Lady Cowboys Start Tournament Play and Honor Seniors

The Lady Cowboys had a great week last week playing their final two regular season games as well as their district tournament play in game.

The Lady Cowboys started the week hosting Watersprings while celebrating their senior night.  Prior to the start of the game the Lady Cowboys three senior players were escorted onto the court by members of their families.  The three seniors for North Gem are Katelyn Whiting, Mercedez Mabey, and Kaly Foster.  There was great support for the seniors and the rest of the team as they took on the Warriors from Watersprings.  In the first quarter the Cowboys played well and took an early four point lead.  In the second quarter the two teams matched each other basket for basket and at the halftime break the Lady Cowboys still held the lead by four.  In the third quarter the Lady Cowboys opened up their offense and surged to a more comfortable twelve point lead.  In the fourth quarter all three seniors added to the game total and the Lady Cowboys earned the victory over the Warriors.

Next up for the Lady Cowboys was the American Heritage Patriots.  Early in the season the Cowboys had hosted the Patriots in Bancroft.  That game ended with a twenty point victory for the Lady Cowboys.  This go around not much would change.  In the first quarter the game was competitive with a close score.  As the first ended the Cowboys did have the lead but only by a slim one point margin.  In the second period Sage Daniels put up six points by herself and North Gem jumped the lead to eight points.  In the third quarter the Lady Cowboy defense was solid as it held the Patriots to just three points and the lead grew even more.  North Gem really got things clicking in the fourth with their largest scoring output of the game.  Shalyn Thompson led the way in the quarter with seven points.  The Lady Cowboys cruised to another twenty point victory over the Patriots in this game.

With such a large district and finishing towards the bottom of that district the Lady Cowboys needed to play a play-in game just to get into the district tournament.  That game took place on Saturday in Bancroft against none other than the Watersprings Warriors.  For the second time in the same week the Cowboys and Warriors faced off.  This time it was for the right to continue their season.  The winner would move on to the district tournament while the loser would have their season come to an end.  The Lady Cowboys had just beaten the Warriors by eighteen points just four days earlier.  This time however the game would be much more challenging with so much on the line.  This game would be a low scoring affair with neither team being able to break away.  In the first quarter the difference in score came down to a single foul shot.  Each team only made one field goal but the Cowboys earned two foul shots while the Warriors only managed to score one.  Free throws once again helped the Cowboys in the second period.  The Warriors were able to outscore the Cowboys from the field but North Gem added three free throws to hold a three point lead going into the halftime break.  Free throws would be all that North Gem would be able to make in the third quarter as they watched their slim lead dwindle to just a single point once again.  With the season on the line both teams tightened their defense forcing this game to be won at the free throw line.  The Lady Cowboys missed both of their free throws in the fourth quarter but were able to add two baskets.  The Warriors had plenty of opportunities to win the game as they were sent to the line for eleven free throws.  Luck was with the Cowboys as they watched the Warriors go a dismal three for eleven from the charity stripe and North Gem survived to play another day by just two points.  The win earned the Lady Cowboys a date with number one seed Rockland on Tuesday.  Check out next week’s edition to see how that game turned out and how the Lady Cowboys fared in the rest of the tournament.

Cowboys 8 8 12 8 36

Warriors 4 8 4 2 18

S.Daniels 4, K.Whiting 7, M.O’Brien 11, S.Thompson 4, D.Frandsen 2, M.Mabey 6, K.Foster 2

Cowboys 9 11 8 14 42

Patriots 8 4 3 7 22

S.Daniels 15, K.Whiting 2, M.O’Brien 3, S.Thompson 13, D.Frandsen 2, M.Barnes 5, K.Foster 2

Cowboys 4 8 3 4 19

Warriors 3 6 5 3 17

S.Daniels 4, K.Whiting 2, M.O’Brien 4, S.Thompson 3, D.Frandsen 3, M.Barnes 3