Lady Bucks claim eighth place at state tournament

SPORTS SHORTS
by Scott Boyle
The Monticello Lady Buckaroos won two and lost two at the 1A Girls State Basketball Championships in Richfield last week, taking eighth place.  
Led by Zoe Chadwick and Mary Beh, the girls from Monticello placed at the 1A tournament for the first time since 2006, when they placed sixth.
Wins over Manila and Duchesne were sandwiched between losses to Bryce Valley and Milford, giving the girls a four-day run at the tournament and a place at the state table.
In the opener, the Lady Bucks ran into the hottest team in the tournament, the sixth seeded Bryce Valley Mustangs, who upset the Region 19 number one seed Lady Bucks, 55-30, on their way to two more upsets and a second place finish.  
It was a bad case of first game tournament jitters for the Lady Bucks as they couldn’t find the basket in the first half.  Mary Beh scored the first basket of the game for the Lady Buckaroos, but they didn’t get another basket in the entire first half, scoring only six more points, all from the foul line, to trail 27-8 at halftime.  
The cold shooting, combined with the non-shooting after 13 first half turnovers, put the Ladies too far behind to mount a comeback.  
It wasn’t a whole lot better in the second half, with just five field goals in the second.  Beh finished the game with 12 points, while Chadwick scored 13, with 11 coming from the foulline.  The Bucks scored 18 points from the foul line on 32 attempts.
Coach Ben Wolford’s team regrouped in the consolation bracket on Thursday, facing the Manila Mustangs, a team they beat way back in December.  This meeting was more of the same, as the two teams traded baskets throughout the first three quarters.  
After leading 20-19 at halftime, the Lady Bucks scored 10 more points than the Mustangs in the second half to take the 53-42 win and keep their hopes alive.  
Chadwick again led the way with 17 points.  Atlanta Black shook off the first game jitters to score 15 and spearhead the aggressive Buckaroo defense, which forced many turnovers from the Mustangs that turned into easy baskets. Beh pitched in with 12 points.
The Manila win set up another rematch, this time with the Duchesne Eagles, a team the Buckaroos beat on the road three weeks ago by three, 36-33.  
The game was low-scoring, with neither team able to mount any kind of lead. Duchesne held a two-point lead after three quarters, at 20-18 when the Lady Bucks finally took control of the game, outscoring the Eagles 14-5 on the quarter and grabbing the important 32-25.  Making eight of nine free throws on the game was key for the Lady Bucks.  Chadwick again led with 10 points.
In another rematch for the final game of the season, the Ladies played the Milford Tigers for sixth and eighth place.  
The Tigers dominated in the December matchup, winning by 18 points and their inside game was just too much for the Buckaroos again, as the Tigers prevailed, 48-35.  
This one was over early, as the Tigers jumped to 13-6 first quarter lead and stretched that to 27-11 at halftime.  Chadwick ended her junior season with 14 points, her 19th game scoring in double figures on the season.  She ends the season averaging 13 points per game, which puts her seventh in scoring in 1A. Monticello loses only one senior, Aapree Sheeran.  Sheeran finished her final season averaging four points a game and her inside presence will be missed.
Lady Raiders
The Whitehorse Raiders raced their way to seventh place in the 1A tournament.
Raphaela Filfred and Kristy Dickinson led the Raiders to the excellent showing at the state tournament.
Filfred was the leading scorer in the 1A tournament, scoring 85 points in four games for a 21.2 point average.  The Lady Raiders edged Tintic in the opener, squeeking out a 49-47 win as Filfred scored 19 points and Dickinson 15.  
Next, the Raiders were hijacked by the eventual champions, the undefeated Panguitch Bobcats, falling 70-42, though Filfred tossed in 26 points, while Dickinson added nine.  
The loss dropped the Raiders to the consolation round, where they pounded Wendover, 58-35, and were walloped by Wayne, 83-55.  Filfred and Dickinson scored 28 and 17 points respectively against the Wildcats and 13 and 12 respectively against Wayne.
Finishing second in 1A scoring, Filfred averaged 16 ppg.  Not far behind, fourth in scoring with 14.4 ppg is Dickinson.
BBBB (Buckaroo Boys Boys Basketball)
The Bucks had two games last week, against undefeated Ignacio of Colorado and the Monument Valley Cougars.
The Bobcats dominated from the start and hit the Bucks with a 73-51 loss. Tanner Eardley and Austin Maloy scored 12 and 11 points, respectively, to lead the Bucks.  
The Buckaroos  kept their region record spotless at 9-0 with a 70-33 win over the Cougars.  Maloy led the way with 20.  Dillon Maughan added 14 and three treys and Sheldon Black had 12.
The Bucks regular season ends this Thursday with a home contest against Green River.