Lady Dogs drop home opener to Valkyries

The Whitefish girls basketball team dropped its first home game Friday night, falling to Bigfork 55-36.

Bigfork’s defense dominated the game, using a full court press to steal the ball 30 times. The Lady Dogs made some halftime adjustments to make Bigfork’s trap less effective in the second half but weren’t able to mount a comeback.

“There were a lot of positives. If we wouldn’t have let that trap bother us and made some layups we’d be right in that game,” head coach Ben Johnson said.

Annisa Brown led Whitefish with 15 points on 6 for 11 shooting. Bella Wilson added five points and Diana Vasquez added four.

The Lady Dogs outshot the Valkyries by a small percentage, hitting 15 of 42 shots for 36 percent, compared to Bigfork’s 31 percent. Bigfork hit 14 of their 26 free throw attempts, compared to Whitefish’s 5 of 13.

“We’re getting there, it might not look like it on the scoreboard but anybody who watches can see that we’re getting better,” Johnson said.

Whitefish was set to travel to Eureka on Tuesday after presstime, a team that Johnson said is comparable to Bigfork.

“It’s going to be a dogfight and the only way were going to be able to win is if we convert and make our layups,” he said.

Bigfork 9 20 8 18 — 55

Whitefish 6 7 15 8 — 36

BIGFORK — Haile Norred 3, Shae Anderson 2, Abby Ellison 10, Reese Nissen 4, Jaime Berg 15, Emilee Park 5, Rakiah Grende 12, Ansleigh Edgerton 4.

WHITEFISH — Libby Nagler 3, Becca Catina 2, Kennedy Grove 3, Bella Wilson 7, Annisa Brown 15, Diana Vasquez 4, Marlee Bender 2.