Lady Bulldogs knock down South Dakota rivals

The Sundance Lady Bulldogs went up against two South Dakota teams this past week in a couple make-up games from earlier in the season.

The Lady Bulldogs first took on the Harding County Ranchers on Thursday night. Opening up with an impressive first half, the Lady Bulldogs put up 23 points behind the scoring of Aftyn Marchant and Cana McInerney. Taking a 23-7 lead at the half, the Bulldogs seemed to be in control of both the offensive and defensive end.

Although the Lady Ranchers struggled to score in the first half of play, Logan Kautzman found her stride in the second half, scoring 15 of their 21 points in the third quarter for the Ranchers. The Bulldogs could not put a stop to Kautzman as the Ranchers went on a 21-8 run, closing the gap 28-32 after three quarters of play. 

The Bulldogs found a renewed spirit in the final quarter, holding Kautzman to just two points. Taking the energy from their defense, the Bulldogs forged ahead on offense, adding 18 points in the fourth quarter to secure a 50-35 victory. 

Baillee Heaster controlled the boards for the Bulldogs throughout the game, pulling down ten rebounds as well as leading the offensive drive, scoring 14 points for the night. Sherry Negaard also netted 11 points for the night while Bailey Hofland helped in the rebounding effort with nine rebounds throughout the game.

On a frigid Monday night, the Lady Bulldogs faced the Gold Diggers of Lead-Deadwood in another make-up game. 

It was a slow start for the Lady Bulldogs, scoring only two points in the first quarter and falling behind 2-11. The second quarter wasn’t much better as both teams seemed to struggle to get the ball to fall through the net. Sherry Negaard helped the Bulldogs inch closer, scoring four of their six points throughout the second quarter.

Down by eight, 8-14, to start the third quarter, the Bulldogs began to warm up and find the basket. A change in defense seemed to be the spark needed to get their offense running. Coming up with some key defensive stops, the Bulldogs were able to close the quarter with a 9-0 run and tie the score at 20.

The intensity turned up for both sides in the fourth quarter. Taking almost two minutes for either team to score, it was the Bulldogs who were on the board first as Baillee Heaster made a defensive stop and found Sherry Negaard on the other end to put Sundance up 22-20.

Shortly thereafter, the Diggers found their way back to the hoop and the score was tied again at 22. Free throws became the name of the game down the stretch as the Diggers found themselves in foul trouble but needing to get the ball back.

Making six of ten free throws in the last four minutes of play, the Lady Bulldogs were no strangers to pressure. The Lady Diggers made one final push down the stretch as Madeleine Rogers connected from behind the arc, putting them down by one 27-28 with 48 seconds remaining.

Needing the ball back, the Diggers had to foul and sent Cana McInerney to the line for a double bonus shot. With 34.6 seconds left McInerney sank both free throws to seal the Lady Bulldogs 30-27 victory.

With their victories over the Ranchers and Gold Diggers, the Lady Bulldogs now stand with a 5-6 overall record, and 3-1 in the conference. They will get back into conference play this week as they travel to face the Tongue River Eagles and the Big Horn Rams later in the week.

Stats from the games:

SHS Girls vs. Harding County: 50-35

Scoring: Heaster 14 (2/4 FT, 2/4 3 pt.), Negaard 11 (5/6 FT, 0/3 3 pt.), A. Marchant 9 (7/8 FT), McInerney 8 (2/4 FT), Ba Hofland 5 (1/2 FT), Gill 2 (0/1 3 pt.)

Rebound Leaders: Heaster 10, Ba. Hofland 9, McInerney 6

Assist Leader: Gill 5

Steal Leader: Heaster 4

SHS Girls vs. Lead-Deadwood 30-27

No stats available

SHS Boys vs. Tongue River

Game was postponed to Tuesday night.