The Cotter girls basketball team fought off the Tigers of Lake City in their first round playoff game on Friday, February 25th, and will now face top seeded Chatfield in Rochester on Tuesday night.

Entering the winner- take -all game Cotter was the 4th ranked team in the eight team subsection, while Lake City was ranked 5th.

Head Coach Pat Bowlin talked about some of the things his squad would have to focus on going into the game. “The key for us is to pressure the basketball at all times in both the full and half court. Lake City is strong inside and if this becomes a half court game they will likely win.”

Fortunately for the Ramblers the game was played fast. The speed of the game made it tough for Lake City to get set up and allow their 6’3” center go to work. Often times the Ramblers would get steals in the full which allowed them to play to their strength, speed.

The final score of the game was 56-43. The team was led by their three starting forwards. Senior Hannah Spiten scored a team high 17 points on 8 for 14 shooting. Sophomore Mikala Nelton contributed a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, and junior Julia Charron added 11 points.

The crowd filtered in late but was electric when the ball went up. The  pep band got the players and the crowd excited during the pregame. Once the game was underway there about 40 students standing and cheering. Not only was the student section full, but so was the rest of the gym.“It really felt like a playoff atmosphere,” said junior guard Cora Arnold.

Student section favorite Corey Beyer had this to say of the game. “It was a lot of fun watching them play like that, and I am so stoked to go to the Civic Center next week and cheer them on.”

After the game the team’s leading regular season scorer Gabby Bowlin said. “That was a great team win. I am really happy with how we played, and now I am looking forward to next week.”

On Tuesday, March 4th at seven o’clock the girls will travel to the Mayo Civic Center to take on number 1 seed Chatfield. Chatfield is one of the hottest teams in the state right now. They defeated Cotter twice this season, but the regular season is in the past. Both teams expect to win and play for a chance to go to state.