ST. IGNATIUS — The Mission boys and girls had a couple of tough games this past weekend against Plains and Thompson Falls.

The boys fell 69-58 to Thompson Falls last Thursday then 50-26 to Plains at home for senior night.

The Bulldogs saw plenty of scoring from around the roster in that game, with junior Jorren Gies coming away with 22 to lead. Freshman TJ Cutfinger scored 13, sophomore Nakota McDonald scored 11, and plenty of other Bulldogs finished with six or less. Big 3-point shooting from Thompson Falls ballers put the Bulldogs at a disadvantage early, and consistent scoring wasn’t enough to come back.

Against Plains, sophomore Riley Charlo paced the Bulldogs with 10 points in the 50-26 loss.

They also said goodbye to their seniors who played their last regular season game.

Senior Munis Partov is a student from Tajikistan who came to play for the Bulldogs.

He said playing ball with the Bulldogs had been good the few months since he arrived in St. Ignatius.

“It’s really exciting,” he said.

Senior Jordan Rohrich said basketball isn’t his first sport, and lacks the contact he’s always enjoyed growing up with wrestling and football, but has been fun just the same.

“It’s alright,” he said. “It’s a learning experience.”

Mission senior Wyatt McCollum remembered the two games he was sure he didn’t foul out as some of his finest moments– once against Thompson Falls and another against Ronan.

Team manager senior Hollie Hart said helping keep the team in order for three years had been “sweet, actually.”

“They don’t think I do anything and I do everything,” she said jokingly.

Senior Lynn Birthmark said he appreciates all of Hart’s work after all.

“To an extent,” he said.

Birthmark’s favorite moment was draining a 3-pointer at the end of game and watching the look on head coach James Lozeau’s face afterwards.

“He just kind of hucks it up,” Hart said of Birthmark’s shooting style.

Last but not least is senior Erich Morigeau, who the team calls “Fish.”

He remembers scoring his first two points against Charlo’s JV squad and finishing as the leading scorer against Ronan’s JV squad with eight points earlier in the season.

In a close game with Thompson Falls on Friday, the Mission girls lost more than the game in the 38-36 matchup. They also lost their second leading scorer and rebounder, sophomore Kyla Mitchell, to a knee injury. A Thompson Falls player also fell to a knee injury in the same game.

“Two in one night – it was crazy,” Mission head coach Les Rice said. “It was Friday the 13th I guess.” 

The loss of Mitchell is very unfortunate for the Bulldogs as they prepare to go into the district tournament.

“It honestly hurts us a lot,” Rice said.

After a battle of fouls to close out the game and give the Bulldogs a chance to comeback, time ran out on Mission.

Sophomore Jonna Grant made one final bucket to close the gap to two.

Junior Katie McDonald led in scoring with eight and senior Mattea Grant led with 13 rebounds in the loss.

Against Plains, the Mission girls battled back from a 15-8 deficit at the end of the first and emerged victorious 49-39.

“I thought we played a good three quarters after the first one,” Rice said.

Mission made a switch in their defense after getting in foul trouble against a Plains team which made 9-10 free throws in that first period. Forcing different opponents to try for baskets they kept the Trotters at bay.

Going into the tournament, the Bulldogs will face Thompson Falls in their first game on Friday in Libby.

The Mission seniors have had a good go already, finishing as a two seed. Playing ball in St. Ignatius has given the seniors plenty of joy.

Senior Mattea said things have been so fun it will be tough to leave.

“It’s going to be hard,” she said, adding that most of the girls have been playing together since before high school.

Senior Lisa Larson said  her final year exceeded her every expectation.

“It was fun to play with them,” she said.

Senior Kelsey Cable said some of her best times were playing with her fellow Bulldogs at a basketball tournament in Gonzaga in the summers, an experience she called “tiring but fun.”

Senior Jordan Adams remembered scoring a buzzer beating shot before half-time against Thompson Falls her sophomore year as her favorite moment. 

After transferring from Charlo two years ago, senior Cara Gravagno said playing one last year of ball was a lot of fun and was happy Mattea talked her into it on a hiking trip.

The other Bulldog seniors said they were happy to have her.