Lady Panthers take 3C gold; To face Brockton today in Divisionals

The Saco-Whitewater Lady Panthers have had an exceptional year only losing one game in the Glasgow Showcase earlier in the year. The team solidified their dominance of the 3C District by bringing home the tournament's gold last Saturday.

The team wasn't fazed by the first round bye they received in the tournament, as they went on to defeat Lustre Christian 82-12 in the semi-finals last Friday.

The Lady Panthers went on to face and defeat the Scobey Spartans 60-43 in the district championship match on Saturday.

"We weren't going to settle for second place, it has been a while since we have won a district championship," Lady Panthers head coach Amber Erickson told the PCN. "The girls just felt like they wanted to come out and make a statement."

Because of their placing in the district tourney, the Lady Panthers are slated to go against 2C's fourth place seed, the Brockton Warriors today in Wolf Point in the Eastern C Divisional Tournament.

If Saco-Whitewater can make it past Brockton they will take on the winner of the Nashua and Fairview game in the Semi-Finals on Thursday at 6 p.m.

If The Lady Panthers lose in the first or second round, they will have to win out and hope they qualify for a challenge game.

If they lose in the championship, they face danger of being knocked out in a challenge game.

Only two teams from the Easetern C will make the C State Tournament in Missoula next week.

On the other side of the bracket, the Dodson Coyotes will take on the Circle Wildcats at 5:30 p.m.

Mon-Dak and Scobey will face off at 7:00 p.m.

In the team's 60-43 3C championship win against the Scobey Lady Spartans, Kourtney Simonson scored 17 points and had six rebounds.

Keira Simonson also had a great game, knocking down three treys, scoring a total of 16 points and registering six rebounds.

Tatum Moore had 15 points in the win. Moore was 5 of 5 from the free throw line.

Though Larimie Scheffelmear was targeted defensively by Scobey, she still scored six points and recorded nine rebounds.

Jada Sudbrack had four points and Kayla Howard had two points.

The team only turned the ball over eight times, which is stellar for any team.

Coach Amber Erickson is known for having a fast and stingy defense and the team's reputation lived up to it's name against the Spartans, who the Lady Panthers have bested three times this year.

"The key more than anything was that we played good, aggressive, smart man to man defense," Coach Erickson said. "Our guards put a lot of pressure on their guards defensively."

The team had an even more impressive win against Lustre, winning the game 82-12.

Keira Simonson led the team with 17 points, Scheffelmear had 16 points and five rebounds. Moore had 14 points. Sudbrach had 14 points. Kourtney Simonson eight points and four rebounds. Kayleigh Cummings had four points. Kayla Howard, Kaycee Howard, Mickayla Johnson and Cassity Boucher had two points and Bailey Funk had one point.