Lady Dogs sink Pirates for second win
Lady Bulldog Gracie Smyley looks for the shot from under the basket Friday night against Polson at the Whitefish High School gym. Smyley led her team in scoring with 17 points for the evening. (Heidi Desch/Whitefish Pilot)
Whitefish sophomore Erin Wilde looks to make a pass Friday night as the Lady Bulldogs took on the Polson Pirates at home. (Heidi Desch/Whitefish Pilot)
Bulldog sophomore Jadi Walburn goes around the defense looking for the shot Friday night against Polson during the first half at the gym at Whitefish High School. (Heidi Desch/Whitefish Pilot)
The Lady Dogs got another mark in the win column after thrashing the Lady Pirates on Friday.
Things were close in the first half, with Whitefish holding leads of 8-4 and 16-12 after the first and second quarters.
That all changed in the second half, though.
The Lady Dogs outscored Polson 23-10 in the second half, running away with the game for the 39-22 win.
Gracie Smyley went off for 17 points in the win, while Jadi Walburn added 11 of her own.
Head coach Bob Bolam said his girls played a good game all around.
“Looking at it all, we played pretty good. We played pretty hard, good defense, we moved the ball well and ran the floor,” he said. “The only thing was tough on us is we didn’t shoot well. We had a lot more shots than Polson and we didn’t knock them down.”
The win is just the second of the year for Whitefish, with both coming against Polson. Whitefish is 2-2 in conference play.
This week they’ll get a big test in a home matchup against Libby, who sits just behind them in conference rankings at 1-2 overall in league play. That game will be on Friday at 6 p.m. The Whitefish Winter Carnival coronation of Prince Frey and Princess Freya will take place after the game and before the boys game.
Then on Saturday the girls will host Browning at 4 p.m.
“We talked about it today,” Bolam said. “This is one of those games that could be for positioning for the play-in games at the end of the season. Libby is right on pace with us, and it seems like we’ve been equal. Friday we need to play our best, especially at home.”
As to Browning, Bolam said his team is going to need to be firing on all cylinders to compete.
“They’re the challenge. They’re coming off a big win over Columbia Falls, which shows they’re playing better. They’re a handful,” he said. “We’re going to have to really come out and play strong with the ball to compete.”
Whitefish 8 8 13 10 — 39
Polson 4 8 4 6 — 22
Whitefish — Gracie Smyley 17, Jadi Walburn 11, Kali Brubaker 2, Jenny Patten 2, Emma Trieweiler 2, Mikenna Ells 2, Hope Brown 2.