Lady Trojans lose close road battle

The Whitehall High School basketball team will once again be on the road this week with conference matchups Friday against Big Timber and Saturday against top ranked Three Forks.. In action last week, the Lady Trojans lost a tough 55-48 game Thursday at Anaconda, and fell 49-32 on Saturday at Boulder.

ANACONDA

Whitehall could not have asked for a better start to the game Thursday night against Anaconda. The Lady Trojans dominated the opening quarter outscoring the hosting Copperheads 18-9. Whitehall would maintain the nine point lead into half (28-19), but were unable to keep the momentum in the third quarter where they were outscored 18-4 in the hard fought 55-48 loss.

"I loved our start, we were aggressive both offensively and defensively," head coach Kelly Nieskens said. "Dorothy Mastel came to play. She dominated the first half."

In the third quarter of play, Nieskens said it was not about what the Copperheads did to stop his team, it was what Whitehall quit doing.

"We weren't attacking the basket like we did in the first half and Dorothy got in foul trouble. Her being out really changes how we have to play," he said.

Whitehall would fall behind as many as seven (37-30), before taking regaining the lead midway through the final period.

Nieskens praised his team for being able to get back into the game after the run by Anaconda.

"We've talked all year about getting tired and being able to push through that and to keep fighting to put yourself in position to win games," he said.

The Lady Trojans were led in scoring by Asha Noyes with 23 points. Mastel was also in double figures with 13 points. Allee Scafani, Hope Slater, Britney Welker and Kendra Klapan each had three points.

Whitehall would fall behind 17 in the third quarter Friday against the Lady Panthers, but battled back to within 10 before another run from Boulder sealed the game.

The Lady Trojans were led in scoring by Noyes with 16. Mastel had six, Scafani had four, Klapan finished with three, Slater had two and Ashlynn Ellison finished with one point.

Despite the set backs, Nieskens said he is loving how the team is headed in the right direction.

"It says a lot about the kids. They are getting the kind of support where people truly believe in them, the coaches believe in them, the next step is for them to start believing in themselves and be that team who will surprise people at the end of the season," he said.