Lady Bulldogs See Season Firsts

The Lady Bulldogs played their first basketball game of the season Friday, December 14. Several of the players also saw their first action in a varsity jersey. The young team fell 57-19 to Waubay-Summit.

“We knew going into the season there were going to be some growing pains,” stated head coach Brian Pauli. “The girls battled. Unfortunately, too many turnovers early let Waubay-Summit get out to a lead we could not recover from.”

Milbank was held scoreless in the first quarter at 15-0. Waubay- Summit poured in 19 points in the second period to widen the gap to 34-6 at the midway mark. The Lady Bulldogs faced a 47-12 deficit heading into the final stanza, and eventually fell 57-19.

“It’s going to take some time to get used to the speed of the game,” said Coach Pauli. “The game is a lot faster than what we can simulate in practice. We will stay positive and keep working on improving.”

Freshman Maurina Street led the Lady Bulldogs with 11 points, eight rebounds, and one assist. Senior Jaecy Engebretson added five points and six rebounds. Madi Thue chipped in with three points, four rebounds, and one steal.

Also contributing for Milbank were: Hallie Schulte, two rebounds and one assist; Tracy Pillatzki, four rebounds; Isabella Anderson, two rebounds and one steal; and Tatum Berry, two rebounds.

Milbank hit 7-of-40 from the field for 18 percent shooting. They made 44 rebounds, four assists, seven steals, and 22 turnovers.
Waubay-Summit made 32 percent of their shots from the field, hitting 22 of 68 attempts.

The Mustangs ended the game with 46 rebounds, 11 assists, 22 steals, one blocked shot, and nine turnovers.

Milbank faced a hot-shooting and experienced team from Lennox on Saturday, December 14, in their first home game of the season. The Lady Bulldogs dropped to 2-0 with a 78-10 loss.

“Lennox is a very good team and is well coached,” noted Pauli. “They will be a tough team to beat. We will go back to practice and try to improve.”

Engebretson led the Lady Bulldogs with eight points and one rebound. Street added two points and two rebounds. Berry grabbed two rebounds and Anderson, one.

Milbank made 25 percent of their shots from the field, connecting on 4-of-16. They ended the game with nine rebounds, seven steals, and 19 turnovers.

Lennox dropped in 75 percent of its shots from the field, hitting 33-of-44. They had 16 rebounds, 18 steals, and committed just six turnovers.

Photo – Senior Jaecy Engebretson