The Harlem Lady Cats made history when they departed for the Class B State Girls Basketball Tournament this morning. For the first time the Harlem girls will be playing on the big stage after claiming their first ever Northern B championship in Malta nearly two weeks ago.

According to Head Coach Marling Lawrence the girls are focused on adding another chapter to their magical season.

Harlem has had a fantastic season to date and have found themselves in the top five of every power poll this season.

"They have really bought into the one game at a time mentality," said Lawrence. "Our focus all year has been to not overlook anyone, to come ready to play every night and be focused on only that game."

The Lady Cats have certainly proven that on the court with big wins throughout the season. They have beat the teams that they were expected to and they have competed with evey team they have faced.

They have four losses on the season and have avenged all but one. Harlem fell to the Class C State Champion box Elder Bears at the Native American Classic and were not given the opportunity to atone for that set back.

The Lady Cats fell at home to the Wolf Point Wolves in December, but turned the table a couple weeks later, winning on the road. The two teams then faced each other in the District 2B Championship with Wolf Point winning.

Harlem again bounced back in their next meeting, capturing the Northern B crown a week later in Malta to even the season series between the two schools at two games apiece. A fifth game could be played again this Saturday night in Belgrade.

The roster is balanced and includes seniors Skylee Dirden, MacKenzie Doney,Tamica Cole, Sierra Jones, Nakota Begay and Shontelle Talks Different.

Juniors include Kristyn Kittson, L'Tia Lawrence, Taeshon Schaeffer and Aria Owens. Sophomore Alaynee Hawley, Melony Fetter and Gabbi Bell add depth and freshman Taya Trottier has been a welcome addition.

The success of this years team didn't just happen overnight. It is a result of years of hard work and dedication from coaches, parents and the players themselves.

"These girls have worked hard, not just during the season, but during the off season. They are always in the gym, running, doing what is needed to get better," said Lawrence.

For years the Harlem girls basketball program was overlooked by other teams in the conference and within the division. That began to change four years ago when the seniors were just starting their freshman season.

The school had hired former Malta M-ette and MSU-Northern standout Laramie Schwenke to take over the program.

Schwenke brought a champions mentality to the program and with Lawrence as her assistant things quickly began to turn around.

The team had its ups and downs that first year and took their fair share of losses but the foundation was being layed for the future.

Two years later the girls were considered serious contenders for the District 2B crown and found themselves ranked in the top ten for the first time.

The team fell short at the Northern B Divisional but lessons were learned and the team was even more focused on achieving their goal of reaching the state tournament.

Schwenke departed to take a coaching job at Idaho State and Lawrence took over as Head Coach and the team never missed a beat.

In addition to their post season success, Harlem was also the regular season champion, going 7-1 in District 2B play.

With the biggest week in Harlem girls basketball history in front of them the team has maintained their composure, "After they won it (Divisional), they were so excited, it was really surreal. They realized all the hard work all the time they put in the gym had finally paid off," said Lawrence. "Monday when they came to practice they were focused, completely bought in and they worked really. They work hard every practice, but after they achieved their goal of getting to state, they were really focused on the next goal at hand. They were eager to get back on the court. They were looking forward to getting back out there and competing."

"They are not content on just making it, hopefully come the end of the tournament, they are the best in Class," added Lawrence.

With only a few practices left, Lawrence likes where his team is at mentally, The girls are really bringing the intensity at practice, their is a lot of energy. I'm glad we had the extra week, because like a lot of teams, we needed to get healthy, get over some illness and it helped us get healthy heading into state.

The Lady Cats will leave for Belgrade following a pep assembly at the school this morning (Wednesday) and they look forward to seeing the stands full when they get there.

"I want to thank the community, the school, the coaching staff, the parents. Everyone is a part of this and it couldn't have happened without such great support," said Lawrence. "My seniors, its so wonderful to see them get to experience this, they deserve it."

"The girls have played for each other all season. They play for their fans, for their coaches and they compete so well as a team and to see them compete at that level with such unity is a joy to see as a coach," concluded Lawrence.

Harlem (19-4) will begin play Thursday at the Special Event Center in Belgrade against the Forsyth Dogies (21-3) the No. 2 seed out of the Southern B.

The winner will advance to the semifinal contest Friday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. the loser will play Friday afternoon at 12:00 p.m. The State Championship will be played Saturday night at 7:30 p.m.