Lady 'Dogs look for upsets at divisional

The Lady Bulldogs are embracing their underdog status heading into the divisional tournament as they hope to sneak up on a few top-ranked teams looking past them.

Whitefish finished the regular season as the No. 5 seed and will face Ronan in the first-round game on Thursday in Ronan to determine who will face top-ranked Columbia Falls.

“We’ve got nothing to lose, and nobody expects us to make any noise,” Whitefish coach Sean Duff said. “We really think we have a decent shot at causing some problems down there.”

Ronan knocked off the Lady ‘Dogs on Feb. 18 at home, 54-37, after outscoring Whitefish by 20 points in the first half. Duff described Whitefish’s performance that night as their “worst of the year” and chalked it up partially to senior night emotions.

“Ronan made us do some silly things,” Duff said. “I don’t think we’ve played worse all year.”

Fortunately, Duff said, the Lady ‘Dogs already have a win against Ronan under their belt from their first meeting on Jan. 27 and can pull from that for confidence. Whitefish won that game 36-31.

“We’re confident we can beat Ronan,” Duff said, “but it will be a battle like it always is.”

If Whitefish moves past Ronan, they’ll face rival Columbia Falls for a chance to make the title game. Duff says they’re not looking past the Maidens, but he likes their chances against the Wildkats if they meet.

“We’ve competed well against them,” he said. “If we can get past Ronan and come ready to play, we’ll be OK.”

The key to stopping Columbia Falls is slowing down the scoring machine that is Kayla DeWit. DeWit leads the league with 20 points per game.

“That’s easier said than done,” Duff said. “We’ll go out there with confidence and know we can do it.”

Whitefish faces Ronan on Thursday at 8 p.m. at the Ronan High School gym.