MCDERMITT - With their thoughts on the league championship in a week, the McDermitt High School girls basketball team closed its home portion of the schedule in style with a pair of wins.
The Lady Bulldogs (13-4 overall, 8-1 Division IV East) cruised to a 68-27 victory Friday against Carlin and beat Owyhee 61-47 Saturday to clinch one of the top two spots in the Division IV East.
Lydia Northrup nearly outscored Carlin by herself, as the sophomore finished with 26 points, which included three 3-point field goals.
"Lydia is playing well right now," said MHS coach Jaimi Wilkinson. "She sees the floor well when she brings the ball up the floor. She is shooting the ball great."
The Lady Bulldogs scored 18 and 19 points, respectively, in the first and second quarter to build a 37-16 lead. The rout continued into the second half where the game was played with a running clock under the NIAA 40-point mercy rule.
Andrea Smart and Deandra Dave reached double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively, Va Draunidalo added seven, Megan Sam and Krissy Long four each and Dacy Horn and Jackie Alcaraz had two apiece.
"I didn't even go with my regular starting lineup," Wilkinson said. "Va came to me and asked if Jackie, Megan and Krissy could start. Va wanted Jackie (the only senior on the team) to start for her. That just shows me how far my team has come and matured."
McDermitt took on Owyhee for the second time in five days and despite the score being closer, the outcome was never in doubt. Four Lady Bulldogs scored in the first quarter in helping score nine of the first 11 points of the game. Northrup and Draunidalo combined for 10 of McDermitt's 15 points in the opening period.
Northrup continued her hot shooting in the second quarter with two 3-point field goals to give the Lady Bulldogs an 11-point lead on two occasions. Owyhee cut the deficit to 28-21 in the final minute of the first half, only to see Sam and Northrup push the margin back to 32-21 at halftime.
McDermitt all but put the game out of reach in the first 75 seconds of the second half with a 7-0 run off buckets by Draunidalo, Dave and a 3-point shot by Smart. The advantage didn't drop below 15 points the rest of the third quarter.
Northrup began the final eight minutes of play with an old-fashioned 3-point play to increase the lead to 50-32. Owyhee scored the next five points, but could get no closer.
Northrup led all scorers with 22 points, while Draunidalo added 11 and Dave eight. Alcaraz had six, Long five, Sam four, Smart three and Horn two.
The Division IV East championship will be up for grabs Friday when McDermitt travels to Eureka for a 6 p.m. tip. The Vandals are undefeated in league play and beat the Lady Bulldogs 54-47 in McDermitt earlier in the season. The winner will lay claim to the crown and likely play Coleville, Calif., in the opening round of the regional tournament.
"We had one bad quarter that cost us the game against Eureka," Wilkinson said. "We have been watching film and looking to find a way to beat them. After playing them the first time, my girls know that they can beat them now."[[In-content Ad]]
