Lady Bulldogs notch first win of season
At the Tip-Off Tournament in Frenchtown Friday and Saturday, the Whitefish girls basketball team showed significant growth from its first game against Hamilton the week prior.
On Friday the Lady Bulldogs stepped on the court to face East Helena. The Vigilantes pushed hard, but with a 19-point fourth quarter Whitefish overcame them to win 40-29. Whitefish played Frenchtown the next evening and in the defensive battle came up short in the final 8 minutes to lose 31-21.
“It was nice to get our first win, that’s always good for the start of the season especially with this group being so young and inexperienced it was nice to have some success,” Whitefish coach Bob Bolam said.
Whitefish sophomore Bailey Smith led her team offensively in both of the games. In the win against East Helena Smith netted 11 points, hitting five-of-six free throws in the fourth quarter to help the Bulldogs to victory. Smith also had 9 points in the Frenchtown game.
Whitefish got off to a sluggish start against East Helena and had a hard time scoring while turnovers ran amok in their offensive sets. At the half, the Bulldogs were down to the Vigilantes 18-12. Following halftime Whitefish found some rhythm while keeping its zone defense tight to take the lead and eventually win.
Bolam says his team is struggling to score and too many turnovers further trouble the girls’ chances.
“Lots of turnovers still — that’s still bugging us as far as execution… it’s hurting us and limiting our chances to score,” he said. “The good thing is we’ve been playing some good defense at least, holding our opponents down.”
Bulldog Erin Wilde scored 7 points against the Vigilantes while Alivia Ingold had 6.
Against Frenchtown, Whitefish struggled to score again but in addition to Smith’s 9 points, Wilde put up 5 while Taylor Means got to the free throw line for 3 points.
Whitefish stuck with Frenchtown by playing stellar defense throughout the game. The Bulldogs held one of Frenchtown’s top scorers — a good post player that put up 23 points the day before — to just 9 points.
“We played really good defense on them, limiting their inside attack,” Bolam said.
Although early in the third quarter Whitefish briefly took the lead, in the final period the Broncs outscored Whitefish 12-6 to put them on top.
Whitefish now looks ahead to a busy week with three more games before the winter break.
“The effort is there, we’re playing hard and we’ve got some games coming up that we think we can be competitive in also,” Bolam said. “Hopefully we can scratch out a couple more wins before the holiday break.”
The Bulldogs host Ronan at WHS on Thursday beginning at 5:45 p.m. Then Whitefish will travel to Corvallis on Friday and Cut Bank on Monday.
Whitefish 5 4 6 6 - 21
Frenchtown 8 3 8 12 - 31
WHITEFISH — Erin Wilde 5, Taylor Means 3, Ashley Gunset 2, Bailey Smith 9, Hailey Ells 2 FRENCHTOWN — Alexis Godin 7, Cassidy Baynell 4, Carah Evans 6, Demi Smith 5, Sadie Smith 9.
Whitefish 4 8 9 19 - 40
East Helena 8 10 3 8 - 29
WHITEFISH — Erin Wilde 7, Jude Perry 3, Taylor Means 6, Bailey Smith 11, Hailey Ells 5, Alivia Ingold 6, Ainsley Scott 2.
EAST HELENA — Reagan Fasbenoler 2, Montana Pierson 1, Dymon Root 15, Isabelle Serginer 3, Ella Pickett 8.