The Harlem Lady Cats have experienced plenty of ups and downs this season and played hard at the Northern B Divisional in Cut Bank this past weekend. Harlem began the tournament with a 47-32 setback against the Fairfield Eagles on Thursday afternoon. The Lady Cats rebounded Friday morning with a strong showing, knocking off the Shelby Coyotes 53-40. Saturday morning the girls stayed with the Poplar Indians for two and a half quarters but in the end they fell 61-50 ending their season.

The Lady Cats have been building quit a program over the past three seasons under third year head coach Laramie Schwenke. In just a few short years the Lady Cats have went from a team struggling to win a few games all season to a team that battled for the District 2B Championship and ran off 14 straight wins during the regular season. The experience this season during the post season will only help the program get stronger moving forward.

Harlem began the tournament Thursday with an afternoon contest against the Fairfield Eagles. The Eagles held a 7-4 lead early but after an offensive rebound by junior Skylee Dirden for a bucket and a three point bomb from sophomore L'Tia Lawrence the Lady Cats had a 9-7 lead.

Harlem maintained the advantage throughout the half as both teams matched each other on both sides of the court. Lawrence knocked down her second three of the contest to give Harlem a 16-11 advantage only to see the Eagles run off seven straight to take a 18-16 lead over the Lady Cats.

Dirden scored going to the basket to even the score and then made a nice steal and went the length of the court for a 20-18 Harlem lead at the end of the first half.

After the break the teams continued to match each others effort. Junior Autumn Eagleman connected from long range for a 25-24 Lady Cat lead and at the three minute mark connected again for a 28-26 advantage.

Fairfield would start to take control late in the third quarter, scoring the final six points and then the first four of the fourth for a 36-26 lead. Dirden drained a long thee to bring the Lady Cats within five, 36-31 but they would get no closer and manage just a free throw the rest of the contest in a 47-32 setback.

Lawrence and Dirden each scored 10 points to lead the offensive effort. Senior Mystic Striker secured eight rebounds and Dirden handed out four assists in the loss.

Friday the Lady Cats faced the Shelby Coyotes, a team they had split a pair of regular season games with, each winning on the others home court.

Dirden had the hot hand early connecting on a pair from beyond the arc. Lawrence buried a triple as well and after an offensive rebound and score from senior Payton Healy the Lady Cats held a 22-4 lead.

The Coyotes ran off five straight to put the Lady Cats back on their toes, trimming the lead to 24-9. Lawrence ended the Coyote run with a layup and Eagleman knocked down another triple to push the lead to 27-11.

The Coyotes started to find the mark from long range but Lawrence answered with a three of her own and closed out the half with a deuce as the Lady Cats doubled up the Coyotes 34-17.

Harlem continued to roll offensively after the break. Healy opened the scoring with a jumper. Lawrence and Dirden scored on back to back possessions to push the lead to 40-21.

Lawrence then made up her mind to go hard to the basket and shook three defenders for score in the paint to continue the onslaught. Dirden then made a great pass to a cutting Striker for a bucket and a 45-21 Harlem lead.

Harlem maintained their attack the remainder of the contest and got to settle in a bit knowing their season would continue another day after defeating the Coyotes 53-40.

Lawrence finished with 23 points on 10-15 shooting, including three from long range. Striker added nine points and nine rebounds. Dirden and Eagleman each contributed eight points in the win.

Saturday the girls faced the Poplar Indian. The two teams battled all season long for the regular season crown. Harlem had the advantage for most of the season but the Indians won the final game of the regular season to win the conference.

Saturday with the season on the line the two teams appeared to be heading for another classic finish.

After eight minutes of action the teams were even 14-14. The Lady Cats used a balanced attack but the inside play of the Indians would start to take its toll on Harlem.

Poplar held a slim 29-28 lead at the intermission. Harlem continued to battle and were tied 35-35 before the Indians ran off eight straight to open the game up. Poplar steadily built on their lead the remainder of the contest eventually winning 61-50 and ending Harlem's season.

Striker scored 20 in her final game and grabbed nine rebounds. Lawrence added 12 for the Lady Cats in the finale.

Northern B Girls Basketball Box Scores

First Round

Fairfield 47 Harlem 32

Fairfield 10 13 9 4 — 47

Harlem 10 11 10 12 — 32

Fairfield: Alexis McWilliams 0-1 0-0 0, Naomi Wipf 3-7 4-4 11, Emily Clotfelter 2-7 0-3 4, Kenna Pitcher 4-19 11-12 20, Kaitlyn Jones 4-9 2-3 10, Madison Rosenbaum 0-1 0-0 0, Taylor Simmons 0-0 0-0 0. Team Totals 14-16 17-22 47.

Harlem: Payton Healy 2-6 0-0 4, Mystic Striker 0-9 0-0 0, Skylee Dirden 4-14 1-2 10, L’Tia Lawrence 4-10 0-0 10, Taeshon Schaeffer 0-4 0-0 0, Krystin Kittson 1-6 0-0 2, Autumn Eagleman 2-10 0-0 6, MacKenzie Doney 0-0 0-0 0, Aria Owens 0-1 0-0 0.. Team Totals 13-60 1-2 32.

Three Point - Fairfield 2-11 (Naomi Wipf 1-1, Kenna Pitcher 1-5), Harlem 5-25 (Skylee Dirden 1-6, L’Tia Lawrence 2-6, Autumn Eagleman 2-5); Rebounds - Fairfield 42 (Kaitlyn Jones 9), Harlem 36 (Mystic Striker 8); Assists - Fairfield 5 (Alexis McWilliams 2, Emily Clotfelter 2), Harlem 6 (Skylee Dirden 4); Total Fouls - Fairfield 7, Harlem 16; Fouled Out - None.

Loser Out

Harlem 53 Shelby 40

Shelby 3 16 6 15 — 40

Harlem 17 17 13 6 — 53

Shelby: Abby Aklestad 0-18 4-4 4, Bailey Johnson 0-8 1-2 1, Skyler Martin 2-11 0-0 5, Brielle Aklestad 1-6 3-6 5, Madison Underdal 2-14 3-67, Brooke Luly 0-4 1-2 1, Kendall Anderson 2-5 0-0 6, Brogan McAllister 3-6 1-2 8, Maddy Hellinger 1-1 0-0 2. Team Totals 11-73 13-22 40.

Harlem: Payton Healy 2-8 1-2 5, Mystic Striker 4-15 1-2 9, Skylee Dirden 3-14 0-0 8, L’Tia Lawrence 10-15 0-1 23, Taeshon Schaeffer 0-1 0-0 0, Krystin Kittson 0-2 0-0 0, Autumn Eagleman 3-9 1-2 8, Aria Owens 0-0 0-0 0.. Team Totals 22-64 3-7 53.

Three Point - Shelby 5-25 (Kendall Anderson 2-5, Brogan McAllister 1-3, Madison Underdal 1-2, Skyler Martin 1-6 ), Harlem 6-21 (L’Tia Lawrence 3-6, Skylee Dirden 2-7, Autumn Eagleman 1-4); Rebounds - Shelby 51 (Abby Aklestad 8), Harlem 60 (Mystic Striker 10); Assists - Shelby 5 (Five with 1), Harlem 2 (Autumn Eagleman 2); Total Fouls - Shelby 12, Harlem 17; Fouled Out - None.

Loser Out

Poplar 61 Harlem 50

Poplar 14 15 12 20 — 61

Harlem 14 14 8 14 — 50

Poplar: AAlleen Russell 9-14 0-1 18, Sasha Youngman 0-5 0-0 0, Gillian Medicine Cloud 0-1 0-0 0, Chloe Belton 2-5 0-0 4, Imani Bighorn 13-19 7-9 33, Riley MacDonald 2-3 0-1 4, Hailey Brunelle 0-2 0-0 0, Holly Colgen 1-1 0-0 2, Keally Genia 0-0 0-0 0.. Team Totals 27-50 7-11 61.

Harlem: Payton Healy 2-5 0-0 5, Mystic Striker 8-21 4-6 20, Skylee Dirden 3-10 0-0 6, L’Tia Lawrence 5-11 2-4 12, Taeshon Schaeffer 0-4 0-0 0, Krystin Kittson 0-0 0-0 0, Autumn Eagleman 2-15 2-2 7, Aria Owens 0-0 0-0 0.. Team Totals 28-67 8-12 50.

Three Point - Poplar 0-4 (None), Harlem 2-23 (Autumn Eagleman 1-8, Payton Healy 1-3); Rebounds - Poplar 44 (Imani Bighorn 13), Harlem 30 (Mystic Striker 9); Assists - Poplar 7 (Imani Bighorn 3), Harlem 2 (Autumn Eagleman 1, Taeshon Schaeffer 1); Total Fouls - Poplar 11, Harlem 13; Fouled Out - None.