Lady Spartans Give Mavs Good Game But Fall Short In The End
Oh so close yet so far away.
The Scobey varsity girls’ basketball team made the 414-mile round trip to Whitewater Saturday, February 8, to take on the topranked North Country Mavericks.
The Lady Spartans gave a valiant effort against the top-ranked three-school squad based in Saco, Whitewater and Hinsdale but came up short in a 39-32 final score.
The 7-point margin gave the Mavericks their 70th consecutive victory, the most ever in Montana High School Association Class C girls’ basketball. The previous high mark for Class C girls was 69 straight wins by the Richey Royals, who were coached by Clarence “Butch” Zieske, a 1969 graduate of Scobey High School.
With the exception of a free throw for a 1-0 Mavs’ lead and a pair of ties at 1 and 2, the Spartans were never behind until the middle of the fourth quarter. They led by as much as 12-5 on Kaytie Aanstad’s field goal in the second period but a 3-point play by Bailee McColly and a 3-point field goal from the left wing by Gracie Wasson pulled the host team within 14-11 at halftime.
Emerson Downing’s field goal midway through the third quarter pulled the Mavericks into its third tie of the contest at 16-all. After Scobey eighth grader Emery Rouse’s field goal made it an 18-16 lead, Downing struck again for the fourth tie of the contest at 18-all.
