Lady Bison show promise

Buffalo’s Meredith Shaw (#14) gets a shot off over Centerville defender Kelsey Lagrone (#22) and Sarah Mutschler (#20) waits for a rebound opportunity during the Lady Bison victory over the Lady Tigers in the CHS tournament. The Lady Bison dropped their first district game on Tuesday in Trinity, but play in the Centerville Tournament over the weekend showed promise. Buffalo dropped a close contest to a strong Cayuga team on Thursday before defeating Centerville on Friday. The Lady Bison lost the championship game to Leon on Saturday.

Buffalo struggled offensively through the first three quarters in Trinity while the Lady Tigers shot over 65% from the field. Trinity went on to win 58-32.

Latisha Jackson was the only Lady Bison in double digits with ten points. Kelsey Canady netted seven points while Kaila Grissett totaled five. Meredith Shaw and Lauren Chambers contributed four points each. Erica Jones tacked on two.

The Lady Bison got behind early in the Cayuga game, but narrowed the gap to 23-24 at the half. The Lady Cats extended their lead to five in the third quarter. Buffalo was closing in the fourth quarter when time ran out with Cayuga ahead 48- 45.

Karlee Ferguson led the attack with sixteen points. Jackson reached double digits with ten. Kylan Ferguson totaled eight points. Reagan Read popped in four points while Chambers tallied three. Grissett sank two free throws, and Jones and Shaw each hit one.

Due to football playoffs on Saturday afternoon, the Lady ‘Cats forfeited the contest so they could play earlier on Saturday. Buffalo advanced to play Centerville in the semi-finals.

The Lady Bison, sparked by guard Lindsey McGill, jumped out to a 16-11 at the end of the first quarter. Buffalo poured in another thirteen points in the second quarter to lead 29-18 at the half. The Lady Tigers recovered in the third quarter, outscoring the Lady Bison fifteen to nine to close the lead to 38-33. The final minutes were touch and go as Centerville took the lead with 5:40 to go. The lead changed hands two more times in the final minutes, but free throws down the stretch secured the win for the Lady Bison, 52-47.

Jackson led the Lady Bison with eleven points. McGill ripped the nets for nine points, all in the opening quarter of the game. Shaw and Kylan Ferguson tallied eight points each while Jones was close behind with seven. Karlee Ferguson finished with six points. Chambers scored a basket and Canady added a free throw.

Brittany Thomas led the Lady Tigers with fifteen points. Kelsey Lagrone and Candace West scored nine and eight points, respectively. Fallon Parnell connected for six points. Hannah Word netted five points; Megan Harris added three. Matthews chipped in two.

Buffalo scored consistently through the first three quarters of the Leon game, but the Lady Bison struggled to find defensive matchups. The Lady Cougars took the floor with five guards, forcing the Lady Bison to alter their lineup. Time and again, the Lady Cougars raced the length of the floor before pulling up for the three-pointer. Eight long-range shots found their mark in the first half as Leon charged to a 39-22 lead. The Lady Bison closed the gap in the third quarter, outscoring Leon eleven to five to cut the lead to eleven, 33-44. Buffalo struggled to get their shots to fall in the final eight minutes as fatigue factored into the contest. Leon won the championship game 57-41.

Kylan Ferguson and Jackson combined for twenty-seven points to lead the Lady Bison. Canady finished with nine points. Jones and Raven Lott came up with three and two, respectively.

THIS WEEK: The Lady Bison are at home this week. Buffalo will host New Waverly on Tuesday with the Junior Varsity game starting at 5:00. Onalaska comes to town on Friday for a four-game evening beginning at 4:30.