The Haxtun-Fleming Herald - What can we reason but from what we know? -Alexander Pope

A 2-0 start including a four-point win over a top 1A team ... the Lady Bulldogs took the court ready to play in their first outing this season and did so with a bang.

For the first time this 2020-21 school year, Lady Bulldog athletes took the stage to compete, opening their basketball season in Peetz Friday night. After upsetting the Bulldogs in green on the road, Haxtun hosted the season's home opener in a competition with Fleming on Saturday.

"Our first two games of the season were fun and successful," Head Coach Arlan Scholl said Tuesday morning. "After not playing in regular season competition for nearly a year, it felt good to be on the court competing."

The Lady Bulldogs stepped on the court in Peetz on Friday ready to play, making a statement from the start with a 23-2 lead after the first quarter. Pressure from a full-court press put the Bulldogs in a solid position as they cruised to a 37-8 advantage at the half. Haxtun kept the pressure on throughout the final two quarters, putting up 19 points in the third and eight in the fourth for a final 64-22 win, setting the team up for an undefeated weekend of opening action.

Junior Taylor Schram put up double digits in Peetz Friday night, connecting with nine field goals and one free throw for a total of 19 points. Teammate Allie Thompson added nine points for the Lady Bulldogs off four field goals and one free throw. Senior leader Kylee Workman made two of eight free throws and three field goals for a total of eight. Others who led in the scoring column include Grace Gibson with seven points and Bella Tori with six.

As a team, Haxtun made seven of 25 shots from the charity stripe, going 28 percent in free throws on Friday. Samantha Seger, Workman, Gibson and Heily Avery all shot 50 percent from the line.

Thompson led under the basket with nine rebounds. She pulled down seven on offense and two on defense to lead her team. Gibson and freshman Cassidy Goddard each pulled down six rebounds; Gibson nabbing all of hers on offense and Goddard with three offensive rebounds and three on defense.

K'Lyn Bornhoft tallied six assists followed by Thompson and Workman, each with three. Thompson, Bornhoft and Schram all led in steals with four each. Cassidy Goodwin, Tori and Goddard all had three steals a piece.

"The girls came out on fire against Peetz and our press really bothered them," Scholl said. "We did a great job of being active and causing turnovers. I was pleased with a great team effort."

Saturday night's competition proved to be much more of a match up as Haxtun hosted the second-ranked team in Colorado 1A leaderboards. Fleming jumped to a small, early lead, going up by three after the first quarter. Haxtun added 12 points in the second while holding the Lady Wildcats to 16, giving the visiting team a seven-point lead at half time.

Fleming outscored Haxtun by just one in the third quarter but really it all came down to the final three and a half minutes of the fourth when the Lady Bulldogs took a late-game, two-point lead after being down by as many as 11 in the second half.

With less than three minutes left before the final buzzer, Haxtun took a four-point advantage but as the clock ticked down, Fleming connected with a shot that would pull the game to within one with 31 seconds left on the clock. Fouls by the Lady Wildcats sent Workman to the free-throw line twice in the final seconds. Workman stepped up to shoot with composure each time, connecting with three of the four to give Haxtun a bigger advantage and ultimately the 52-48 win.

"Our team defense worked well and we caused them to turn the ball over several times at crucial points in the game," Scholl said of his team's victory Saturday night. "This group of Haxtun girls just never give up and in the fourth quarter we continued to battle and finally went ahead in the game. When Fleming had to foul to stop the clock, we stepped up to the free-throw line and made the pressure free throws that allowed us to gain the win."

Four Lady Bulldogs hit double-digits against the Wildcats led by Bornhoft with 13 points. Bornhoft made three field goals from behind the three-point line and two inside the paint for 13 points on the night. Thompson added 11 points, 10 from field goals and one free throw. Tori also put up 11 points, connecting with five shots under the basket and one from the free-throw line. Schram rounded out the double-digit scoring quad with 10 points; two from outside the three-point line, one inside the paint and two free throws.

Free throw shooting percentages were higher for the Lady Bulldogs on Saturday. As a team, Haxtun went seven for 12 for 58 percent led by Thomson who shot 100 percent from the charity stripe.

Tori led the Lady Bulldogs in rebounds on Saturday, pulling down six on offense and four on defense for a high of 10. Goddard trailed with six rebounds, one on offense and five on defense. Bornhoft nabbed four steals while Schram and Goddard led in assists, each with seven.

"We knew that Fleming would be a good challenge for our team. They were ranked second in the preseason 1A classification polls," said Scholl. "It was a great win for our program and should give our team a great confidence boost."

Haxtun is set to host two games at home this weekend, starting with Wray at 4 p.m. on Friday afternoon. Saturday the team is slated to take on Prairie at 2 p.m.

Since fans are limited to just two each per player due to local COVID-19 restrictions, competitions are streamed live on the Haxtun Schools' YouTube channel. For updates and links to this year's basketball events, follow the Haxtun Fightin' Bulldog Booster Club page on Facebook.