Lady Bulldogs fall short of Homecoming win

By DONN ADAMSON / Daily Journal Sports Editor

LEADWOOD - The West County Lady Bulldogs made a comeback bid late in the fourth quarter against the Valle Lady Warriors on Saturday, but came up short as Valle claimed a 51-44 victory. The game was the first of West County's Basketball Homecoming Day with both varsity teams (see related article this page) and J.V. teams playing.

The Lady Bulldogs were well intending to start the day off with a first game win, jumping out to the lead in the first quarter and trailed by only two at the half. It was Danielle Donze's three-point shooting in the third quarter for Valle that set the Lady Bulldogs back on their heels.

Donze hit three three-pointers in the third quarter and had a total of five in the game. Rachael Naeger added another three for Valle which was countered by one by Emily Rasnick for West County. Carla Stoll scored a basket just before the buzzer ending the third quarter top give the Lady Warriors a 12 point advantage.

The lead remained most of the fourth quarter, but Valle turned cold from the floor and West County began to deny the Lady Warriors their shots with fouls. The Lady Warriors were only able to make one of each pair of free throws, but West County's turnovers kept the Lady Bulldogs from decreasing the lead.

As time began to expire, the Lady Bulldogs began to foul on purpose. The plan to make a comeback by fouling with the hope that Valle would miss one or both free throws and then for West County to score on the other end worked for awhile. Valle missed all three of the front ends of one-and-ones, and Emily Rasnick and Courtney Boen began to connect for the Lady Bulldogs in the last two minutes of play.

Rasnick connected on a three-pointer and Boen scored a regular two-and-one. It was not long before West County had pulled to within four points of Valle, but with the double-shot fouls taking effect the Lady Warriors were able to make at least one of each two free throws shot, and it was enough to not only keep them in the lead, but even increase the lead again in the final seconds.

The Lady Bulldogs had pretty even individual scoring with Rasnick having the most points at 12. Donze was tops for Valle with 19.

West County, 4-7 and 2-3 MAAA, will be back on their home court again on Monday when they will host Valley of Caledonia. Valle, 5-7 and 3-2 MAAA, will play at Arcadia Valley on Monday.

Valle 11 11 18 11 - 51

West County 14 6 8 16 - 44

Valle - D Donze 19, Bergtholdt 14, Stoll 6, Bruns 4, Naeger 3, Shuh 2.

West County - Rasnick 12, Harrison 10, Lynch 10, Boen 10.

3-Pointers: D Donze 5, Rasnick 2, Naeger.

Farmington 35, De Soto 22

DE SOTO - The Farmington Knightettes had to depend on their shooting from the floor to gain a 35-22 win over the De Soto Lady Dragons on Saturday. That's because they did not shoot one free throw in the entire 32 minutes of play. The Lady Dragons only had four fouls called on them in the entire game.

“They (De Soto) had trouble scoring so they slowed it down a bit,” said Farmington coach Steve McFarland. “We were 17-41 from the field which wasn't too bad in shooting. We were roughed up a bit which made it hard to get a few shots off.”

Sarah Parks led the team in points and steals with eight and four respectively, and Danielle Littrell and Briley Milfeld led the teams in rebounds with five each.

De Soto 4 6 5 7 - 22

Farmington - Parks 8, Sago 7, Littrell 6, Milfeld 4, Winslow 4, Hayes 4, Russell 2.

3-Pointers: Sago 1.