Photo by Wayne Crick

Cedaredge’s Dakota Baldozier battles with the Lady Bulldogs’ Natalie Anderson during first half action of a game played last week (Tuesday, Feb. 4). Hotchkiss came from behind to win 40-38.

A visit from Olathe's Lady Pirates on Friday (Feb. 10) resulted in another loss for Cedaredge, 66-42.

Cedaredge sits near the bottom of 3A WSL league standings with a 2-10 league record and 3-15 overall. Hotchkiss is also in the lower half of the standings at 4-8 and 6-10.

Hotchkiss 40 Cedaredge 38

These two rivals have played each other six times in the last year (going back to last season) with neither team winning by more than a handful of points on each occasion.

This year's competition began with the Bank of the West tournament in December of 2011. Hotchkiss won that contest 37-36. The two teams met again on Jan. 14 with the Lady Bruins winning a 38-35 decision. Last week's 40-38 win gives Hotchkiss the tie-breaker for the season.

There's a saying that goes, "A win is a win," and the Lady Bulldogs will take the win no matter how ugly it might have been.

Action was slow from the first period on with miscues by both offenses highlighting the evening. Cedaredge seemed to have an edge in the opening quarter with Alyssa Isaman and Jordan Smith scoring four and three points in a Lady Bruins' 9-5 advantage.

Smith added four more points in the second quarter but Jennifer Celis and Westergren canned three-pointers to give Hotchkiss an 8-6 edge in the period to make the halftime score 15-13.

Isaman tallied six points in the third period to lead Cedaredge on a 15-9 run and a 30-22 lead going to the final quarter.

A furious fourth quarter by Hotchkiss netted the Lady Bulldogs 18 points while Cedaredge could only score eight. The play of Natalie Anderson highlighted the last half of the period as the scrappy four foot something sophomore played all out on both ends of the floor. Anderson forced numerous turnovers and had a great offensive effort with eight points in the 18-8 Bulldogs' run. Anderson was six of six at the free throw line and had one field goal for Hotchkiss to account for all of her points in the game.

Westergren, who had been resting for much of the fourth quarter, came in with a little more than a minute left in the game. The Bulldogs trailed by one as the game clock ticked off valuable time. After receiving the ball, Westergren dribbled to her right and put up the game winning shot just to the right of the top of the key for three points and a 40-38 lead.

Even though Anderson's efforts put her in the limelight, she was quick to point out there were other players on the floor who contributed to the game's outcome. "We weren't scared and just played hard to the end. I couldn't have done what I did without my teammates," noted Anderson after the game.

Coach Josh Kasper had similar sentiments as well. When asked what he saw in the final moments of the game, he was quick to answer. "I saw five girls on the floor flying around and getting the job done as a team."

Kasper also gave kudos to his point guard, Aleksus Wilson, who "played a great game."

Cedaredge could not get to where they wanted the final shot to be taken and time ran out to preserve Hotchkiss' sixth win of the season.

Isaman's 13 points led Cedaredge's offense while Westergren shared game-high scoring honors with Isaman with 13 points of her own.

Olathe 66 Cedaredge 42

The Lady Bruins were outgunned against Olathe as the league's top team, started fast, and for the most part stayed that way for the biggest portion of the contest. A 16-5 run in the first quarter established the Lady Pirates' desire to control the game from the start.

Second-quarter play was another good outing for the Lady Pirates offense as they put up another 18 points to 13 for Cedaredge for a 34-18 halftime lead.

Cedaredge's best quarter of play came after the break with the Lady Bruins outscoring Olathe 16-12.

The Pirates re-grouped in the final stanza and the offense canned 20 points while their defense limited Cedaredge to eight points.

Olathe's Tawni Middleton was the game's leading scorer with 23 points.

Cedaredge's final regular season game is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 18 in Parachute against the Grand Valley Lady Cardinals in a game slated to start at 2:30 p.m.