The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON - The Dayton girls' basketball team notched three wins in five days last week as they started their season on a hot streak. After beating Garfield Palouse at home Dec. 2, 43-29, they traveled to St. John, beating St. John-Endicott 41-33 on Friday, and then won on the road again Saturday at Liberty High in Spangle, 60-51. Dayton 43, Gar-Pal 29

Against Gar-Pal at home, Sarah Phillips, Madison Mings and Sidney Andrews each tallied nine points, and Lexie Ramirez had eight, as the Lady 'Dogs used a balanced attack to wear down the visiting Vikings. Andrews added six rebounds and Mings had six assists.

"I was pleased with how we shared the basketball," said Dayton Coach Clayton Strong. "We had 16 assists on 19 made field goals. It was something we wanted to work on as a group."

The girls added a little thievery to the mix, as they had 14 steals for the game, including three each for Sarah and Jenna Phillips. Dayton 41, St. John-Endicott 33

The Dayton girls got off to a slow start on the road Friday night, as they fell behind St. John-Endicott 21-9 in the second quarter before they switched to a zone defense. It shut down the opponents' scoring.

"We got into some foul trouble so we went to a zone to protect girls from foul trouble," said Strong. "It actually bothered them so we stayed in it and we finally got the lead in the third."

After trailing 25-20 at the half, Dayton held St. John-Endicott to only two points in the third quarter and six in the fourth as they pulled away and easily won.

The Bulldogs had a strong night on the boards, with a total of 42 team rebounds. "I was really pleased with our rebounding and resiliency," Strong said. "Madison Mings lead us with 10, but Lexie Ramirez, Sidney Andrews, and Shayla Currin all had 8. We had 8 assists."

Left: Dayton sophomore Sidney Andrews splits a pair of defenders as she drives to the hoop against Gar-Pal Friday. Teammate Jenna Phillips (10) looks on. Right: Sophomore Shayla Currin shows her offensive tenacity against the Vikings' swarming defense.

Ramirez led the team in scoring with 13 points, followed by Sarah Phillips with 12. Dayton 60, Liberty 51

Unlike Friday, Dayton jumped out to a big lead Saturday night against Liberty, taking an 11-2 advantage into the first quarter break and then leading 25-19 at the half.

"We came out and executed our stuff pretty well," Strong said. "We shot 42% from the field and 72% from the free throw line. I thought that we kept our composure when we needed to at the end of the game and really rebounded well."

Currin had a brilliant night scoring, with 21 points, including seven of eight from the free throw line. Mings and Sarah Phillips each had ten points, and Ramirez had nine.

Andrews and Ramirez had 10 rebounds each, and the team had a total of 39. Ramirez also had six assists, while Sarah Phillips had eight steals.

The Lady 'Dogs were set to host Pomeroy on Tuesday night, and then will open league play at home Thursday against Walla Walla Valley Academy.