By Jack Walker

Staff Writer

It's difficult to label an 18-win season in high school basketball a disappointment but that's exactly how coach Derek Lands of the Howe Lady Bulldogs sees it.

For the second year in a row Howe failed to make the playoffs, finishing 7-7 in the tough district 11-2A and going 18-11 overall.

The Lady Bulldogs had some success in the early part of the season, beating 3-A teams such as Van Alstyne and Bonham in addition to losing a one-point game to class 4-A Sherman. Gunter, Honey Grove and Melissa were the top three teams of the league and the Lady Bulldogs will see Honey Grove and Melissa drop from their schedules for the next two years as realignment removed those two teams.

Ashley Davis was the team's most consistent scorer and the senior post finished the season with 401 points to lead the team.

After splitting their first two district games, beating Whitewright at home before losing a road game to Honey Grove, the Lady Bulldogs came away with the championship in the NCTC tournament in Gainesville. In that event the Lady Bulldogs got some payback against Lindsay, beating the Lady Knights 45-27 after dropping a one-point game earlier at the Lindsay Tournament.

After returning to district action Howe won three straight, beating Bells, Leonard and Tom Bean. Ashley Davis scored 25 points at Leonard for her best scoring night of the season. That set up the final two games of the first trip through the league. The Lady Bulldogs were hammered by Melissa in their trip to the Birdcage and after playing a sound defense against Gunter, the offense never got started as Howe suffered its third district loss of the season.

The back-breaker on the team's second trip through the league was a three-point loss to Leonard on the Lady Bulldogs home court. Davis scored 12 of her 24 points in the second quarter as Howe took a one-point lead to the halftime break. A 15-8 Leonard run in the third could not be overcome as the Lady Bulldogs lost by three in a pivotal home game.

After getting the easy win over Tom Bean, Melissa and Gunter awaited. With Melissa in the hunt for the district championship, the Lady Bulldogs were unable to spring the upset and the Lady Cards came away with a 45-27 win .

For their trip to Gunter, the Lady Bulldogs would be participating in the Coaches-vs-Cancer event, which has become an annual affair. Gunter was also looking to be the champs from District 11-2A and as an added emotional boost their coach, Bruce Keatts had been hospitalized with a blood disorder a couple days before the game.

In the team's earlier meeting in Howe, the game plan for the Lady Bulldogs had been to slow the game down and limit possessions by the potent Gunter offense and their all-state player Joey Bailey. For the final game of the season coach Lands wanted his team to let it fly. Katie Pelzel and Paige Potter did just that in the first quarter, Pelzel made the opening shot from three-point land and Potter added two more to kick-start the Howe offense.

Gunter is a very sound team and they didn't rattle. They fed the ball to Bailey and the junior post responded with her usual game and the Lady Tigers prevailed in a 50-39 ballgame.

Seniors Ashley Davis, Katie Pelzel, Paige and Maddie Potter and Briana Slawson closed out their high school hoops career's with the Gunter game.

Playing in a new district lineup next season with Callisburg, Pottsboro and S&S replacing Melissa, Honey Grove and Leonard, Howe will look to get more offense out of its young players and more importantly, look to get back to post-season play.