Lady Bulldogs prep for conference play

ST. IGNATIUS — The Mission Lady Bulldogs will have several players returning for the 2016-2017 campaign.

The Lady Bulldogs are also under the guidance of a new coach, Jen Brander.

They will return Afton Brander, Bryar McCrea, Nalani Linsebigler, Karolina Buck, and Leila Marsh this season.

Mission opened its Tip-Off game with a 52-42 loss to Stillwater. Though they lost, Brander said she was “pleased” with outscoring the team for three quarters.

“We outscored them 12-0 at the end of the first quarter and if we only counted those quarters, we would have won the game by two points,” Brander said. “Playing a quality three quarters was a positive for our team.”

The Lady Bulldogs don’t get much time to get acclimated to their season before they step into their first conference games of the season against Deer Lodge and Ronan.

“With Deer Lodge, I am hoping we are matched up well height-wise with them,” Brander said. “We have been watching the girls the last couple of years in other sports and we have kept track of their names. They are playing very well. They are a young team and have only one senior.”

Headed into the season Brander expressed confidence in her team’s ability to get the job done.

“Our big focus for the season is keeping a really positive attitude,” Brander said. “We continue to work hard and give 100 percent effort preparing games. When things aren’t working, we need to change what isn’t working. We have a lot of good freshmen and they all have good attitudes. They are good athletes and really nice kids.”

Brander, who was the head volleyball coach for the Lady Bulldogs in the late 90s and the middle school basketball and track coach, said she is “optimistic” about this coming season.

“We are helping the kids learn the game of basketball and we are learning who they are through the game of basketball,” Brander said. “They learn what type of person they want to be and basketball is a great teacher in that. They learn patience and how to be aggressive. It’s just a great avenue to help them grow (as people).”