Lady T-cats still looking for league win

At the midway point in the season, the Lady Tigercats are still hoping to capture a league win and with the addition of two more athletes, the potential is promising. The LaCrosse-Washtucna/Kahlotus girls’ team has struggled in the first half of the season, and currently has a 0-13 record.

The Lady Tigercats had some success against Liberty Christian on Friday, and for the first time this season, the team led at halftime with a score of 20-12. The Lady Tigercats maintained the lead until the fourth quarter when the Lady Patriots outscored the LWK team, 18-5, and eventually lost to the Lady Patriots, 37-29, in the closest game of the season.

Joining the Lady Tigercats team for the first time this season are Madison Harder and Stephanie Kelly. Harder, a 5-foot-9 freshman, is playing as the dominant post player for the team, but can hit outside shots, as she sank a 3-pointer against Liberty Christian. Kelly is a sophomore athlete, who will help the team in a wing position.

During the game against the Lady Patriots, Lindsey Miller led the offensive drive for the Lady Tigercats with nine points. Ashtyn Aune contributed eight points, while Harder and LeAnne Blauert each had five points. Brooklynn Hostetler scored two points for the team.

The Lady Tigercats faced Tekoa-Oakesdale for the second time this season during a home game in LaCrosse. During the first match up of the two teams, the Lady Tigercats fell to TO, 63-9, but in the second game, showed improvement with a final score of 56-18.

Harder led the scoring drive at the beginning of the game and earned three points in the first quarter, the only points scored for the team in the quarter. The Lady Nighthawks got out to an early lead, 21-3, at the end of the first quarter, but the Lady Tigercats limited their points in the second quarter.

An ongoing issue for the Lady Tigercats is to effectively break a full court press in a timely manner, and the Lady Nighthawks press took the LWK team too long to split the press to get a controlled shot off. The Lady Tigercats continue to take shots nearly every time down the court, but have trouble getting the shots to fall.

Brittany Gordon came off the bench to lead the Lady Tigercats in scoring with four points, and Blauert also ended the night with four. Aune and Harder completed the game with three points each, and Hostetler and Breaze Wolfe each had two points.

Though the Lady Tigercats have yet to earn a win, the team continues to work well together and play hard from tip-off until the final buzzer sounds. With each of the athletes gaining more experience on the court, the scoring has become more balanced throughout the players, without the team needing to rely solely on one teammate.

The team moves on to face Rosalia at a home game in Washtucna on Friday, Jan. 18, beginning at 6 p.m. The next day the team travels to Palouse to take on Garfield-Palouse, with game time set for 5 p.m.