Trout Lake girls claim 1A basketball district title

A Mustang first-round victory would’ve matched them up with the winner of a first-round contest between the Damascus Christian High Eagles (21-1) and the Falls City Mountaineers (12-11). The Mustangs have won four straight and 15 of their past 17 games. Their two defeats were to the South Wasco County High Redsides (24-3).

The Mustangs, guided by second-year Coach Dennis Anderson, capped a great week with the championship game win over Sherman. After leading by four at halftime, Trout Lake took control of the game in second half. Willa McLauglin (16 points, nine rebounds) and Violette Anderson (26 points, seven rebounds, seven steals) helped lead the Mustang offense as they outscored the Huskies 36-21 to pull away and get the victory.

“I’m so proud of our girls,” said Anderson. “They showed good composure by hanging onto the lead and taking care of the ball in the fourth quarter. Willa had a great first quarter in scoring 10 points to really help us off to a good start. Violette had an outstanding game with 10 points in the fourth. She’s a real floor leader and she handled the pressure for us well. Malyssa Padilla (nine points, 11 rebounds, seven steals) played one of her best games of the season.”

Following the contest, the Mustangs celebrated the huge win with an emotional outburst with players leaping for joy, hugging each other, and yelling and screaming loud cheers in the festive atmosphere on the court. Coaches and players then did the traditional cutting down the net, followed by the awarding of their shiny new district title trophy.

“Our girls our playing really good basketball right now and they have improved with every game,” said Anderson. “Most importantly, they are such a good group of girls; they’re all hard working and have a positive attitude and they’re all good teammates. I couldn’t ask for a nicer group of girls to coach.”

The Mustangs started the week-long Big Sky district tournament Feb. 13 with a 62-34 home win over the Spray/Mitchell/Wheeler High Eagles (9-12). That was a key win because Trout Lake qualified for state playoffs a second straight year, while the loss eliminated the Eagles from the playoffs.

The Mustangs controlled the tempo of the game from start-to-finish. Led by McLaughlin (24 points) and Anderson (20 points), the Mustangs jumped in front to a 21-7 first-quarter lead. The Mustangs extended the margin to 31-15 at halftime and they led 44-25 after three quarters.

“We had a great first quarter with Willa (12 points) helping us have a good start and we didn’t really falter after that,” said Anderson. “We played solid defense throughout the game and Willa and Violette both had a strong offensive performance.”

Trout Lake followed with 63-49 win over the host Ione/Arlington High Cardinals (14-10) Feb. 15 in a district semifinal contest. The Mustangs jumped in front 14-8 after the first quarter, they extended the lead to 34-19 at halftime and they led 51-27 after three.

Anderson led the Mustangs with 25 points, McLaughlin had 17 points and 13 rebounds, and Padilla scored 12 points.