Warriors remain unstoppable

Arlee High School girls basketball coach Bill Stockton and his team have developed a reputation for surging in the second half of the season.

Last season, the Scarlets were virtually unchallenged on their way to finishing second in the Class C girls basketball state championship game falling to Belt 62-33.

The Scarlets defeated the Charlo Lady Vikings and it was Arlee’s defense that propelled them to the victory, according to Stockton. The Scarlets’ defense prevented the Vikings from getting clean shots from the floor as the Lady Vikings went 7-of-20 from the floor during the entire game.

“Charlo said they’ve been playing good basketball, they were one of the top teams in the district, and it was nice to be able to win a game like that and in that fashion,” Stockton said. “It was a big momentum boost for us. We executed on offense well and we shot 17-of-22 from the field. That gives us a 10-point advantage right there.”

Stockton attributes his team’s success during this part of the season to repetition.

“I think a lot of our success is practicing every day and getting in reps at game speed,” Stockton said. “We try to shoot free throws at moments that we are tired because you never get to shoot free throws in the game when you aren’t tired. Our players just calm down and relax when they are shooting free throws and that is more mental than anything. Right now, we are relaxing at the line and making these shots.”

Stockton attributes a lot of his team’s success offensively to Alyssa Vanderberg.

“This last week, Vanderberg was really impressive to watch,” Stockton said. “She was able to score 25 and 35 and that is a heck of a lot. Defensively, she was just a force especially against Charlo. She protected the rim well, blocked shots, scored double-digits in rebounds and left it out on the court. I hope that she continues to play that size and ability because she is able to protect the rim and she is really a force.”

Stockton also credits guards Noelle West and Nellie Desjarlais.

“I really think Noelle and Nellie have stepped up big for us and I think that comes from experience last year in the state tournament,” Stockton said. “Their contributions were very much needed. Noelle has become a field general for us on the floor as far as running the offense and Nellie has done a great job of complimenting the post play.”

West, who was one of the Scarlets’ key contributors down the stretch, has made a huge transformation.

“She made a huge transformation at the end of last season and that really made a huge difference for us this year,” Stockton said of West. “She had to replace Becca Whitesell and Carly Hergett, who was a returning all-state player. She was able to step up toward the end of last year and has really taken over that role. Her attitude and intensity level in practice has been strong. We are holding ourselves accountable, which is great.”

As Arlee prepares for the second half of its conference schedule, they know they will have to continue to win in order to get a high seed in what Stockton fully anticipates will be a competitive Western 14-C district.

“I think our District will be stronger than it was last year in 14-C but we are getting tough games and that helps our district moving forward,” Stockton said. “We are a little battle-tested before we get into the tournament. We have the ability to win on any night. We are seeing that every team in our district that is on the top of our list and (the teams) with two losses are all the teams in our District moving forward.”

An area that Stockton said he feels his team is strong in as they enter the second half of their playing conference opponents will be rebounding.

“We talk a lot about rebounding the basketball as a whole,” Stockton said. “We lost a lot of the rebounders that we had on last year’s team. We talk at length about making sure that all of the girls are rebounding every shot and we’ve been stressing limiting our turnovers. We are a little bit sloppier. Later in the year, when you start playing tournament games, you want to be unmerited in your turnovers, work on taking care of the basketball and improve on your rebounding progression before the tournament.”

Stockton knows as his Scarlets prepare to host Hot Springs on Jan. 18 and then travel to Valley Christian on Jan. 20 that his team is getting close to beginning preliminary preparation for the postseason.

“The amplified intensity really starts at the District Tournament and progressively it gets more intense,” Stockton said. “The quality of play for the Divisionals takes the next leap and the next leap is at state,” Stockton said. “The community does a great job of rallying behind these girls and not letting them get caught up in the moment or thinking the moment is bigger than it is.”

Arlee 46, Charlo 29

Arlee (4-1, 7-3), Charlo (3-2, 6-3)

Charlo 1 4 17 7 – 29

Arlee 6 10 11 19 – 46

CHARLO – Kaitlin Cox 14, Tyrah Hammond 4, Carlee Fryberger 3, Liev Smith 3, Sakoya Gaustad 2, Allie Delaney 2, Destiny Manuel 1.

ARLEE – Alyssia Vanderburg 7 11-14 25, Ashley Tanner 4 1-2 10, Noelle West 0 5-6 5, Nellie Desjarlais 2 0-0 4, Summer DarcAngelo 2.

3FGs: A1-10 (Tanner 1-2). A29reb (Vanderburg 12, Desjarlais 6, Emily Fiddler 4, DarcAngelo 3, West 2, Tanner, Halle Adams). A12ast (West 6, Desjarlais 2, Tanner 2, Vanderburg, Fiddler). A8stl (West 2, Desjarlais 2, Fiddler 2, Vanderburg, DarcAngelo). A10blk (Vanderburg 9, Tanner). A19defl (West 7, Fiddler 5, Vanderburg 4). (Th11Jan18)

Arlee 58, Mission 48

14C Arlee (6-3), 6B Mission (2-7)

Arlee 18 15 17 8 – 58

Mission 11 11 9 17 – 48

ARLEE – *Alyssia Vanderburg 11 7-9 31, *Nellie Desjarlais 7 2-5 16, *Summer DarcAngelo 2 0-2 5, Noelle West 1 0-1 2, Peyton Lammerding 2, Emily Fiddler 0 1-2 1, Ashley Tanner 0 1-3 1.

MISSION – Karolyna Buck 18, Syd Brander 11, Azia Umphrey 14, Leila Marsh 3, Ali Kienitz 2.

3FGs: A3-15 (Vanderburg 2-7, DarcAngelo 1-2). A40reb (Vanderburg 18, Desjarlais 6, Tanner 5, West 4, DarcAngelo 4, Fiddler 3). A14ast (Fiddler 4, Tanner 3, DarcAngelo 3, West 2, Desjarlais, Hailey Shepherd). A13stl (West 4, Vanderburg 3, Desjarlais 2, Tanner 2, Fiddler, DarcAngelo). A7blk (Vanderburg 6, West). A14defl (West 8, DarcAngelo 3). (Tu09Jan18)

Asterisk (*) denotes stat variant(s) where sideline specs differ from media coverage: media/venue 5p short (Vanderburg 30p, Desjarlais 14p, DarcAngelo 3p).