The Winslow Lady Bulldogs nipped the Northwest Christian Lady Crusaders, 49-48 in the first round of the Arizona 3A Conference Championship Tournament in overtime in Winslow on Feb. 13. The win improved Winslow’s record to 15-13 and ended Northwest Christian’s season with a 20-8 record. Winslow was to play the Page Lady Sand Devils in Kayenta on Friday in the second round of the tournament.
Northwest Christian started strong and led 10-6 after the first quarter and 19-15 at the half. The Lady Bulldogs rallied in the third quarter and had a 32-26 lead going into the final period. The Crusaders came back to tie the game at the end of regulation but Winslow eked out the one point victory in the extra period. Justine Butterfield led the Bulldogs with 14 points. Kristen Wagner with 12 points and Kelly Mitchell with 10 points were also in double figures for Winslow. Northwest Christian relied mostly on two players who scored most of their points. Izzy Ortwine led all scorers with 23 points and Mariah Baca added 22 for the Lady Crusaders.
Page had a first round bye and took an 18-9 record into Friday’s game against the Lady Bulldogs. The Lady Sand Devils won both regular season meetings between the two teams.
