Lady Dogs looking ahead to district tournament
Claire Carloss battles down the lane against Columbia Falls last Thursday. (Daniel McKay/Whitefish Pilot)
The regular season ended on a sour note for the Lady Bulldogs, who fell to Ronan and Columbia Falls last week.
On Thursday the team traveled to Columbia Falls hoping to spoil the Wildkats’ Senior Night, but fell 54-28 in the rivalry battle.
Whitefish managed only six points in the first half, totaling two in the first eight minutes and four in the second quarter.
By half, Columbia Falls led 27-6.
Mikenna Ells scored eight to lead the Lady Dogs, while Jadi Walburn added six off the bench.
Trista Cowan led the Wildkats with 15 points and 14 rebounds.
Head coach Bob Bolam said he wasn’t happy with how his team showed up in that game.
“We didn’t play very well at all. Luckily for us they didn’t score a lot of points early, but just way too many turnovers and missed shots, not doing our assignments,” he said. “That was the last regular season game and there’s still so many things we need to improve on.”
Earlier in the week the team hosted Ronan for their own Senior Night, but fell 35-29.
After a slow, two-point first quarter the Lady Dogs managed to put up nine points in each of the remaining frames, but it wasn’t enough to keep pace with the Maidens.
Kaiah Moore led the team with 11 points, while Jaylea Lunceford led the Maidens with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Bolam said the Ronan game was about two good defenses.
“It really came down to neither one of us being able to score. But both sides played pretty good defense, it just came down to the fourth quarter and they just scored more than we did,” he said.
This week Whitefish will fight in the postseason during the district tournament, held this season at Whitefish High School.
They’ll have their first game on Thursday at 5 p.m. against Libby.
Whitefish lost both games against Libby in the regular season.
“It’s going to be difficult. They do a lot of different things, different presses and good man defense. They can score, especially with Jayden Winslow, so that makes them even more of a threat. They’re one of those teams that pressure you,” he said. “I think it’s going to come down to taking care of the ball.”
Whitefish 2 4 13 9 – 28
Columbia Falls 11 16 18 9 – 54
WHITEFISH – Kit Anderson 2, Kaiah Moore 2, Hope Brown 5, Claire Carlos 3, Payton Kastella 2, Jadi Walburn 6, MiKenna Ells 8.
COLUMBIA FALLS – Maddie Robison 5, Lakia Hill 7, Josie Windauer 5, Hannah Schweikert 4, Ryley Kehr 14, Lauren Faulkner 2, Madysen Hoerner 2, Trista Cowan 15.