Lady Bulldogs sweep the Wildkats

By DAVID ERICKSON / Whitefish Pilot

The Whitefish girls basketball team dispatched the Columbia Falls Wildkats for the second time this season on Saturday in Columbia Falls.

The Lady Bulldogs got the win the same way they have all year — by playing solid defense and getting a lot of players involved on offense.

Chelsea Ray got more than just involved, as she finished with a game-high 16 points, one more than teammate Ashley Ferda. Seven different girls had points for Whitefish.

"When we all play together as a team, we're really hard to beat," Whitefish senior guard Desiree Clarke said.

Whitefish leads the conference in assists per game. Clarke finished with seven points in the game, as did teammate Dana Labuda.

If the old cliche is true, that defense wins championships, the Lady Bulldogs are in good shape. They lead the conference in takeaways, if you include their season-high 41 steals against Class B Eureka,

The Whitefish girls also lead the conference in total points. They are ranked third in rebounds, however. What the ladies lack in height, they more than make up in tenacity.

Whitefish, No. 2 in the Northwestern A conference, jumped to 7-2 in the league play and 10-6 overall. They travel to Libby on Friday and then host Frenchtown on Saturday night for their regular-season finale.

Clarke said she's looking forward to trying to sweep the Libby Lady Loggers in her team's last conference game.

"I think we can beat them, and if we do, we will get the No. 2 seed going into the divisional tournament," she said. "That will help our confidence more than anything."

Whitefish 11 16 13 11 - 51

Col. Falls 5 11 10 14 - 40

Whitefish - (7-2, 10-6) - Kate Klundt 1, Ashley Ferda 15, Desiree Clarke 7, Dana Labuda 7, Chelsea Ray 16, McCara Cullen 2, Amanda Ormsby 3.

Columbia Falls - (1-8, 5-12) - Jylisa Fields 5, Alyssa Ladenburg 3, Cedar Smith 8, Sam Ladenburg 6, Kelsey DeWitt 8, Kayla DeWitt 10