Lady Bulldogs stumped by Wolfpack full-court press

By the time the Lady Bulldogs scored their first bucket of the basketball season, Whitefish was already down 18 points to a powerful Glacier High team.

But forget putting the ball in the basket, it was a struggle for Whitefish (0-1) to get the ball across half court.

Class AA Glacier's half-court press proved to be too much for the young Whitefish squad Dec. 8, as Brooke Watkins scored 17 points for a dominant Wolfpack offense in route to a 61-28 win.

"They get after you defensively," Lady Bulldog coach Sean Duff said. "The kids were shell-shocked the first couple of minutes. They responded, but it took us awhile."

Whitefish was stumped by Glacier's ferocious half-court press in the first half, which frustrated the 'Dogs and forced them to serve up 13 turnovers in the opening quarter alone. Most of the turnovers turned into easy layups for the 'Pack.

The Lady Dogs settled into more of a rhythm in the second half, when Glacier let up on the press, but errant passes and missed free throws kept them from making a serious comeback attempt.

Whitefish was led by 10 points from Jessica Slaybaugh, the team's lone senior, and seven points from Olivia Nagler.

The duo connected on a nice drive-and-dish play in the second half when Slaybaugh charged the lane and dumped a pass to Nagler on the wing. Nagler missed her shot, but followed it quickly with an offensive rebound and put-back. She added a free throw for a three-point play.

Jessica Poe had a strong showing and finished with six points.