The Trenton Lady Bulldogs didn’t go out without a fight on Wednesday night in the semifinals of the Class 3, District 16 Basketball Tournament in Plattsburg. Facing the number-one seeded Cameron Lady Dragons, Trenton battled every step of the way, falling in the end 51-42.
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Whether it was nerves on the part of the Lady Bulldogs or Cameron wanting to make a statement, the first quarter was one Trenton would like to have another shot at. Cameron took control of the contest running out to an 18-8 lead in the opening quarter of play. Trenton was resilient, however. Rather than letting Cameron romp to an easy victory, Trenton dug in and battled back, cutting the 10-point lead to six by halftime. At the break, Trenton trailed 27-21.
“I think the girls had a little bit of pre-game jitters when they stepped out on the floor, knowing how the first game went,” Coach Quentin Albrecht said. “Then I thought Cameron came out with the mindset that they were going to establish themselves, which they did. We really rebounded, though, and responded in the second quarter. We felt pretty good going into halftime.”
In the second half, Trenton continued to stay in the game. The Lady Bulldogs still trailed by just six after three quarters, but couldn’t get the lead at any point. Cameron tacked on three points to the advantage in the fourth quarter, winning by nine points in the end and ending the Lady Bulldogs 2011-2012 campaign in the process.
“I thought the girls came out in the second half and really battled,” Albrecht said. “There were a few key mistakes that we made at crucial times that, basically in the end, were the difference in the game.”
Trenton was led by Makaila Capeder and Avery Whitaker in the loss. Both forwards finished with 10 points and nine rebounds each. Capeder also had three assists and two steals in the game. Scotlin Hurley finished with eight points and four assists and Megan Sole had seven points. Trenton also got two points each from Cassidy Cotton, Madi Trump and Tosha Wilson, Cotton had three assists as well, and Bekah Wiggins rounded out the Lady Buldogs’ total with one point.
With the loss, Trenton finished the season with 16 wins and 11 losses, their second season in a row with 16 or more wins.
“We lost a tremendous amount of experience after last year. But not only that, we also had to move some girls into different positions this year,” Albrecht said. “That is a big question mark when you are coming into a season, but I thought the girls responded to it really well. The season went kind of the way we expected it. We had our high points and we had our low points. January was kind of a low point, but in February we really responded. We won six of our last eight games and both of our losses were to Cameron, a state-ranked team. A 16- win season is something to be proud of considering all of the changes we had to go through.”
The Lady Bulldogs lose just one senior from this year’s team in guard Halie Brewer.
“We had one senior this year, Halie Brewer,” Albrecht said. “I don’t think there is a girl I have coached that I have ever watched play as much basketball as her. I started watching Halie when she was in third grade, playing basketball with the fifth and sixth grade team at Spickard. I coached her in seventh grade and then all the way through high school and she has been a tremendous player for us. She was a valuable asset for us. Her sophomore and junior years she very well could have started for us, but I sat her down and told her I really needed her in that sixth-man role. Even though she really wanted to start, she took it like a big girl and she did the absolute best she could in that role and even won some awards for it. She really led by example and showed that sometimes you have to put the group before your own wants or desires and I will always appreciate that out of Halie and respect her for that.”