Lady Trojans battle hard at District Tournament

While they may not have come away with a victory at last week's 5B District Tournament in Belgrade, the Whitehall High School girls basketball team showed plenty of promise for the future with two strong performances.

The sixth seeded Lady Trojans fell 38-26 Thursday to rival Boulder, and were eliminated from the tournament Saturday in a close 40-35 loss to Big Timber.

"Their defense put them in a spot to win. For them to come out and execute – as a coach you love that. They did everything I asked. We were in a position to win both games," head coach Kelly Nieskens said.

In their first two games of the season against Big Timber, Whitehall lost 53-34 at home and 55-32 on the road and going into an elimination game Saturday morning, Nieskens said they wanted to change up their starting lineup so they could play quick and fast – and be the aggressor.

Whitehall would trail 23-14 at halftime and 33-25 at the end of the third quarter before a furious rally pulled them to within four points.

Nieskens praised the defense, but said much like the game against Boulder, they just had trouble hitting shots.

The Lady Trojans were led in scoring by Dorothy Mastel who had 11 points. Hope Slater and Asha Noyes each had eight points. Kendra Klapan and Meagan Johnson both added three, and Allee Scafani finished with two points.

In the first game of the tournament, Whitehall came out of the gates strong and took a 7-4 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Lady Panthers would answer back in the second quarter and take a 17-14 lead into halftime. Trailing by just four (23-19) going into the fourth quarter, Boulder would outscore the Lady Trojans 15-7 in the fourth to come away with a 12-point victory.

Following the game, Nieskens said they had a great game plan, and that was the best they have played on defense all season.

"Our biggest problem was putting the ball in the hole and we couldn't do it when it mattered most," he said.

The Lady Trojans were well balanced with seven players scoring.

Noyes led the team with six, Britney Welker had five, Klapan and Mastel had four, Macee Patritti finished with three, and Slater and Scafani each added two points.

Nieskens said the balance scoring is something the team has been looking for all season.

"We've always had one or two who are main scorers, but you have to have other people score otherwise you are predictable to defend," he said.

Looking back on his first year with the team, Nieskens said the team would come back strong next season.

"We are so dang young. This summer will be good for us," he said.