Lady Trojans clinch D13C crown with win over Granite

DRUMMOND – It was a game that bore great meaning.

The winner was in the driver’s seat for the regular season title and a first round bye in the District 13C postseason tournament. The loser could drop as far as third and forced into a first-round game.

In the end, it was the Drummond Lady Trojans that posted a resounding 51-20 victory over the Granite Lady Prospectors Friday night in Drummond.

The Lady Trojans improved to 8-1 with one game to play, clinching the district title and claiming that Thursday bye.

The Lady Prospectors lost for the second straight game, still feeling the effects of a sickness that ran through the team last week. They fall to 6-3 and into a tie with Lincoln at 6-3. The two play in their regular season finale Saturday night in Philipsburg to determine second and third place, with the former also getting a first-round bye in the tournament.

As the game opened Drummond started fast and never took their foot off the gas, jumping out to a 12-3 lead after one quarter. They scored 16 more in the second to hold a 28-7 lead at halftime.

DHS Head Coach Logan Wilson won a district championship in just his first season at the helm, and reflected on it after the win.

“It feels good,” he said. “From day one until now the girls have gotten so much better in all facets of the game … I’m just proud of those girls because they made it easy on me.”

The Lady Prospectors have been fighting a flu bug since last week, falling to Seeley Swan last weekend before losing to Drummond Friday.

“We’re still struggling a little bit respiratory wise,” said GHS Head Coach Cash Laslovich, “but we just couldn’t get it going tonight.”

Senior Lexi Nelson had a game-high 16 points, including a trio of three pointers. Fellow senior Bailey Parke scored her jersey number, three. Freshman Remington Cline was also in double figures with 14 and her sister Charlee cobtributed 10.

Granite managed to get just three scorers into the book, led by Ramsey Smith with nine. Montannah Piar (7) and Addi Lilyquist (4) rounded out Granite’s effort.

The Lady Prospectors will hold their future in their own hands Saturday, hosting the Lady Lynx in Philipsburg. When these teams last met January 20, Granite beat Lincoln 53-39. Laslovich looked ahead to that crucial contest.

“Our defense was very solid tonight, so I’m good with that,” said Laslovich. “We just have to bring it tomorrow night and slow down. (We) have (to get) our feet going where our mind is and then just go out and play.”

Drummond’s final game is on the road at last-place Victor. Drummond’s Wilson is expecting to fine tune a few things as they head into the tournament.

“Tomorrow we’re gonna put those girls (starters) in and get them comfortable with a couple of little things we need to work on,” said Wilson. “Then we’re going to use some of those younger girls. They’ve lost so many games in that JV season and this is just a great opportunity to get them some more minutes.”

SCORING

Granite – 3/4/10/3 – 20

Drummond – 12/16/10/13 – 51

Granite – Smith 9, Piar 7, Lilyquist 4

Drummond – Parsons 6, Nelson 16, Parke 3, RCline 14, HSawfer 2, CCline 10