Lady Bulldogs go cold at Tip-off

The shots were there — they just didn’t

fall like they’re supposed to.

The Lady Bulldogs went 12-90 from the

field in their two games at the Tip-off tourney in Corvallis last

weekend, dropping games to both Corvallis and Stevensville. Still,

Whitefish coach Sean Duff was encouraged by the improvement he saw

on the court.

“Honestly, I still believe we are

further ahead than at the end of last year,” Duff said. “We had

good looks, which means the offense is doing what they are supposed

to do. We just didn’t hit the shots. It’s tough to win games when

you shoot like that.”

The girls struggled from the free throw

line, too, and Duff says that’s something they will address in

practice all week with drills and conditioning games.

“I don’t know if they will think they

are games though,” he joked.

Whitefish opened the tourney Friday

with a 37-18 loss to Corvallis. They failed to get on the board in

the first quarter as Corvallis opened a 19-4 lead by halftime.

Olivia Nagler and Simone Craft led the team with five points

each.

Saturday, the Lady ‘Dogs fell hard to

Stevensville 61-23.

“Stevensville is a great ball club with

some big kids,” Duff explained. “They are picked to win the

Southwest conference for a reason.”

Shannon Craft led Whitefish with seven

points and Brooke Silliker added five.

“Brooke came off the bench and did some

good things for us,” Duff said. He also noted the exceptional play

of freshman Simone Craft.

Duff says it’s good to get a baseline

of where the team is competitively before heading into league

play.

“Overall, it was a good trip,” he said.

“We know what we need to work on and that’s what the Tip-off is all

about. Their spirits are fine and now we just need to get

better.”

Whitefish hosts Glacier High School on

Thursday at 4:30 p.m.