The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON - Dayton's girls came out on top in their first league home game of the season on Saturday, defeat­ing Tri-Cities Prep 42-28.

At one point in the fourth quarter, the Lady 'Dogs' lead jumped from five to 18 in just a few quick plays, which made head coach Clayton Strong proud.

"It's a sign that we're really maturing as a team," he said. "That and also how well the girls shared the ball during the game, which they did better in this game than I've seen them do in the three years since I took over as head coach."

The Lady Bulldogs got off to a slow start in the first quarter, making just three points, but they kept TCP in the single digits for each quarter of the game.

"We played pretty well defensively," Strong said. "I played nine or 10 girls in the game, and each one contrib­uted defensively, so we were really able to let defense spur our offense."

Individual scores were fairly evenly matched, but top shooters were freshman Jenna Phillips with 10 points, senior Lexi Ward with eight points, and sophomore Madi­son Mings with six.

The Dayton girls lost their first league game Friday against DeSales, 51-30.

The Lady Bulldogs played their final non-league game last Tuesday evening at Riverview High School in Finley, losing 26-23.

"Neither team shot well at all, which is why it was a really low-scoring game," Strong said. "I thought my kids played pretty good defense, though, which al­lowed us to be in the game."

The Dayton girls play again on Friday, December 27, at 6 p.m. in Dayton against LaCrosse/Washtuc­na. On Saturday, December 28, they play Elgin at 5 p.m. in Dayton.