Lady Prospectors fall to Blackhawks, 65-42

PHILIPSBURG – In a game for a share of the District 13 lead, Granite fell short against the visiting Blackhawks from Seeley Swan, 65-42.

The loss now leaves Seeley atop the standings with a perfect 9-0 Mark while Granite falls to 7-2. The issue for the latter is that they are now just one game ahead of the Lady Trojans in the loss column with the two clubs set to face each other Wednesday in Drummond.

That game will be broadcast live on the NFHS Network and with an audio-only broadcast on Facebook, with audio for both broadcasts supplied by the Flint Creek Courier.

The Lady Prospectors started strong, holding Seeley at bay while edging out to an 8-4 lead. But once the Blackhawks found their legs they crept back in to lead 9-8 by period’s end.

But Granite wasn’t done, kicking their offense into high gear to out-pace the visitors 19-16 in the second stanza to lead 27-25 at halftime.

Part of that run was fueled by Granite’s starting five being able to play while in foul trouble. After two periods all five Lady Prospectors had at least three fouls and had put the Blackhawks in the double bonus at the free throw line.

“They were playing well and we had a lead going into halftime,” said GHS Head Coach Brandon Piazolla of the decision to leave his starters in despite the foul trouble. “I just decide to go with what was working.”We turned it over too much at the end. Our girls played really hard and they did everything we asked them to do. We just got in foul trouble way too early and had to sit some people in the fourth quarter and that hurt us.”

After the break Seeley made adjustments that allowed their scoring to continue to improve, running out to a 40-15 advantage that put the game out of reach.

Rachel Ward and Asha Comings led the Lady Prospectors with 14 and 13 points, respectively.

Granite has three games left in the regular season, starting with the county rivalry game in Drummond Wednesday. A win there locks them into the #2 seed going into the postseason. A loss leaves the door open for the Lady Trojans to slip passed them and drop the Lady Prospectors to third.

Granite follows Wednesday’s game up with a road game at Twin Bridges Friday and at Lincoln Saturday.