Coahoma’s Laci Sterling gets to the basket for two of her game-high 25 points in the Bulldogettes’ 44-34 win over the Merkel Lady Badgers Saturday night in Coahoma.(HERALD photo/Jonathan Hull)

Coahoma’s Bulldogettes remained perfect in District 5-2A play Saturday night, defeating the Merkel Lady Badgers, 44-34, at Bulldog Gym in Coahoma. The perfect record isn’t nearly as important as being in first place in district and also the feat the Bulldogettes accomplished with the victory, according to Coahoma Head Coach Chris Sumrall.

“ Being in first place is what is most important. This was on a back-to-back, too,” said Sumrall after the Bulldogettes claimed their second victory in as many nights. “You hear it talked about all time in the NBA about how hard it is to play in a back-to-back and these girls played hard. I’m pretty proud of them.”

The Lady Badgers came into Coahoma second in district with an earlier loss to the Bulldogettes being the only blemish on their 9-1 record.

If Merkel was Coahoma’s main competition, then the competition looked thin after three periods. However, the Lady Badgers showed some fight in the fourth period, ripping off a 9-0 run with 1:40 left in the game and pulling within 12 points after having trailed by as many as 21 points in the game.

Merkel wouldn’t get much closer, though, as Coahoma’s defense stayed fresh enough to hold onto a 10-point margin once the final horn sounded.

The Bulldogettes improved to 11-0 with the win after picking up their 10th district win the night before. Due to inclement weather, the Bulldogettes and Lady Badgers were forced to reschedule their matchup twice. The shakeup forced Coahoma into a tournament situation, playing back-to-back games — something that rarely happens in district play.

 “One of the things about 16 or 17 year old kids is they don’t really notice how hard things can be,” Sumrall said. “They were kind of oblivious to the back-to-back so I didn’t mention anything about it. I figured the less they think about it the better.”

Regardless, the Bulldogettes remained sharp, wasting little time to build a lead that proved insurmountable for Merkel. Coahoma led 15-8 after one period and 26-12 at halftime. Both of Coahoma’s wins over the Lady Badgers this season came by 10 points.

Laci Sterling led the Bulldogettes with a game-high 25 points.

Coahoma continues its march for a perfect district season Tuesday, playing host to a familiar nemesis — Stanton’s Lady Buffaloes. A Bulldogettes’ victory clinches the District 5-2A title for Coahoma.

Merkel      8    4  2  20—34

Coahoma    15  11  2  16—44

Coahoma (25-4, 11-0): Shelbi Paige 6, Laci Sterling 25, Janice Gonzalez 6, Christie Rich 3, Heather Sheppard 4.

Merkel: Hood 6, Bellah 3, Szabo 4, New 12, Keith 8, Smallridge 1.

Notes: The junior varsity Coahoma Bulldogettes competed n the district tournament this weekend, beating Hawley, Merkel and Stanton by a combined 70 points to win the District 5-2A JV Championship.

The Bulldogettes opened with a 30-point win over Hawley, 61-31. K’Leigh Fowler led with 20 points with Kylie Gee scoring 15 and Kalea Neff adding 11.

Gee would lead Coahoma past a pesky Merkel squad next, scoring a game-high 12 points in the Bulldogettes’ 35-20 win.

Gee then equaled Stanton’s offensive output in the finals, matching Stanton’s 17 points as Coahoma claimed the title with an impressive 42-17 victory.

Gee averaged 15 points and Fowler scored 12 a game to lead the Bulldogettes.

Contact Sports Editor Jonathan Hull by calling 263-7331, ext. 237, or by e-mailing him at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it