RONAN - Mission knew going in against the senior-laden Ronan

basketball team that they'd be facing their vaunted press defense.

They came out prepared and only trailed the Chiefs 14-12 after the

first quarter when freshman Jarred Smith Brown hit a buzzer-beater

to pull the Bulldogs within two.

RONAN - Mission knew going in against the senior-laden Ronan basketball team that they'd be facing their vaunted press defense. They came out prepared and only trailed the Chiefs 14-12 after the first quarter when freshman Jarred Smith Brown hit a buzzer-beater to pull the Bulldogs within two.

"It was a very good start for us, we could have been ahead," Phillips said. Then things got a bit out of hand.

"I thought we were prepared to play a very good and experienced team at their place," Mission head coach Lloyd Phillips said. "The first quarter showed we could play with them."

However, after the first quarter, Ronan outscored the Bulldogs 42-6 after the first quarter en route to a 56-18 victory.

"They're quick and we knew that going in, we just panicked," Phillips said.

Eleven points of the Bulldogs' output came from freshmen, with SmithBrown scoring four and Stuart Grant earning seven points. However, Mission scored two in the second, no points in the third and four in the fourth quarter.

The positive that the Mission Bulldogs can take from their loss to Ronan last Saturday was that they know how to bounce back.

"You're never as bad as you think and you're never as good as you think," Phillips said.

Last year, the Bulldogs lost big to Bigfork 73-24 early in the season before bouncing back and defeating Eureka 44-38 the very next game. As fate would have it, Mission faced Eureka this Tuesday, although scores were not available as of our press time.

"It's not about how many times you get knocked down, it's about how many times you get back up," head coach Lloyd Phillips said.

There was plenty of knocking going on during Mission's early week matchup against Charlo last Tuesday. The physical battle culminated with what Phillips thought was Mission's best quarter of basketball so far. The Bulldogs trailed the Vikings at halftime 25-18 but roared back in the third quarter after making the proper adjustments.

"We talked about trusting our offense, get to our sports and make good choices," Phillips said.

The Bulldogs shot six of-12 from the field while holding Charlo to just fourfor-13 and tied things up 34-34 going into the fourth quarter. It was then when Phillips saw the writing on the wall for the game...it was going to go down to the wire.

"I could see and feel a different look in our guys' eyes," Phillips said. "Not only did they want to win, they expected to win. That is huge."

They almost pulled it off. The lead changed several times and things were tied on several occasions. With 25 seconds left, Mission had the 48-47 lead. The Bulldogs didn't allow a shot until there were 3.3 seconds left.

"We didn't block out and they board the miss. We foul and they go to the line," Phillips said.

Charlo also got to shoot two technicals to finish the game and ended up winning 50-48 in another hard fought Mission Valley rivalry game.

"Charlo's strength and overall size hurt us the most, especially at the end," Phillips said. "But, we had a chance at the end and that's all we can ask for."

The Vikings held the slight edge in rebounding, 25-24, and shot 57 percent from the field compared to Mission's 35 percent.

Several young players for the Bulldogs showed poise in the game. Sophomore Dylan Evans had 14 points and four rebounds in the matchup and came alive in the fourth quarter. Sophomore Nikko Alexander had ten points and was 5-7 in field goals in the second half.

Junior Austin McDonald showed that he's beginning to really fit into the point guard position with nine points. Junior Josh Durglo was also his dependable self with four points and seven rebounds.