Craft posts career night in loss

Simone Craft had a career night for the Whitefish girls basketball team in a 71-39 loss to Frenchtown at home.

The senior scored from all over the floor to post a season-best 22 points. Craft scored in the paint, on hard drives down the lane and from long-range 3-pointers to lead the Lady Dogs in defeat.

“That’s what she’s capable of,” said Whitefish coach Clint Peters. “Simone can take over and keep us competitive.”

Craft’s big night, however, wasn’t enough to match the Lady Broncs who posted 18 points in each of the first three quarters.

Peters commended the play of forward Mariah Drown who tallied five rebounds against the Lady Broncs.

“She is starting to make her presence felt,” he said. “We need someone to play the post physically. She’ll be a big part of the game plan going forward.”

Whitefish (1-13, 0-5) looks to pick up a critical conference win on Thursday when they host Libby at 6 p.m.

Peters said the team is fighting for the No. 3 seed in the divisional tournament.

“It’s really important we try and get a couple wins at the end of the season,” he said.

“We’ve got to take care of the ball and limit our turnovers. We have to put pressure on other teams to play our type of basketball.”

He’s seen a lot of improvement from his team in the past few weeks.

“The girls are still fighting,” he said. “They’re getting better and it’s showing.”

Frenchtwn 18 18 18 17 – 71

Whitefish 11 8 10 10 – 39

FRENCHTOWN – Haley Cyr 19, Vanessa Stavish 23, Kayla Blood 6, Allie Moe 3, Keegan Wickman 10, Lacey Hochhalter 8, Laci Willett 2.

WHITEFISH – Allie Schulz 5, Katie Fyall 5, Haley Nicholson 1, Mariah Drown 2, Simone Craft 22, Cevana Lawshe 2, Makenna Benbrook 2.