in two tournament losses.</p>
HAMILTON – After playing two exhilarating win-and-in games Tuesday against Ronan, the Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs looked to take their pair of victories to the District 6-B Tournament and contend for a division championship.
The regular season finale and play-in games against the Chiefs and Maidens took their toll on Mission during the tournament. Exhaustion perhaps physically and mentally from a long season and two grueling games against county rivals, the Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs of Mission made little noise in the tournament.
Facing a tough Deer Lodge team that has lost just one game all year, the Lady Bulldogs were out matched and fell easily 54-25. Little scoring came from anyone besides Stephanie Lowandowski, as the senior guard put in a game high 20 points.
The Bulldogs didn’t fair any better against top-seeded Florence, who ran past the Bulldogs 63-34. Stuart Grant had 10 and Nikko Alexander put in 8 in the losing effort.
In the consolation games, the Bulldogs struggles continued as they were again beaten convincingly 73-56 to Deer Lodge. The Bulldogs were holding on to a one-point halftime lead until the Wardens outscored Mission 42-24 in the second half. Three Bulldogs finished with double digits in scoring. Jarred Brown with a team high 16 points, Dylan Evans had 13 and Grant put in 12. The Bulldogs ended their season 7-14.
The Lady Bulldogs would meet the same fate as their male counterparts, losing a close 49-44 fight with Florence. A 26-7 Falcon’s second quarter run was combated with a 20-8 Mission run in the third. But Lewandowski and the Bulldogs couldn’t take the lead in the fourth, putting an end to their season. Lewandowski finished with 23 points and Haley O’Hern had 10.
Lewandowski was the leading scorer in the girls tournament averaging 21.5 points per game. The Lady Bulldogs finished 8-13 on the year.