The Harlem Lady Cats have been on a roll the past few years, steadily rising from the bottom of the District 2B standings to perennial contenders for the championship. This past weekend in Shelby their performance at the Northern B Divisional assured them of a second straight trip to the Montana Class B Girls State Tournament.

The State B Girls Basketball Tournament will be played at the Butte Civic Center at Butte High School this Thursday through Saturday. The Lady Cats punched their ticket after finishing third at the Northern B Divisional in Shelby last week.

The Lady Cats opened play at the Northern B Thursday afternoon with a 66-46 win over the Choteau Bulldogs. In the semifinal Friday night the Lady Cats were a step behind the host Shelby Coyotes all night long falling 53-45. Saturday morning in loser out action the Lady Cats faced a District 2B opponent they were very familiar with, the Wolf Point Wolves. Harlem led start to finish, picking up a convincing win, 63-46 and earning themselves a spot in the consolation final Saturday night and the right to play for a chance at the state tournament.

In the consolation final the Lady Cats took on another District 2B opponent in the Glasgow Scotties and again took care of business. Harlem dominated start to finish and secured their spot at the State B with a resounding 67-49 win to finish third at the Northern B.

In their Northern B opener against the Bulldogs the Lady Cats jumped out to an early 20-11 lead and then extended the advantage to 37-24 by intermission. Determined not to let Choteau back into the contest the Lady Cats continued to build upon that lead in the third quarter and took a 52-35 cushion into the fourth quarter.

Harlem continued their control of the contest, outscoring the Bulldogs down the stretch 14-11 to secure a 66-46 opening round win. Senior Kailey Henry paced the Lady Cat attack with a game high 23 points while senior L'Tia Lawrence added 13 points and eight assists in the win.

Friday night the Lady Cats challenged the District 1B Shelby Coyotes in a semifinal contest. Both teams had their running shoes on early as they racked up the points on the scoreboard. The Coyotes had the upper hand after a fast paced opening quarter taking a 22-20 advantage into the second.

Defense became more of a focus prior to the half with both teams limiting the other to half of their first quarter output. The Lady Cats would cut into the Coyote lead by one but still trailed at the break 32-31.

In the third quarter Shelby got that point back, winning a defense first third quarter 11-10 to lead 43-41 with eight minutes remaining. The Coyotes were able to completely thwart the Lady Cat offense over the final eight minutes, limiting Harlem to just four points down the stretch to earn a 53-45 win and send the Lady Cats into loser out action Saturday morning.

The Lady Cats would have to win to games on Saturday to assure them of a return trip to the State B Tournament. In their first contest of the day the met the Wolf Point Wolves, a familiar opponent from the District 2B.

The Lady Cats have had their way with the Wolves thus far in the season and Saturdays contest was more of the same. Harlem opened up a 15-9 advantage entering the second quarter of action to take control of the momentum early.

Wolf Point responded though with a strong second quarter effort staying within striking distance and cutting Harlem's lead to just 28-23 by intermission. Harlem would take the floor after the break on a mission and quickly take control of the contest. The Lady Cats used a 21-6 third quarter effort to propel them to a 63-46 win and a spot in the consolation final Saturday night.

Lawrence led the way with 22 points and five assists while Henry tipped in 16 and sophomore Taya Trottier 11.

In the consolation final with a spot at the State B on the line the Lady Cats took care of business from the opening tip. Taking on the Glasgow Scotties, Harlem turned a 16-10 first quarter advantage into a comfortable 40-19 halftime lead with a dominant second quarter effort.

The Lady Cats maintained that momentum throughout the second half in securing a lopsided 67-49 win, a third place finish at the Northern B and most importantly a spot at the State B Tournament in Butte this weekend. Lawrence was again incredible, scoring 20 points while dishing out ten assists in the win. Trottier added 16 and Henry 13.

Senior L'Tia Lawrence gets past her Choteau Bulldog defender during first round action Thursday in Shelby.

Harlem will be the No. 3 Seed out of the Northern B and begin play at the State B against the No. 1 out of the Western B, Loyola Sacred Heart at 10:30 a.m. Thursday morning.