Lady Bulldogs Basketball report

by Coach Beau Swopes

The Lady Bulldogs opened the season November 26th against the Lady Blackhawks of Adrian.  The game went back and forth with neither team able to gain a substantial lead.  The Lady Bulldogs faced early foul, trouble but were able to go into the locker room with an early 3 point lead 31-28.  In the second half,  the Lady Bulldogs were able to increase their lead but in the fourth quarter foul trouble and costly turnover came back to hurt them and the Lady Blackhawks were able to tie the game with just over a minute left.  Reese Schaaf hit two big freethrows to get the lead back and Morgan Mitchell forced a steal late in the game to help increase lead.  The game came down to the last shot as the Blackhawks missed a 3 that would’ve tied the game and the Lady Bulldogs left victorious with a 66-63 win.  Scoring for the Lady Bulldogs:  Reese Schaaf 30, Macie Mays 11, Tevi Gurley 8, Chloe Middleton 6, Wriley Taylor 6, Hannah Klaiber 3, and Morgan Mitchell 2.

Last week, the Lady Bulldogs competed in the Warsaw Tournament as the overall #2 seed.  Their first round game was against the Lincoln Lady Cardinals.  The Lady Bulldogs jumped out to early 30-12 lead in the first half by forcing Lincoln in multiple turnovers.  The Lady Bulldogs continued the defensive pressure in the second half out scoring the Lady Cardinals 29 to 6, to take the victory with a score of 67-18.  Leading the Lady Bulldogs in scoring:  Macie Mays 25, Reese Schaaf 19, Wriley Taylor 7 and Kenley Widener 5.

The Semi final round, was against conference opponent the Bulter Lady Bears who came in as the #3 seed.  The Lady Bulldogs jumped out to an early first quarter lead 16-3.  From that point on the Lady Bears chipped away at the lead, but never got closer than 6 points.  The Lady Bulldogs were able to hang on for the win 55-45.  Leading the Lady Bulldogs in scoring was:  Reese Schaaf 27, Macie Mays 12, and Tevi Gurley 7.  

The Championship game was Friday night against the #1 seeded Skyline Lady Tigers.  The game went back and forth in the first quarter, with the Lady Bulldogs holding a slim 2 point lead 15-13.  In the second quarter,  the Lady Bulldogs were able extend that lead to 13 points and take a score of 34-21 into the halftime locker room.  In the third quarter, Skyline cut into the lead and closed the gap to 3 by hitting a shot at buzzer.  In the fourth quarter,  the Lady Bulldogs hit big free throws and pulled off the win 68 to 61.  The championship game saw a lot of free throws as the Lady Bulldogs hit on 39 of their 50 attempts.  Sophomore, Reese Schaaf was named tournament MVP, but the bigger prize was winning the Championship trophy.  Leading the Lady Bulldogs in scoring was:  Reese Schaaf 31 and Macie Mays 25.  “I’m extremely proud of this group, every team member contributed to a great week of Lady Bulldog basketball.  We are very thankful, for all the support from our fans who made the trip to Warsaw to cheer us on.”