Tigers down ACH, lose state bid to Curlew

The Odessa Tiger girls accomplished a come-from-behind victory over rival school Almira-Coulee-Hartline at the District 7 tournament playoff game Feb. 19 in Deer Park. They nearly did the same thing on Saturday, Feb. 22 against Curlew in a battle for the 3rd place spot at district that would have given them a trip to the state tournament.

The Tigers and Warriors had a close contest through three-quarters of the game. The fourth quarter was decisive, however, as the Odessa team outscored ACH by 31 points to 10. According to one Odessa fan who attended the game, “They just put their heads down and got ’er done.

Grace Nelson and Maddy Wagner tallied 20 and 19 points, respectively, to lead the Tiger assault.

Wagner also had a fine defensive game with 11 rebounds and two blocked shots.

Against Curlew, the Odessa girls were fighting for the third-place district trophy and a spot at the state tournament. The Tigers had their hands full, thanks to two six-foot seniors on the Cougar team, who dominated both offensive and defensive play. The Odessa girls had a very frustrating first half as shot after shot failed to find its mark or was blocked. They trailed 32-17 at halftime.

The second half saw an improvement, and at one point in the fourth quarter they trailed the Cougars by only three points. The high point of the game came at the end of the third quarter when Kenadie Elder heaved a shot from half court at the buzzer and it found the basket, swish!

McKennah Davison had 15 points and Wagner 10 to pace the Tiger offense. The rebounding lead went to 5’4” Elder with 7, and Davison and Wagner each added 6 rebounds.

On a side note, a familiar face on the Curlew team appeared to the Tigers in the person of freshman Macey Singer, formerly of Odessa.

The Tigers have reached the end of the road for this season. Only three teams from District 7 move on to the state tournament.