Lady Bulldogs Win First Game

DAYTON - The Lady Bulldogs received a hardwon gift over the holidays at the annual Christmas Tournament in Dayton - their first win of the season.

Playing Wednesday, Dec. 29, against the 2B sports combine Lacrosse-Washtucna, the Bulldogs dominated on the board. Dayton stole the evening with a 45-28 win against the Tigercats.

"We had everyone back (on the squad) for the first time all season," an excited head coach Scott Hudson said. "We did not shoot well at all, and we need to improve. We did, however, get in many shots (82 total), so that helped even out the shooting percentage."

Sophomore McKayla Bickelhaupt led the team in this non-league game with 14 points against Lacrosse- Washtucna. Scoring between other teammates was fairly evenly spread out.

The Bulldogs started strong and finished on the same vein during this, their first game of the tournament.

On Thursday, Dec. 30, the Lady Bulldogs were not as successful against the Kiona- Benton Bears in day two, the championship round of the tournament.

"This was a very close game the entire time," Hudson said. "But we are definitely improving and playing as a team now."

Against the 1A school Kiona-Benton, Dayton was pretty evenly matched. The final score was 46-36 in Kiona-Benton's favor, but the Kennewick-area ladies had to work hard for their 10-point win, Hudson said.

The Lady Bulldogs came out strong in the first quarter but flattened out in the third quarter after being up by three at the half. In the final quarter of the evening, both teams scored 14 points.

"We were down by five or six points with just under a minute to play and fouled," Hudson said.

The Bears made their free throws and took away the tournament championship.

"We actually played a pretty good game, and the girls handled the pressure very well," Hudson said. "We just need to learn to finish and make our free throws. Kiona-Benton is a very good ball club."

This was only the second time the Lady Bulldogs have played with its complete varsity squad this year.

"It was nice to have everyone healthy, and we will work hard in practice to get ready for a starting league game this next week," Hudson said.

The Lady Bulldogs play two league games later this week. They go against Walla Walla Valley Academy at home on Thursday and travel to Liberty Christian on Saturday.

DAYTON GIRLS

Dayton vs. Lacrosse-Washtucna (Dec. 29)

Dayton 16941645

Lacrosse-Washtucna879428

Dayton (45) McKayla Bickelhaupt 14, Samura Miller 7, Shelby Smith 7, Courtney Mings 6, Jessica Tate 4, Nicole Lambert 2.

Dayton vs. Kiona-Benton (Dec. 30)

Dayton 13541436

Kiona-Benton 69171446

Dayton (36) Courtney Mings 12, Nicole Lambert 8, Jessica Tate 5, Shelby Smith 4, Samura Miller 2, Courtney Fuller 2, Malia Frame 2, Darci Hall1.