Girls basketball faces lights-out Hamilton in first game of season
Whitefish senior Erin Wilde rises up for a shot over a Hamilton player during a game in Whitefish on Saturday. (Whitney England/Whitefish Pilot)
Lady Bulldog sophomore Bailey Smith drives to the hoop on a fast break during a game against Hamilton last year. (Whitney England/Whitefish Pilot)
Whitefish's Alivia Ingold shoots under pressure from Hamilton's Taryn Searle during a game on Saturday in Whitefish. (Whitney England/Whitefish Pilot)
The Lady Bulldogs knew going into this season that there would be a big learning curve ahead with an inexperienced varsity team lacing up each game.
The girls’ first game out against Hamilton on Saturday showcased the challenges ahead as the Bulldogs lost 57-29. Eight of the 10 Whitefish girls that played in the game had their first extended varsity experience and four sophomores played in their first varsity game ever.
Whitefish came out strong in the game but the Broncs quickly pulled away, out-scoring the Bulldogs 21-9 in the opening quarter. Hamilton had a couple hot shooters from beyond the 3-point line which added up a deficit quickly.
Despite losing the game, Whitefish head coach Bob Bolam was happy the girls got the first game out of the way and have a starting point to improve upon.
“It’s always good to get the first game out of the way because you can learn a lot from what happened during the game…” Bolam said. “There’s a lot of things that we can clean up and do better, that needs to be our focus going forward.”
Five Whitefish players scored in the game, led by senior Taylor Means and sophomore Bailey Smith who had 9 points each. Bolam applauded Smith for stepping up and getting to the basket.
“Bailey Smith had nine also and I think she can do that, we’ll be counting on her to score some points,” he said. “I think for her first varsity game she showed a lot of promise.”
He also added that Ainsley Scott put a lot of effort into each moment she was on the court.
“I was definitely happy to see Ainsley Scott score six points,” he added. “She’s a real hustler and she can get some scrappy points that a team like us is going to need.”
Hamilton’s Taryn Searle put up 26 points in the game and the Broncs hit 12 out of 24 3-pointers. Defending the outside shot and not playing as much off of shooters is something Bolam and his team will be looking at in practice.
“We knew going in that they had two all-state guards, and those two dominated the game,” Bolam said. “We talked about defending 3-pointers because we knew they would shoot them, but in the heat of the battle you don’t always remember those things unless you’ve really gone over them a lot.”
Heading into this week, Bolam is looking forward to the Bulldogs getting more time on the court and better learning the plays ahead of this weekend’s tournament in Frenchtown.
Whitefish will play East Helena and Frenchtown in the Western A Tip Off Tournament beginning on Friday in Frenchtown.
Whitefish 9 7 4 9 - 29
Hamilton 21 9 19 8 - 57
WHITEFISH — Erin Wilde 3, Taylor Means 9, Bailey Smith 9, Hailey Ells 2, Ainsley Scott 6.
HAMILTON — Nelson 2, Searle 26, Lavana Wetzel 1, Kearns 20, McCarthy 2, Griffin 4, Mya Winkler 2
