BACK 2 BACK

The Carter County High Lady Bulldogs left no doubt when they defeated Wibaux in the Southern C Divisional championship game on Saturday night in Laurel. The game was a rematch of this year's District 4C title game, when the Bulldogs beat the Longhorns 61-55. At the divisional championship, the girls had an eight point lead at halftime and went on to win by 20. CCHS split games with Wibaux in the regular season. Last year they defeated Harlowton/Ryegate in the Southern C Divisional championship after losing to Wibaux in the District 4C title game.

To get to the championship, Blue played a tough Park City team in the opening round. They outscored the Panthers 18-6 in the third quarter and went on to win by 13. Heather LaBree led all scorers with 15 points. She hit a pair of three pointers in the second quarter.

CCHS 12 23 41 54

Park City 11 22 28 41

CCHS: Heather LaBree 15, Tori Tooke 13, Kari Kittelmann 8, Whitney Kittelmann 6, Hannah LaBree 6, Ella Owen 6

Park City: Breanne Smith 9, Blakely Verke 8, Hayley Story 8, Alyx Grabowska 8, Kasidy Robbins 4, Sydney Kluth 3, Abby Hoffman 1

The semifinal game was a rematch of last year's semifinal with CCHS taking on the Bridger Scouts. Blue was down by one at halftime. CCHS coach Kayla Olsen had her team fired up for the second half, though. The girls outscored Bridger 32-5 in the third quarter and steamrolled their way to a 30 point victory. Whitney Kittelmann led Blue with 15 points. Four Dogs finished the game in double figures.

CCHS 6 22 54 70

Bridger 13 23 28 40

CCHS: Whitney Kittelmann 15, Heather LaBree 12, Tori Tooke 11, Kari Kittelmann 10, Ella Owen 9, Hannah LaBree 5, Kenzie Tooke 4, Heidi LaBree 2, Gracie Tooke 2

Bridger: Emily Adkins 20, Desiree Jones-Scott 6, Jessica Adkins 6, Serena Oyler 3, Hope Byessing 2, Maria Stringari 2, Grace Aisenbrey 1

The Lady Bulldogs had a great start in the championship game against Wibaux, taking a 19-6 first quarter lead. The Longhorns hung around until the fourth quarter though. Blue was up only 9 but a pair of Kari Kittelmann three pointers and three inside buckets from Ella Owen helped put the game out of reach. CCHS went on to win 61-41.

CCHS 19 27 41 61

Wibaux 6 19 32 41

CCHS: Heather LaBree 17, Whitney Kittelmann 11, Ella Owen 10, Kari Kittelmann 9, Tori Tooke 7, Hannah LaBree 5, Heidi LaBree 2

Wibaux: Marni Schieffer 18, Layni Schieffer 12, Ceara Miske 5, Shantel Bertelsen 3, Madison Bakken 2, Odessia Linwood 1

In the tournament, CCHS shot 46-74 (62 percent) from the charity stripe. They averaged 22.5 turnovers per game while forcing 29.5. Heather LaBree was the leading scorer for the Bulldogs over the weekend, averaging 14.5 points per game.

CCHS will play their first game at the state tournament against Box Elder at 8 p.m. on Thursday night. Box Elder won the state title last year, and spent much of this year at the top of the Class C ranks. They lost the Northern C championship game to Roy/Winifred. Roy Winifred will take on Wibaux in the first state tourney game at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday. The tournament is being held at Montana ExpoPark Pacific Steel & Recycling Four Seasons Arena in Great Falls.

Games will be live streamed by NFHS Network. Fans can find the link to register at mhsa.org. 960 KFLN AM out of Baker will be broadcasting the games on the radio as well.