For the Plains girls basketball players, it was a brief deviation from their season-long winning ways that was quickly corrected.

For the boys, it was a surprising loss that left them 0-2 on the week following a 6-2 start to the 2023-24 campaign.

For the record, the Trotters upended Superior’s girls 43-33 following a 12-point home court loss to Sanders County rival Thompson Falls one night earlier.

For the Superior boys, it was a surprising 50-44 victory over Plains’ boys by a team showing signs of a team beginning to gel.

The Trotters rescued the evening Friday by posting a 10-point victory over a team that is also showing signs of coming together as the season passes the midway point.

It did not look promising at first for the Trotters as they fell behind the Lady Cats 12-6 after one quarter of play. However, the home team was able to regroup in the second quarter and produce a 10-10 scoring stalemate that left Superior with a 22-16 lead at the half.

Then, with coach Brooks Sanford’s swarming defense coming to life in the third quarter, Plains put the brakes on the Lady Cats offense, holding them to three points while scoring 14 of their own to erase the halftime deficit and take a 30-25 lead heading into the final quarter of play.

In what was a hard-fought battle to the finish, Plains held off the stubborn Cats to secure the 10-point win.

Eight different players scored for the home town Trotters, led by Katelyn Subatch’s 11 points. The Trotters also got eight points from Aubrey Butcher and six points each from Ava Lawyer and Blakely Lakko in posting their eighth win of the year against two losses.

Plains is now 2-1 in Western 7B conference play.

Freshman guard Josie Crabb scored a game-best 14 points to lead the Lady Bobcats, who also got 10 points from junior post Braelynn Mangold.

The loss to Plains left Superior with a 3-5 overall record and dropped them to 0-2 in conference play.

The Superior boys, meanwhile, won their second straight game and third of their last four with the win over the Horsemen.

Both teams scored 11 first quarter points in what was a back-and-forth, close game most of the way. Superior broke the first quarter tie in the second eight minutes of play when they outscored Plains 14-8 to take a 25-19 advantage at the half.

The Horsemen chipped two points off the Bobcats lead in the third quarter to pull within 31-27 entering the fourth quarter.

In what was the most offensively active quarter of the game, Superior was able to hold off the determined Horsemen and add two points to their lead on the way to their narrow 50-44 win over the home boys.

Guard Darren Standeford led all scorers with 19 points for the Bobcats but Superior turned to its super freshmen duo of 6-5 post Landon Richards and sharpshooting guard Gannon Quinlan to overcome Standeford’s effort.

Quinlan, who has become the floor general for the Cats, paced Superior’s offensive attack with 18 points, while Richards added 16 in the Cats’ winning effort.

The win boosted Superior’s boys overall season mark to 3-5 after an 0-4 start. They are also now 1-1 in 7B play.

Plains dropped to 6-4 overall and 3-2 in the conference with the loss. It was their second straight defeat following a loss to Thompson Falls the night before that snapped a five-game Horsemen winning streak.

Superior next travels to St. Ignatius for boys and girls games against Mission this Friday evening. They then come home for Saturday night games against Thompson Falls. Plains boys and girls travel to Mission this Thursday (Jan 18), then travel to Eureka Saturday night for a pair of games against the Lions and Lady Lions.

    Trotter's forward Kristen Subatch scores two of her team high 12 points over Superior's Josie Crabb and Alysha Ryan (2) during their game Friday night in Plains. (Photo by Tracy Scott)
  

    Plains guard Wyatt Butcher looks for a way around Superior's Gannon Quinland during their game this past Friday night in Plains. (Photo by Tracy Scott)
  

    Plains guard Darren Standeford goes airborne for two points during the Horsemen's game versus Superior Friday night in Plains. (Photo by Tracy Scott)