Lady Tiger summer hoops program opens

The Mountain Home Lady Tigers basketball program started out its summer program with a bang this past weekend, placing second in the 2005 Hawk-Dawg-Sader Tournament held at Northwest Nazarene University and Nampa High School in the Junior varsity Division.

The girls had to play three games on Friday and come back at play two more on Saturday.

On Friday the girls defeated Cole Valley Christian 33-10, Nampa Christian 40-15 and Nampa High 37-31.

In the Cole Valley game, the fast-break offense of the Lady Tigers proved too much for the Chargers to withstand.

The team was led by Christen McLee who had 12 points, Hannah Zamora had 8 points, Dani Dean had 5 points, Sammy Dawson had 4 points and Jessica Egusquiza and Lisa Kellerman each had 2 points.

Next up was Nampa Christian. Using a tough man-to-man defense, the Lady Tigers jumped out to an early lead and didn't look back, cruising to the 40-15 victory.

Christen McLee led the team with 12 points, Lisa Kellerman had 8 points, Dani Dean and Sammy Dawson each had 6 points, Brandie Riggs had 4 points and Ali Thomas and Hannah Zamora each had 2 points.

The third game of the night was against the host Nampa Bulldogs.

The girls, showing some wear and tear, had a tough time keeping up with the Lady Bulldogs and at the half the score was tied 16-16.

In the second half the girls didn't give up and hung on for the 37-31 victory.

"This was a tough game for us," said head coach Brian English.

"We were tired and Nampa came out fast and pushed us very hard. The girls showed a lot of character and never gave up in this game."

Dani Dean led the team with 14 points, Christen McLee had 12 points, Brandie Riggs had 5 points, Lisa Kellerman had 4 points and Hannah Zamora had 2 points.

After a night's rest, the team faced 5-A Centennial in its next game. Centennial's inside game proved to much for the Lady Tigers and Centennial won 24-14.

Hannah Zamora was the leading scorer with 8 points, Christen McLee, Dani Dean, and Lisa Kellerman each had 2 points.

The last game of the tournament was against the Vallivue Lady Falcons, who also only had one loss, so the game would be for second place.

The girls were fired up and led throughout the game, winning 36-20.

Christen McLee and Brandie Riggs led the team with 8 points each, Hannah Zamora had 6 points, Lisa Kellerman had 5 points, Dani Dean had 4 points, and Shalamar Enriquez and Jessica Egusquiza rounded out the scoring with 2 points each.

Although they didn't score, other players important to the team are: Kimi Daunce, Kaleena Bluemer, Lindsay Kellerman.

"Although this was only a junior varsity tournament this was important to us," English said.

"We only had two practices to get ready and what really showed was that the girls who played AAU ball under Coach Bitterman were really ready to play. These girls really stood out in the tournament.

"Our whole object is to get better in the summer and this was a great first step. We still have a long way to go and need more girls to play. Anyone can play," he said, noting that practices are Monday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to noon at the high school.

For more information contact Coach English at 587-6874.

The girls open up summer league play with three games this week and will finish their season at the Anacortes Tournament in Washington July 14-17.