Lady Dogs come up short in tight battle
Lady Bulldog Libby Nagler dribbles the ball past several Polson players.
Lady Bulldog Diana Vasquez steals the ball from a Polson player Saturday during a loss at Whitefish High School. (Heidi Desch/Whitefish Pilot)
Lady Bulldog Lauren Schulz dribbles the ball around a Polson defender Saturday.
Lady Bulldog Annisa Brown, surrounded by Polson defenders, looks to make a pass during Saturday’s game at Whitefish High School. (Heidi Desch/Whitefish Pilot)
The Lady Bulldogs dropped two games at home this weekend, falling to Eureka 47-23 on Friday before losing a close matchup with Polson 34-32 on Saturday.
Eureka jumped out to an early lead against Whitefish and went into the locker room with a 25-9 lead at half. Despite attempts at a Whitefish run, the second half was more of the same.
Annisa Brown led the Lady Dogs with eight points, and Erynn Thier scored a game-high 14 points for Eureka.
The following night was a different story. In the closest game of the season for Whitefish, both teams fought back and forth and traded the lead several times throughout the game. However, the Pirates outscored Whitefish 14-10 in the fourth to take the lead, and poor free throw shooting by the Lady Dogs hurt their chances of a win.
“We lost to Polson on the free throw line. That pretty much cost us the game,” head coach Ben Johnson said. Johnson noted his team shot roughly 20 percent from the free throw line in that game.
Brown led Whitefish with a season-high 14 points and Diana Vasquez added seven. Mollie Fisher was the Pirates’ lead scorer with 10.
“The biggest positive from both games is they’re working hard. I would be concerned if they weren’t,” he added.
Whitefish travels to Bigfork on Thursday before hosting Frenchtown on Saturday. While Columbia Falls is the early frontrunner in the Lady Dogs’ Northwest A conference, Johnson said Frenchtown is a team that could give the Wildkats a run for their money.
“They have a bit of height and they’re really physical,” he said.
Eureka 11 14 12 10 — 47
Whitefish 4 5 6 6 — 23
EUREKA — Avory Escobar 4, Sienna Utter 10, Maggie Graves 6, Ashlyn Waldo 10, Stacy Cooper 3, Erynn Thier 14.
WHITEFISH — Hope Brown 2, Libby Nagler 4, Becca Catina 5, Annisa Brown 8, Marlee Bender 2.
Polson 12 4 4 14 — 34
Whitefish 9 7 6 10 — 32
POLSON — Kaelyn Smith 8, Quinn Motichka 4, Alex Pierre 4, Mollie Fisher 10, Tasha Gravelle 5, Olivia Perez 3.
WHITEFISH — Hope Brown 2, Libby Nagler 3, Becca Catina 6, Annisa Brown 14, Diana Vasquez 7.