Lady Bulldogs Go to Region Tourney

The Milbank Area Lady Bulldogs are a No. 2 seed and will face the No. 7 seed, Britton-Hecla, in the opening round of the Region 1A basketball tournament on Tuesday, February 21, in Sisseton. The teams face off in the opening game at 4:30 p.m.

Milbank Area takes a 13-7 record into the post-season. Britton-Hecla sits at 5-15. The teams met less than two weeks ago when The Lady Bulldogs trampled the Braves 68-62 in overtime.

In other first round games, No. 3 seed, Aberdeen Roncalli, takes on No. 6, Tiospa Zina, in the second game of the evening at approximately 6 p.m. The final game of the opening round will pit No. 4 seed Groton Area against No. 5 Sisseton, beginning at about 7:30 p.m.

The tournament continues Thursday, February 23, in Sisseton. The winner of the Groton Area/Sisseton game will take on No. 1 seed, Webster Area, in the first game of the night at 6 p.m. The winner of the Milbank Area/Britton-Hecla game will battle it out with the winner of the Roncalli/Tiospa Zina game in the final game at approximately 7:30 p.m.

The two teams remaining head to the newly created Sweet 16 tournament. Those 16 teams from Class A will be re-seeded and fight for a chance to play in the state tournament.

Coach Pauli said this about his first season as the Lady Bulldogs’ head coach. “Overall I’m pleased with how the season has gone. I feel the girls are very coachable and play together as a team and for each other. The team chemistry has been good and they all played to their strengths and fulfilled their roles.”

“We are going into the post-season with excitement,” said Pauli. “I think a Sweet 16 qualifier for this team would be good for us. If we get that chance, it will take one game (our best game) to make it to State. But we are not going to focus on that – we are going to take it one game at a time!”

Keep up with The Valley Express for all your post-season tournament results.