Seeley Lake Elementary Eagles took the 2018 Copper League Championship game for the small schools with a 34-19 win over St. Joseph Elementary March 14. Pictured Back (L-R): Head Coach Brett Haines, Sariah Maughan, Tegan Mauldin, Trista Wendel, MacKenzie Little Coyote, Kyla Conley and Assistant Coach Tylen Dial. Middle (L-R): Cierra Hinchey, Emily Maughan, Tru Good, Crystal Lopez and Grace Mercado. Front: Dani Sexton.
Eighth grader Trista Wendel lays in two points early in the tournament game against Potomac. Wendel scored six points for the Eagles.
Seventh grade Eagle Dani Sexton puts up two of her six points against Potomac.
Eighth grader Sariah Maughan shoots for two. She scored eight points in the game.
SEELEY LAKE – The Seeley Lake Elementary Eagles won the Copper League Small School Tournament March 14 with a record of 16-2. This title is added to their first place win in the Copper League's Large School bracket from last year. The girls were welcomed back to Seeley Lake with an escort from the Seeley Lake Volunteer Fire Department.
Haines said the girls were solid all year beating many teams by 18-20 points. They only had two losses, one to Florence and the other to Bonner, neither of which were in the Copper League Small School Division.
"The girls worked hard all year and played well," said Haines.
The Eagles was seeded first of the six schools in the Small Schools division. They had a bye for the first game of the tournament.
After Potomac knocked Missoula International out of the tournament with a score of 24-20, Potomac faced the Eagles March 13 for a chance at the championship game.
"Potomac was not the team we played [during the regular season]," said Haines who said they were missing some players when they played them earlier in the season. "Potomac is a physical team. They had some size and were no pushover."
The Eagles came out with the win 42-9 taking them to the Championship Game March 14 against St. Joseph. They had beaten St. Joseph twice in the regular season by 18 and 20 points.
"I told my girls they are not just going to let you have it," said Haines. "Just because you beat them twice, they are here to win this. You better get ready to play."
The Eagles had the lead the whole game but were not able to pull away until the middle of the second half. The Eagles won by 14 points after pulling their starters to let the younger players get some experience.
"We came out and the girls played a little tentative but as the game kept going we got into our rhythm," said Haines. "The second half is when we started hitting the shots, started to making the plays and finishing stuff."
Haines said that his point guard eighth-grader Sariah Maughan was one of the reasons for the team's success. She started playing up on the A Team with him in the sixth grade and has just continued to improve as a player. "She really set the tone of the game for us."
Haines said the rest of the eighth graders, Hannah Ayers, Cierra Hinchey, Trista Wendel and Tegan Mauldin, all showed great improvement and led the team in offense and defense. He added eighth grader Crystal Lopez was a first year player and worked hard to figure out the game and showed a lot of improvement over the year.
Haines said that the seventh grade girls were really strong. They only had one loss to Charlo early in the season.
Seventh grader Emily Maughan was bumped up to a starter to fill in for eighth grader Hannah Ayers who was sick for the tournament game. "She played so well," said Haines.
"I always tell them I don't guarantee playing time in the tournaments," said Haines. "Who ever shows me they want to play will earn time. Hustle is one of my biggest things. Good things will happen when you hustle."
Dani Sexton was another leader for the seventh graders.
"She just gets after people, flying around, going for the ball and good at offense and defense," said Haines.
The rest of the seventh graders Grace Mercado, Tru Good, Kyla Conley and MacKenzie Little Coyote all showed great improvements this year and Haines said that he has high hopes for them all next year.
"I just love coaching these girls," said Haines. "I will miss my eighth graders and I wish them the best of luck in high school. They have all been so great. They gave me everything they had all year."
Haines said he is looking forward to next year and continuing to develop as a team so they don't have any weak spots.
"We are going to be back next year. We will be in the hunt," said Haines who will try to get the girls in the Large School Division. "I would rather go challenge my girls than sit back and take an easier path. The large school would have definitely been a harder path this year," he added.
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