Bulldog Basketball
Author: Gary Bauman, MT43 News Sports Correspondent
Bulldog Basketball
Gary Bauman
MT43 News Sports Correspondent
Bulldogs Face the Wolves in the First Round of Tournaments
Wednesday the Townsend Bulldogs opened the district tournament with the second place Three Forks Wolves. Dylan Swenson led Three Forks to a big first-half lead with 15 of his 19 points coming in the first half. The Bulldogs, led by Tavyn Anderson’s 7 first-half points, could not keep up with Three Forks, as they saw themselves facing a 41 to 18 deficit at the half. The Dogs were able to get some production out of Ryedan Reed who put up 10 points in the second half, but that would not be enough as Three Forks won the first round of tournaments, 76 to 44.
Tavyn Anderson 14, Ryedan Reed 11, Sawyer Horne 7, Grady Erickson 5, Trenton Hoveland 3, Caden Tew 2, Wyatt Robertson 2
Bulldogs Put Four Players in Double Digits in Loser Out Game
Thursday afternoon the Townsend Bulldogs faced tournament elimination with the Ennis Mustangs. Both teams, fighting for their lives in the tournament, were all squared up at 23 in the first half. Trenton Hoveland had the hot hand scoring 7 of his 15 points which included three 3’s for the Bulldogs. The second half belonged to the Mustangs as Clintin Buyan had 11 of his game-high 22 points as the Dogs just couldn’t keep pace with the Mustangs in the second half, being outscored by 5. The Dogs were eliminated from the tournament 67 to 62.
Ryedan Reed 16, Trenton Hoveland 15, Sawyer Horne 14, Deegan Mattson 11, Tavyn Anderson 3, Grady Erickson 3
Lady Dogs Face the Lady Wolves in the First Round of Districts
Thursday afternoon the Lady Dogs opened the District 5B tournament against Three Forks. The Wolves struck first, getting out to an early 10-point lead led by sophomore Maddie Tesoro. From there, the Bulldogs got hot from the field. Big 3’s by seniors Emily Bird and Ella Begger allowed the Dogs to keep pace with the Wolves in the second quarter. Coach David Lawson made some adjustments at the half and the Lady Dogs went on a streak in the third quarter, outscoring the Wolves by 7 to put them within two points going into the final quarter. In the final minute, the Dogs were finally able to take the lead with a free throw by Kaitlyn Noyes. That lead was quickly erased as Tesoro hit a layup with 18 seconds to play, putting the Wolves up 1, 51-50. After two misses for the Bulldogs, Sophomore Holly Newman found an offensive rebound, a basket and a foul with 5 seconds left in the game. That shot and a free throw gave the Bulldogs the lead for good as the Dogs won 53-51 and advanced to the semi-final game.
Ella Begger 12, Kaitlyn Noyes 12, Emily Bird 9, Holly Newman 8, Cassidy Flynn 6, Emmalin Fischer 4
The Lady Dogs Face the High-Ranked Jefferson Panthers
Friday afternoon the Lady Dogs faced the 17-1 Jefferson Panthers in the semi-finals of the district tournament. Jefferson showed why they were the top team in the district early, jumping to a 19 to 8 lead over the Dogs. A Panther-balanced attack that had all of the girls in the scoring column was difficult for the Dogs to defend. To go with that, the Panthers forced 20 turnovers on the Lady Dogs in the first half alone. The Dogs found themselves down 17 going into halftime. The Panthers continued to pull away from the Dogs in the third quarter, building a 40-point lead and forcing a running clock by the end of it. The Dogs fell to the Panthers 22 to 60.
Ella Begger 9, Kaitlyn Noyes 6, Emily Bird 5, Mishayla Lambott 2
Bulldogs Face Elimination in the Saturday Morning Game
Saturday morning the Lady Dogs faced off against the Whitehall Trojans for loser-out action in the district tournament. The Dogs came out with some fire in their system. Led by Ella Begger’s 9 first-half points, the Dogs built a lead of 13 points. The second half was dominated by Kaitlyn Noyes for the Dogs. She amassed 14 points and 23 rebounds on the day as the Dogs never faltered. Holly Newman sealed the game with a couple 3’s late en route to her game-high 16 points. The Bulldogs advanced to the consolation game of the district tournament.
Holly Newman 16, Kaitlyn Noyes 14, Ella Begger 9, Cassidy Flynn 6, Emmalin Fischer 5, Emily Bird 2, Abby Wickens 2, Bryleigh Erickson 2, Taylor Cartwright 1, Jazel Ragen 1
Lady Dogs Take on Ennis Mustangs for Third Place
Saturday evening, the Bulldogs faced Ennis for a chance to punch a ticket to the divisional tournament in Billings. The Dogs struggled early to box out, giving up 13 offensive rebounds in the first half. Megan Knack had 6 of those turn into points as she scored 14 of her 17 points going into the half with a Mustang lead of 34 to 19. The Dogs, led by Sophomores Kaitlyn Noyes and Holly Newman, who had 12 total points a piece, clawed their way back into the game with about 1 minute to play. Up by just two points, the Ennis Mustangs had three steals in the last three possessions, sealing the game for Ennis, 48 to 41.
Holly Newman 12, Kaitlyn Noyes 12, Ella Begger 7, Emily Bird 5, Emmalin Fischer 3, Jazel Ragen 2
