Lady Trojans advance with win over Harrison-WC

BUTTE – Despite two starters fouling out with almost a full quarter to play, The Drummond Lady Trojans held on to claim a 48-38 win over Harrison-Willow Creek in the opening round of the District 12C Tournament Thursday. The games are being played at the Maroon Activities Center in Butte, Montana.

The victory puts the Lady Trojans into the semifinals against county rival Granite High School. The Lady Prospectors defeated Lima in the tourney opener 38-32. The two will face off for the third time this year at 2 p.m. at the MAC.

As the game opened it appeared that the Lady Trojans would take full control. Their press was creating turnovers, shots were falling from the outside and the Wildcats were unable to find any kind of offensive rhythm. That mixture led to a 17-8 Drummond advantage after one quarter.

But when the second eight-minute stanza ensued, the tables were turned. The Lady Trojans were still getting some pressure from their press, but Harrison started finding shooting space from the outside. Dana Lerum got hot for the Wildcats with a trio of three pointers that helped propel her team back into the mix by halftime, trailing Drummond just 28-23.

Lerum and the Wildcats were not about to let the Lady Trojans escape after the break, closing the gap to a three-point margin at the end of the third, 38-35. Hannah Bradshaw and Holly Hauptman picked up their fourth personal fouls in the period and with 6:54 to go in the game Bradshaw fouled out on an offensive rebound attempt.

Two minutes later, the Drummond faithful saw Hauptman leave the game with her fifth, again on a rebound attempt. Drummond had to fill the post position by committee for the remainder of the game.

But in that fourth quarter the Lady Trojans amped up the defensive pressure while putting their offense back into motion. Sydney Phillips and Rylee Hilmo combined for 10 points in the period while Harrison could manage only 3.

Phillips had a season-best 34 points in the win for Drummond with Hilmo adding eight.

Lerum finished as the top scorer for the Wildcats with 19.

SCORING

DRUMMOND – 17/11/10/10 – 48

HARRISON-WC – 8/15/12/3 – 38

Drummond – Hilmo 8, Phillips 34, Parke 1, Hauptman 5

Harrison-WC – Chater 2, Bacon 12, Cima 5, Lerum 19