Perhaps the Lady Hawks had a bit of first game jitters, or perhaps Broadus' first round bye gave the Wibaux Lady Longhorns some early momentum at the 4C District Tournament last Friday in Miles City, as Broadus fell behind 1-5 in the first quarter.

Over the past several years, Wibaux has been a team which stopped Broadus in its tracks, and the girls had to overcome that feeling of a connection with past performances in order to win. With a quick regroup the Lady Hawks found their footing and reversed their fortunes, going up 12-7 by the end of the first quarter, as they held Wibaux to only four more points the rest of the half to go into the locker room up 19-11.

In the second half, Wibaux's scoring came back to life and Broadus' offense slowly faded, until midway through the 4th quarter when Broadus found themselves tied up, and with both teams in foul trouble.

At one point, Wibaux had multiple players with four fouls, while Broadus also had three players in foul trouble. Ultimately three Broadus players would foul out, compared to only one player for Wibaux. The difference came about in the timing of free throw hits and misses. Both teams shot 48% from the line. Broadus hit 7 of 8 in the fourth quarter, but Wibaux only made 10 of 21. That difference was starkly realized when in the waning seconds of the game, with Wibaux down by one point, and a chance to pull ahead on a Broadus foul, Wibaux missed two free throws. In the ensuing trip down the court, Mia Mader was fouled and sunk one free throw to pull ahead by two and seal the win 44-42.

The Lady Hawks had a nicely balanced scoring attack against Wibaux, with six players scoring between 5 and 8 points.

Broadus Girls Head Coach Ashley Emmons commented that the win helped instill in the team the idea that Broadus is capable of playing with anyone, if they put together a solid game through all four quarters, and most importantly if they believe in themselves.

The ability to believe was tested in the championship game on Saturday against Ekalaka, as Broadus faced a daunting task – going up against the undefeated in conference Lady Bulldogs.

Emmons noted that the team felt good going into the game, and played a good first half maintaining striking distance as Ekalaka led 26-20 at the half.

Emmons' comment about attempting to string together a full four quarters of play proved to be a sound prediction in the third quarter against Ekalaka, as Broadus only scored 7, while Ekalaka went on a tear to score 20. While Broadus had a 50% effective field goal percentage in the second quarter, that number fell to 19% in the third quarter, meanwhile Ekalaka shot their best quarter, at 47%.

As the fourth quarter started, Emmons told the team that they could lay down and take second place, or fight back for the win....the girls responded well by outscoring Ekalaka 17-8 and pulling within ten, but it was too late, and Ekalaka pulled off the 54-44 victory.

Mia Mader led the Lady Hawks in scoring with 15; Zeason Schaffer had 9 and Maddie Zimmer 8.

The second place District trophy for the Lady Hawks is the 8th time in program history the team has achieved such a title. The team also placed second in 1976, 84, 90, 91, 2003, 2012, and 2015. There have been five district title first place trophies in school history.

The Lady Hawks will now face Custer/Hysham at the Southern C Divisional Tournament, March 1-4 in Lockwood.

With Custer/Hysham coming into the tournament as the 5C #2 team, Broadus will play a team of which they have some familiarity, as Custer/Hysham moved over to the 5C just this year; Broadus played them regularly in years past.

That first round game will take place on Thursday, March 2nd, at high noon.

Players on the Broadus girls basketball team celebrate their win, moments after defeating Wibaux in the semi-finals at Districts.

Two teams from the tournament will move on to State.

Please see the February 23, 2023 photo album for more pictures from the District Tourney.