Buffs battle at state but lose two

The White Buffalos trailed 10-6 at the end of one period Thursday against the Bulldogs and 24-18 at the half. However, Maras battled back and trailed just 27-26 late in the third quarter, however, Baker scored the final seven points of the period and outscored the White Buffalos 21-7 down the stretch.

“I'm just proud of the girls for getting to this point,” said Madras head coach Jerin Say. “We battled hard. I think we had some injuries to some key players that affected the flow of the game for us, but the girls battled the whole way to the end.”

Madras was led by Rylan Davis with 20 points. However, down the stretch, Davis was on the bench with a cramp in her left calf that prevented her from playing through the end of the end of the fourth quarter. Fellow junior guard Sasha Esquiro was struggling with shin splints throughout the game, while Madras post Yvonne Greene fouled out.

Esquiro still managed to score six points in the game.

Meanwhile, Jozie Ramos led a quartet of Baker players in double figures with 15 points. Brooklyn Jaca added 13 points, while Ryla Elms and Macay Moore each finished with 11.

Led by Maija Poland with 12, the White Buffalos pulled down 36 rebounds, the same total as Baker. However, Madras shot just 29.2 percent on their two-point field goal attempts and 5.9 percent from the three-point line, while Baker hit 34 percent of their two point attempts and 41 percent from the three-point line. Ramos led Baker in rebounds with 14.

Friday turned out to be the highest scoring game of the tournament with both teams scoring seemingly at will. The White Buffalos got a huge game from junior guard Esquiro, but that wasn't enough to rescue Madras as the Hornets did just enough to escape with the victory.

Esquiro had 37 points in the morning tilt but the Henley Hornets hung on to win 81-77 and advance to the fourth-place game.

“I'm definitely proud of the girls playing all the way through the game,” Say said. “Not giving up on themselves. Not giving up on the opportunity to keep battling back, and believing that they could do it. We almost did it, but I don't know, allowing a team to score 80 points, you aren't going to win many games doing that.”

Madras trailed 17-16 at the end of one period and was down 41-33 at the half. Henley extended their lead to 18 points in the third quarter before the White Buffalos staged a furious rally.

Madras entered the fourth quarter down by 13 points to the Hornets, who got two excellent games from Annie Campos and Anna Harper, with 28 and 19 points, respectively. Harper was nine for 11 from the field.

In the fourth, though, the rest of the Buffalos joined the fray and Madras nearly pulled the upset. With more than two minutes remaining, they got the lead down to four points. However, a few Madras turnovers and Henley converted just enough offensively to stemmed the comeback.

Great shooting was the key for Henley. They shot 48 percent from the field overall, and 42 percent from three-point land. Madras was 31 percent from the floor. Both teams played tough defense. Madras had 19 turnovers but forced 20 out of Henley.

Esquiro, who battled shin pain in the opener and scored just six points in the Madras loss to Baker, was an offensive machine Friday. She was 10 of 24 from the field, six for 13 from three-point land, and a perfect 11 for 11 from the free throw line. She also snagged four rebounds and had five assists before fouling out late in the game.

After scoring 20 against Baker Thursday, Davis, a first team all-Tri-Valley Conference player, had an off morning shooting on Friday, hitting just four for 16 — but she had nine rebounds and five assists.

“ It felt good,” Davis said of getting to the state tournament. “I was glad we were able to get here again. It was a little disappointing, but I was glad we kept fighting to the end. It was fun while it lasted, but it was too short.”

Greene, who fouled out on Thursday, was able to play most of the game on Friday and added 10 rebounds for Madras. Katelyn Tanewasha had 12 points.

As a team, the White Buffalos pulled down 51 rebounds to 45 for Henley. In addition to Davis and Greene, Poland also had a solid rebounding game with eight boards. Harper led Henley in rebounding with 12.

Despite not placing at the state tournament, it was still an outstanding year for the White Buffalos, who finished second in the Tri-Valley Conference with an 8-2 league record and ended the season with a 17-13 overall record.

“I'm proud of the team for battling and giving it their best effort,” Say said. “The season was kind of a roller coaster ride for our team. The ebbs and flows in this game were kind of like a marker of how our season went, ebbs and flows. We revert back to some old habits at this tournament and then go back to the things we've been working on, so I think consistency hurt us a little bit. But, you know, we have got a lot of girls coming back next year, so we will just get back after it and come again next year to try to make it happen.”

Baker 51, Madras 33

Madras 6 12 8 7 – 33

Baker 10 14 13 14 – 50

Madras – Rylan Davis 20, Esquiro 6, Tanewasha 3, Poland 2, Martinez 1, Greene 1, Plazola, Lockey, Holyan, Leonard. Totals: 14 4-8 33.

Baker – Jozie Ramos 15, Jaca 13, Elms 11, Moore 11, Robb 1, Dalton, Llaurado, Pierce, Myer. Totals: 16 11-19 51.

Three-point goals – Madras: Tanewasha. Baker: Jaca 4, Moore 2, Elms, Ramos.

Henley 81, Madras 77

Madras 16 17 15 29 – 77

Henley 17 24 20 20 – 81

Madras – Sasha Esquiro 37, Tanewasha 12, Davis 9, Greene 7, Harry 6, Plazola 5, Poland 1, Lockey, Martinez, Holyan, Leonard. Totals: 37 16-22 77.

Henley – Annie Campos 28, Harper 19, Fussell 10, Modin 9, Northcutt 7, S. Campos 4, Mauch 2, Parker 2. Totals: 35 16-26 81.

Three-point goals – Madras: Esquiro 6, Tanewasha 3, Harry 2, Davis, Plazola. Henley: A. Campos 3, Modin, S. Campos.