Lady Dogs notch win to open hoops season

First-year coach Ben Johnson led the Gardiner High School girls to the Class C state championship last season before signing to coach the Lady Bulldogs.

He hopes to bring that same pedigree of winning to Whitefish and turn the tide of a program that has struggled to find wins the last half decade.

So far, so good.

The Lady Dogs put a notch in the win column Friday in their basketball season-opener at home against Class B Eureka. Whitefish (1-0) trailed by 5 at halftime, but rallied for the double-digit 36-26 victory.

Sophomore point guard Dani Douglas led all scorers with 12 points. Senior Mariah Drown found success in the paint with 10 points on the night.

“The girls were down early but worked their way back into it,” Johnson said. “I told them that if they keep playing strong, good things will happen.”

Five seniors are on the Lady Dogs roster this year, along with two juniors and three sophomores.

“We need the seniors to bring leadership on and off the court,” Johnson said. “They’ve been through this before.”

The Lady Dogs have been focused on playing better defense, which Johnson hopes brings more scoring chances.

“I’m a defense-first kind of guy,” Johnson said. “I try to drive our offense off the defense and get quick transition buckets.”

Douglas will be the primary ball-handler in the set offense that Johnson says is based off the Jordan-era Chicago Bulls teams.

Along with Douglas and Drown, look for Coral Schulz and Allie Schulz to step up as scoring threats.

“Dani is probably going to lead the team,” Johnson said. “Mariah has the determination to get it done inside. I’ll teach Coral and Allie how to score.”

“The young kids will see some playing time too.” We’ll try to be balanced.”

Whitefish finished 3-18 last season, and went 1-19 in the previous two seasons. Johnson said getting a victory right off the top of the schedule gives the girls a boost of confidence.

“They were really excited to win,” Johnson said. “They played well and did a lot of things right.”

Whitefish hosted Bigfork on Tuesday. The team travels to Missoula for the Northwest/Southwest Tip-off tournament Saturday at the Adams Center on the University of Montana campus.

Eureka;8 2 5 11 – 26

Whitefish 6 9 12 9 – 36

EUREKA – Stacy Cooper 11, Sienna Utter 4, Rylee Morgan 4, Elizabeth Pacella 3, Sierra Curtiss 2, Ashlyn Waldo 2.

WHITEFISH – Dani Douglas 12, Mariah Drown 10, Makenna Benbrook 7, Coral Schulz 3, Haley Nicholson 2.