ST. IGNATIUS - It's been a season filled with ups and downs, but

the Mission Lady Bulldogs picked a great time to hit their

stride.

With their season at stake on Tuesday, Feb. 14, the best was

brought out in the Lady Bulldogs when they downed the Ronan Maidens

51-28 at home to advance to the District 6-B Tournament.

ST. IGNATIUS - It's been a season filled with ups and downs, but the Mission Lady Bulldogs picked a great time to hit their stride.

With their season at stake on Tuesday, Feb. 14, the best was brought out in the Lady Bulldogs when they downed the Ronan Maidens 51-28 at home to advance to the District 6-B Tournament.

"That was, by far, our best game to that point," Mission head coach Les Rice said. "The big key was turnovers. We had very few, which made the difference. We also shot well and defended well."

Bryanna Steele continued her stellar season with a game-high 20 points and Stephanie Lewandowski added 13 in the win that allowed Mission to advance to the District 6-B Tournament. There, the Lady Bulldogs decided to make some noise.

Against a tough Loyola Breakers squad, Mission had a chance late to take a lead, but barely missed the shot, allowing Loyola to pull away in a 44-33 defeat.

"With 3:28 left, we had a shot go in and out that would have put us up one," Rice said. "Who knows what would have happened if that fell."

Loren Erickson led the way with 10 points and Lewandowski added nine. Mission pulled ahead 12-11 after one and trailed just 29-27 after three periods thanks in part to a determined effort on defense and an emphasis on taking care of the ball on offense.

"We wanted to defend the three and they didn't make one against us," Rice said. "We also wanted to make sure we didn't turn the ball over, and overall, we did well. We also rebounded well until the final few minutes."

In the consolation meeting against the Florence Lady Falcons, the Lady Bulldogs were able to handle Florence's press effectively and break through in their third meeting with the team, taking third place 67-57.

"Against Florence, it's about handling their ball pressure," Rice said. "We got calls, held the ball and let them foul us. We shot well, passed well and held their leading three-point shooter to just one."

Mission's offense put up at least 14 points in every quarter, including 19 out of the gates. Erickson established a season-high with 22 points, Lewandowski added 17 as the Lady Bulldogs nearly led wire to wire.

"We played our best game against Ronan, then played better against Loyola and even better against Florence," Rice said. "That's exciting."

Down 19-11 after one, the Falcons were able to put 20 points on the board in the second, but Mission scored 16 of their own to lead 35-31 at the break.

The teams played close in the third, with the Lady Bulldogs increasing their lead to 49-44 after three before an 18 point fourth ensured the win for Mission (6-15).

Heading back to Hamilton this weekend for divisionals, Rice is really excited about the prospects of his team as they peak at the most opportune time, but knows they'll need to continue their trend of playing better basketball to win their opener against Bigfork.

"We're going to have to shoot the ball well, which we have been," Rice said. "Against Bigfork the previous two times, we haven't shot it well. We're going to a gym in Hamilton where we did shoot it well this season."

MISSION @ RONAN

Ronan - 5 - 7 - 7 - 9 - 28

Mission - 11 - 14 - 19 - 7 - 51

Lady Bulldogs scoring - Bryanna Steele 20, Stephanie Lewandowski 13, Loren Erickson 7, Katrina Stevens 4, Haley O'Hern 2, Twyla Hogge 2, Courtney Charlo 2, Cecelia Koskela 1

MISSION VS LOYOLA

Mission - 12 - 6 - 9 - 6 - 33

Loyola - 11 - 11 - 7 - 15 - 44

Lady Bulldogs scoring - Loren Erickson 10, Stephanie Lewandowski 9, Katrina Stevens 4, Haley O'Hern 4, Bryanna Steele 2, Twyla Hogge 2, Cecelia Koskela 2

MISSION VS FLORENCE

Mission - 19 - 16 - 14 - 18 - 67

Florence - 11 - 20 - 13 - 13 - 57

Lady Bulldogs scoring - Loren Erickson 22, Stephanie Lewandowski 17, Cecelia Koskela 9, Haley O'Hern 6, Katrina Stevens 5, Twyla Hogge 4, Kaylie Durglo 4