<I>The Eagle/Tim Adams</I><BR>Action under the net! Monument/Dayville's Ryan Sagaser (left) and Mitchell's Bud Carter (11) try to gain control of a loose ball underneath the Tigers' basket.

MONUMENT – The Monument/Dayville girls took nearly one quarter to wake up in the Jan. 31 TriCo League basketball game against Mitchell on senior night.

The Lady Tigers had just one shot from the floor go in the basket until the 1:53 mark of the first period before finally catching fire and thumping the Lady Loggers 44-20.

Monument/Dayville took a 10-5 lead after the first eight minutes and then held Mitchell to a single field goal in the second period to build a 24-7 halftime advantage.

Coach Maurice Thorne had his reserve players on the floor to begin the second half and the ladies continued to score, almost at will.

“The girls were a little slow tonight,” he said. “We’ve had a couple of weeks of lack of interest shall we say and I had to address that last night at practice. The girls did all right and they had fun. That’s what is most important.”

Play slowed down a little in the third period, but the Tigers maintained a 30-13 advantage heading into the final quarter.

“Overall we really played like a team and that’s the most important part,” said Savanna Richardson. “It was a little slow and there were some minor things, but we played really good.”

Richardson finished with seven points and canned a three-point bomb at the buzzer to end the third quarter.

“It was pretty fun, I just knew I could make it from there. I’ve done it before,” she said.

Junior Sahara Derowitsch, who normally doesn’t get a lot of playing time but was in the game for nearly two full quarters, said she had a lot of fun. “It was worth all the time I put in in practice.”

Tiffany Hunt scored a team-high 10 points for the Lady Tigers.

“I’ve been sick all week and I was just glad to get in the game,” she said. “I got my shooting confidence back tonight, I’ve been shooting terrible for the past few games.”

Megan Foreman scored a game-high 13 points for the Lady Loggers.

On Feb. 3-4, the Tigers made the southern swing through the TriCo League taking on Harper and Huntington on their home courts.

Against Harper on Friday, Madi Anspach scored 10 points, Hunt nine and King eight as the Lady Tigers defeated the Hornets 43-36.

On Saturday, Huntington was no match for the Lady Tigers with King scoring 10 points, Hunt eight and Anspach seven en route to a 51-25 win.

The Lady Tigers (13-4) finish the regular season Friday at Prairie City.

BoysMonument/Dayville 58, Mitchell 35MONUMENT – The TriCo League basketball matchup between the Monument/ Dayville boys and Mitchell Jan. 31 was close – only for the first eight minutes.

In their final home game of the season, the Tigers held a slim 10-9 lead after the first period but held the Loggers scoreless from the field in the second quarter to take a 26-12 halftime lead and cruised to a 58-35 victory.

The win keeps the Tigers in the hunt for a district playoff spot with a 9-6 league record.

Seniors Guy Andersen and Beau Cruise, consistently two of the top scorers for the Tigers in every game this season, remained hot, knocking down 21 and 16 points respectively.

Travis Henslee, also playing in his final home game in a Tigers’ uniform, scored eight points.

“We did OK,” he said. “If we want to go to district, though, we’ve got to keep winning.”

Ryan Sagaser scored nine points before fouling out in the fourth quarter.

“I guess I’m just too rough, I don’t know,” the senior said with a smile. “One was an accident. The guy stopped in front of me and I ran right over him. I almost killed him. Terrible, terrible.”

The Tigers blistered the net with 21 additional points in the third quarter to hold a comfortable 22-point, 47-25 lead heading into the final eight minutes of the game.

Patrick Lofton scored 19 points to pace Mitchell.

Against Harper and Huntington over the weekend, the boys managed to come away with a split besting Harper 62-31 Friday before dropping a 53-45 decision to Huntington on Saturday.

The Tigers (10-7) still have a chance at reaching the playoffs, but have to beat Prairie City Friday and then get some help.