Lady Dogs To District Semi-Finals

DAYTON - The best word to describe the Lady Bulldogs' playoff victory over Tri Cities Prep Tuesday night?

Convincing.

Dayton beat the Jaguars, 61-42, and will face Asotin in the districts semifinals at Whitman College in Walla Walla at 5 p.m. on Saturday.

" It's a privilege to be where we are," freshman Lexie Ramirez said, crediting her coaches, Clayton Strong and Nikki Fullerton, with the team's extraordinary growth. "It's the best feeling in the world."

The Lady Bulldogs are now 6-7 in league and 8-13 overall, one of the better records in the past several years. The team, which Ramirez said feels like a family more than ever, has momentum going into the semifinals.

They're going to need every bit of it in this weekend's loser-out game against second-ranked Asotin, which Dayton hasn't managed to beat yet.

"If we push the ball like we can, we should be all right," Strong said.

If Tuesday night's game is any indication, the Lady Bulldogs have the fire to dominate the game.

The Jaguars were able to keep up with the Bulldogs' for the first quarter, which saw the Tri Cities team keep slightly ahead, 14-13, at the buzzer.

But the second period was a different story. Despite a TCP trey, Dayton outscored the Jaguars, 17-7, helped along by the other team's poor shots from the field and by controlling the turnover battle. Dayton's defense, particularly against 5-foot, 8- inch, Maddie LeBrun, wasn't too shabby either.

" They kept at them," Strong said. "Last time we played them, she scored 15 in the first half - this time only five."

The Bulldogs' third quarter was even more impressive. The girls lit up the board with 24 points against TCP's eight points, giving the scrappy team a yawning 23-point lead at 54-31.

"I thought our ball movement was better," Strong said about the tight and often long passes that set players like Nicole Lambert, Courtney Fuller and Shelby Smith up for easy layups. "That gave us confidence and it's a sign we're growing as a team."

At times, the girls appeared to have almost the same ease as their counterparts on the boys' team with their Globetrotters moves. Lambert wowed the home crowd with a back-bended layup, scored after passing underneath the bucket and throwing the ball with a behind-the-back motion.

On the next play in the third quarter, all Dogs were under the Jaguars' basket to catch the rebound and put it in, while on the other coast they kept the offense of their game just enough to force miscues and miss fires.

Junior McKayla Bickelhaupt's treys were a feast for the eye, keeping the crowd in the game and vaulting her team ever further ahead until the Jaguars' playoff hopes dissolved in a 61-42 Dayton triumph.

Strong and Ramirez said the Lady Dogs will have to focus on guarding Asotin's taller players, who were the key to the Panthers' regularseason victories over Dayton.

"We have to play hard," Ramirez said.

Dayton vs TCP

61-42

Dayton (61) 13 17 24 7 - 61

TCP(42) 14787-42

Nicole Lambert 17

McKayla Bickelhaupt 16

Shelby Smith 10

Malia Frame 7

Jessica Tate 5

Courtney Fuller 3

Lexie Ramirez 2