Lady Bulldogs going back to the playoffs

For the second time in three years, the Holtville High School Lady Bulldogs are going to the playoffs. It’s also the second time ever for the team to make the postseason.

“We knew a win tonight gave us a trip to the playoffs,” Holtville coach Clint Pitchford said. “Winning tonight guarantees us two more games. What’s at stake now is the area championship and a chance to host a playoff game.”

The Lady Bulldogs lead from the opening basket in Friday night’s game against Booker T. Washington Magnet in the first round of the area tournament.

The Lady Bulldogs won 48-21 but they never let BTW get in the game.

“We executed the game plan really well,” Pitchford said. “We've kind of tweaked some things offensively with some different personnel. We wanted to play through our defense, great pressure, turn the ball over, attack the rear, and they did all that tonight.”

It was a game that was never in question especially with the all around effort from freshman Hailey Phelps. 

“She is usually always our leading rebounder,” Pitchford said. “She's sometimes leading in assists and she's one of the highest on the teams in steals. She's just a great, all round player.”

Pitchford said Phelps has been trying to find her shot. She stepped up especially offensively scoring 18 points in the game.

“We've had to wait for her to kind of grow into the scoring aspect,” Pitchford said. “She grew up a lot tonight. I told her to keep playing and the scoring is basically gonna come. She's starting to figure out, attack the rim, and be aggressive. She was aggressive all night and kept producing.”

Phelps was aided by Kali Ingram who scored 11 and Ragen Roberts scored 10.

Next up is a trip to Marbury on Tuesday night for the area championship.

“They’re a really good team with a lot of seniors,” Pitchford said. “We will have to bring our best game.”