Ladies even the score against the Bison

The Lady Dogies finished out their regular season last week with two more tough games against the number one ranked Lady Bearcats of Douglas and the number two ranked Lady Bison of Buffalo. 

Douglas picked up their second win against Newcastle on Thursday, but their margin of victory was much closer than it was when the two teams met in Douglas. On February 16th, the Lady Cats handled the Lady Dogies winning 80-41, and this time they had to finish strong to come away with the 60-46 victory. 

Then on Saturday, Newcastle hosted the Lady Bison who had bested them by 11 a month ago in Buffalo. This time, the Lady Dogies were the dominant team who walked away with the 61-42 victory.

“This was a much better week for us, even though the Douglas game didn’t come out the way we would have liked,” head coach Chad Ostenson began. “However, I saw some things that we did really well and we will tweak a few things for when we see them again.”

The Lady Dogies came out firing on all cylinders against Douglas on Thursday, and led the number one ranked team 15-12 at the end of the first quarter. However, the Lady Cats took advantage of a few mistakes by Newcastle in the second quarter to take a 30-18 lead into the locker room at the half. 

Newcastle made up some ground in the third quarter to pull within 11, and they got to within six points as the contest neared the end, however then had to foul which inflated the score to the 16 point differential.

“They are a good team and they took advantage of our mistakes,” Ostenson admitted. “I bet if we look at the stats, their points off our turnovers made the difference in the game.”

Jaylen Ostenson led her team with 22 points, Hunter McFarland was next with 10, Jayde Harrington added eight points while MacKenzie Conzelman and Oakley Checketts chipped in three points apiece.

On Saturday, the Lady Dogies were ready for a win, and it was evident as the contest against the Lady Bison got underway. Newcastle put on an offensive and defensive clinic in the first quarter jumping out to a 20-8 lead heading into the second. 

“I think that Buffalo is probably the best team in the state,” Ostenson claimed. “Our defense looked very good against them, like it did against Douglas, and we shot well and we also took care of the ball really well.”

Buffalo chipped into the Lady Dogie lead in the second quarter, but Newcastle still held a six point advantage heading into the locker room.

In the second half, Newcastle outscored the Lady Bison 32-19 to come away with the win. 

Ostenson again led her team in scoring with 21 points, Conzelman was next with 14 points on the back of hitting four three pointers, Shelby Tidyman was right behind with 13 points, Harrington added six points and pulled down 17 rebounds, Checketts had five points and McFarland chipped in two to round out the scoring.

In the last couple of weeks, the Lady Dogies have gone up against their toughest competition of the season, which is just what Coach Ostenson wanted for his team as they prepare for the Regional Tournament this weekend.

“Last year, we might have peaked the week before Regionals, but I think we’re going in the right direction now,” Ostenson stated. “We knew we would be going through the gauntlet these last two weeks, and we did, but I think it was just what we needed to get us ready for tournament time.” 

The Lady Dogies will tip off the 3A East Regional Tournament in Torrington with the 9 am game this Thursday as they take on the Lady Blazers on their home court.