Five-for-six

Five-for-six.

The CCHS Lady Bulldogs have now made it to the Montana Class C State Girls' Basketball Tournament five times in the last six years. That's a pretty impressive stat by almost any standard.

Last year it took a Monday challenge game and eventual six-point win for the Lady 'Dogs to get to the state tournament. It was a game versus rival Jordan in which CCHS essentially won at the free throw line. This year, CCHS didn't need the challenge game to get there.

The Lady 'Dogs put themselves in a good position going into this year's Southern C Divisional. After winning the District 4C tourney two weeks prior in Miles City, they were set to play Absarokee in the first round at divisionals last Wednesday. CCHS put up 20 points in the first quarter and held Absarokee to 9. Lady Blue never looked back, and a big fourth quarter gave them a 31-point victory.

CCHS went 9 of 13 from the free throw line as six players made their way into the scoring column, led by Nasya O'Connor with 24. Heidi LaBree and Tyra O'Connor each had 8 rebounds. Absarokee was out-matched. They shot 1 of 3 from the free throw line and were led in scoring by Julianna Feddes who had 11 points and grabbed five rebounds.

CCHS 20 30 46 69

Absarokee 9 20 27 38

CCHS: Nasya O'Connor 24, Tyra O'Connor 19, Heidi LaBree 17, Codi Melton 4, Danica Shepherd 3, Kendall Kittelmann 2.

Absarokee: Julianna Feddes 11, Tandy Planichek 8, Keagan Sandlin 6, Avery Gates 6, Amber Peterson 3, Shayla Russell 2, Adisyn Kennedy 2.

The semifinal matchup at Lockwood High School on Friday night versus the Melstone Lady Broncs was more of a test for the Lady Bulldogs. Last year, CCHS lost to Melstone in the second round at divisionals by 14 points. This year, they were looking to reverse that.

It wasn't a fourteen point margin, but the girls got it done. They were up only three at the end of the third but outscored the Lady Broncs 15 to 8 in the final frame to win by 10. Earlier this season on December 2nd, CCHS defeated Melstone by 9.

Nasya O'Connor was again the games leading scorer with 23 points. She shot 11 of 16 from the charity stripe and had 11 rebounds. As a team, CCHS went 16-25 (64 percent) on free throws and turned the ball over 9 times. They out-rebounded Melstone 48-32; 23 of the Lady Bulldogs' rebounds were offensive. Melstone had 12 turnovers and shot 58 percent from the line. Avery Eike and Emma Myhre each had 11 points for the Lady Broncs.

CCHS 9 23 35 50

Melstone 8 18 32 40

CCHS: Nasya O'Connor 23, Tyra O'Connor 8, Heidi LaBree 8, Kendra Tooke 5, Codi Melton 3, Kendall Shepherd 3.

Melstone: Avery Eike 11, Emma Myhre 11, Maggie Eike 9, Savannah DeJaegher 5, Koye Rindal 4.

The semifinal win put Ekalaka back in the Southern C championship game for the first time since they won it in 2020. The Lady Bulldogs went into the game with a 20-2 win/loss record on the season. Their only two losses had been to Class B Baker. Roberts went in with a 22-1 record; their only loss was to Wibaux early in the season.

CCHS got off to a terrible start in the championship. They had a bunch of early fouls and struggled to find the bottom of the net on offense. Roberts had a 26-9 first-quarter lead and it looked like they might run away with it.

Lady Blue settled in and played a great second quarter though. With around two minutes left to go before halftime, CCHS had trimmed Roberts' lead to two points. It was a four point game at halftime.

Scoring slowed in the third quarter as the Bulldogs' defense held Roberts' Taylee Chirrick (who had 20 points in the first half) to two points in the third. Lady Blue started the final frame down three.

Roberts never lost the lead in the game though, and in the end their huge first quarter was just too much for CCHS to overcome. The Lady 'Dogs ended up losing the championship by 10 points, but since Melstone took third place earlier in the evening, CCHS still had a guaranteed ticket to state.

Chirrick finished with a game-high 24 points but only had four points in the second half. Nasya O'Connor led the scoring for CCHS with 20 points; she also had 9 rebounds. CCHS had nine turnovers and shot 46 percent on free throws; Roberts had 7 turnovers and shot 73 percent from the line.

CCHS 9 34 45 54

Roberts 26 38 48 64

Here's a recap of the CCHS Lady Bulldogs in the postseason since 2018:

2018 - Second at District 4C (lost to Wibaux), Southern C Divisional Champs (won vs. Harlowtown-Ryegate), state appearance

2019 - District 4C Champs, Southern C Divisional Champs (both wins over Wibaux), won one game at state tournament

2020 - Second at District 4C (lost to Melstone), Southern C Divisional Champs (won vs. Melstone), won one game at state tournament (state was then prematurely canceled due to COVID19)

2021 - District 4C Champs (won vs. Melstone), third place finish at Southern C Divisional after loss to Jordan in second round

2022 - Third at District 4C after loss to Jordan (defeated Wibaux in consolation), Second at Southern C Divisional after Monday challenge game win vs. Jordan, won one game at state

2023 - District 4C Champs (won vs. Broadus), Second at Southern C Divisional (lost to Roberts) state appearance TBD

The Lady Bulldogs' first game at the 2023 MHSA State Class C Girls' Basketball Tournament will be at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, March 8th inside the MetraPark First Interstate Bank Arena. CCHS will take on the west's number one seed, Twin Bridges. Records for the eight teams that qualified for the state tournament are as follows: CCHS (20-3), Chinook (25-1), Manhattan Christian (21-3), Plentywood (22-1), Roberts (23-1), Roy-Winifred (24-1), Saco-Whitewater-Hinsdale (23-0), Twin Bridges (21-2).