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Cowgirls capture top prize at District 1B tournament |
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Wednesday, 21 February 2007 |
With a pair of wins over Cut Bank and Fairfield the Cowgirls collected the number one trophy at the 1B District tournament in Cut Bank over the weekend.
Opening with the host team, the Lady Wolves, Conrad’s post player, Courtney Ellefsen put the Cowgirls up 2-0. It was a lead the team would never give up.
Senior Julie Brown followed with a score off a Wolves turnover, Amber Keil launched a three-ball shot and smoked the net for the first of two treys she would have in the game. Ellefsen banged home another bucket, Katie Schlepp drilled a three pointer and just like that Conrad had built a 12-0 lead.
 HAPPINESS IS TWO TROPHIES -- The Cowgirl basketball team displays their hardware, a trophy for being conference champs and the other for being District 1B champs after defeating Fairfield on Saturday in Cut Bank. From the left in front is Kylee Schlepp, Anna Pearson and Brittnee Wittmier. In the back is Ashley Beckham, Cassie Peters, Jenny Silvernale, Amber Keil, Serena Johnson, Courtney Ellefsen, Julie Brown, Katie Schlepp, Samantha Fagan, Head Coach Gerry Kulpas and Assistant Coach Anna Dahlman. I-O Photo by Buck Traxler
In the second quarter, Cassie Peters scored on a nifty reverse lay in. The Cowgirls racked up 14 more points for a 26-17 lead at the break.
Ellefsen scored 10 of her game high 18 points in the first half. Cut Bank, plagued by13 turnovers, saw the Cowgirls capitalize on the miscues for 20 points. The team also had nine markers on three point shots to three for the Wolves and five points from players off the bench.
Over the second half, the Cowgirls outscored Cut Bank 30-17, galloping to a 56-34 win.
Ellefsen put together a neat game, having a double-double – 18 points and 13 rebounds. Katie Schlepp, hit for nine, had five boards, six assists, a blocked shot and six steals. Brown pumped home eight markers, had five boards, two assists, a blocked shot and four steals. Keil popped for eight and had two steals. Serena Johnson tallied six markers and had four assists. Peters scored four and Kylee Schlepp hit for three.
The Cowgirls scored on 21-52 shots from the field and went 10-20 from the line. They out-rebounded Cut Bank 34-23, had 16 assists, 18 turnovers to 30 for the Wolves and 29 steals.
Conrad scored 37 points off of turnovers. The Wolves hit on 15-42 shots from the floor and were just 2-2 at the line.
The win set up a contest with the Fairfield Eagles on Saturday evening. While Conrad struggled, they came from behind to win the game, 47-3.
Early on Fairfield put Conrad in a hole, 0-8. Ellefsen finally got the Cowgirls on the board when she canned, for her, a rare three-pointer from the left corner.
The team came back to score 15 points but still trailed the Eagles 15-22 after the first period.
The second quarter belonged to Conrad as they shut down the Eagles, not allowing them to score from the field as they went on a 13-1 run. In the period, Brown pumped home a short jumper to get Conrad close at 21-23. Ellefsen tied the game and with :48 to go before the break, Keil bombed home a shot from outside for the squad’s first lead of the night, 26-23.
Over the second half the Eagles stayed close. Neither team could pull ahead with Fairfield just edging Conrad 20-19, but it was the Cowgirls getting the win and first place, 47-43.
Ellefsen tossed in 15 points and was one rebound short of another double-double game. Brown pumped home 10 markers, pulled down eight boards, had three blocked shots and three assists.
Johnson netted nine points, had three boards and three assists, Keil scored eight, Katie Schlepp scored five and had three steals.
Conrad hit on 15-51 shots from the field for a 29 percent shooting performance and went 14-21 at the line. They had only 12 turnovers to 19 for the Eagles, getting 17 points off of them while Fairfield got only six scores.
The Eagles went 16-49 from the field and were 7-9 at the stripe.
Conrad and Fairfield were one-two at the tournament and Shelby and Cut Bank were three and four.
At the Northern B Divisional tourney in Malta, Conrad opens against Wolf Point in the 1 p.m. game on Thursday.
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