The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON - The Dayton girls' basketball team wa­vered on tired legs briefly on Saturday, but got the adrena­line coursing to seal Asotin's fate, taking the Panthers down 60-56 in overtime.

The first period was slow, with foul calls increasing to the point of seeming con­stant and interrupting the flow of the game. The lady Bulldogs moved slower than normal, tired from playing two nights in a row. But they didn't let it keep them from shooting. The Bulldogs and Panthers kept the score close and ended the first period with the score tied at 11.

The Panthers opened the second period hot, brushing ahead to take the lead, 21-13 with five minutes remaining in the half. The Bulldogs response was slow but sure, closing the gap and ending the half with a score of 28- 15, Asotin.

Foul calls kept the third period long and slow like the rest of the game, forc­ing both teams to step up to the foul line frequently. The Bulldogs answered after the half, slowing picking up the pace and pulling ahead to close the third period with a score of 37-36, Dayton.

Both teams vied for the lead, volleying the score back and forth until a clutch three-pointer from McKayla Bickelhaupt widened the Bulldogs' lead, 45-38 in the final five minutes of the game. The score was tight, but the Bulldogs gained confidence from the seven- point lead.

After hitting one foul shot and with only 2:20 left on the clock, the Panthers closed the six-point gap with two shots from the field. The bulldogs responded with three foul points, bringing the score to 48-45 with 1:36 left on the clock.

Clinging to the three point advantage at 48-45, the Bull­dogs watched as Asotin missed two shots from the foul line with 19.3 seconds left on the clock. Asotin aggressively fought for the rebound, ending in a jump ball to the Panthers. Missed shots from both Asotin and Dayton kept the score at 48-45 in the Bulldogs' favor until a desperate shot from the Panthers as the buzzer sounded ended on a three- pointer, tying the game and sending it to overtime.

Dayton's Jessica Tate sunk the first two points of overtime with two foul shots. Asotin matched with two free-throw points of their own. Fouls sent the teams to their respective sides back and forth until the Panthers pulled ahead with the first points from the field in over­time, advancing 52-51 over the Bulldogs. Dayton's Ma­lia Frame responded to the deficit with two points of her own on a rebound.

The teams fought, pulling the lead back and forth and leaving no clear advantage for either team. With a final burst of energy, the Bulldogs pulled ahead in the final 50 seconds of the game on foul shots. Tate and Bick­elhaupt both advanced the score in the final seconds of overtime. Bickelhaupt's foul shot came with 0.3 seconds left on the clock, pulling the Bulldogs ahead 60-56 and putting a long shot out of reach for the Panthers.

With upwards of 50 fouls during the game, Dayton head coach Clayton Strong said he was happy the team had worked so hard on free throw shots this year.

"We went to a level we didn't know we had, phys­ically and emotionally," Strong said.

Strong said the team had to dig deep down to come out on top, but that he was proud of each girl for what they had done on the court.

With two weeks until playoffs, the team is now 5-1 in league play coming off of a 49-29 win over Tri-Cities Prep on Friday.