Lady Dogs show resilience at Western A

The Whitefish girls left all they had on the hardwood at the Butte Civic Center trying to scratch their way into the state tournament.

As a No. 3 seed, Whitefish went 1-2 in the Western A tourney before narrowly getting bounced in a wild finish.

The Lady Dogs looked poised to stay alive in their hunt for a state berth, up by six points with two minutes to play Friday against Corvallis. But the Lady Blue Devils took control late in the fourth with an 8-0 run capped by a pair of game-winning free throws with 5 seconds on the clock. The Lady Dogs couldn’t respond and the season was over with the final buzzer.

“That’s why you have to play all 32 minutes,” Whitefish coach Ben Johnson said.

Still, he said the girls showed a lot of heart in the loss.

“I thought that was the best defensive game we played all season,” he said. “The girls just played hard.”

Allie Schulz finished with 11 points and Cailyn Ross had 10 points for Whitefish in the defeat.

Whitefish finished the season 7-14 overall.

The Lady Dogs knocked off Stevensville 42-35 in loser-out action on Thursday evening to move along in the bracket. Dani Douglas dropped 23 points on 10 of 16 shooting to lead the Bulldogs to the victory.

“Dani stepped up for us,” Johnson said. “She had an amazing night.”

Whitefish led 20-17 at halftime and extended their lead to seven with two minutes to play.

“That game gave us confidence and showed that the girls were up for the challenge,” Johnson said.

Annisa Brown had 10 rebounds for the Bulldogs and Allie Schulz and Cailyn Ross each had six points.

The Lady Dogs opened the tourney with a 60-41 loss to Dillon after a miserable start. The hot-shooting Beavers ran out to 22-8 advantage after one quarter. Despite 18 points from Douglas, Whitefish couldn’t close the final margin.

“We struggled in that one,” Johnson said. “Dillon was just hot.”

The coach commended his team for staying dedicated to constant improvement all season and reaching for their goals.

“They showed a commitment to getting better and working harder,” he said. “ We’ve come a long way from day one to now. The ball movement improved and the shooting improved each week.”

“I think we’ve set a foundation for the team, now we just have to keep building on that.”

Johnson thanked seniors Allie Schulz, Coral Schulz, Makenna Benbrook and Alix Larsen for paving a path for the future of the program.

As for the first-year coach, he’s already started planning for summer ball and getting ready for next season.

“The off-season has to be full of basketball,” he said. “That’s where it starts. If they put the work in this summer, we’ll be a lot better next season.”

Western A basketball

Butte Civic Center

Whitefish 8 10 8 15 — 41

Dillon 22 13 9 16 — 60

WHITEFISH — Dani Douglas 18, Coral Schulz 8, Allie Schulz 5, Cailyn Ross 4, Annisa Brown 4, Haley Nicholson 2.

DILLON — Rachael Nye 24, Alex Rouse 12, Brynley Fitzgerald 12, Bailey Berriochoa 6, Kylie Christiansen 2, Kyndall Petersen 2, Kathleen Tatarka 2.

Stevensville 7 10 9 9 – 35

Whitefish 8 12 11 11 – 42

STEVENSVILLE – Deanna Blair 7, Mariah Hinson 9, Makayla Davids 8, Payton Tillotson 7, Ashlynn Harrington 1, Angel Richards 3.

WHITEFISH – Dani Douglas 23, Coral Schulz 4, Allie Schulz 6, Haley Nicholson 1, Cailyn Ross 6, Annisa Brown 2.

Corvallis 10 9 6 12 — 37

Whitefish 16 12 2 5 — 35

CORVALLIS — Taia Tully 8, Corinne Sanderson 14, Penny Jessop 6, Genesis Keith 1, Calla Haldorson 5, Tayler Wright 3.

WHITEFISH — Dani Douglas 5, Coral Schulz 4, Allie Schulz 11, Haley Nicholson 5, Cailyn Ross 10.