Senior Erin Wilde leading Lady Dogs toward postseason
Whitefish senior Erin Wilde dribbles down the court on a fast break opportunity against Columbia Falls on Saturday. (Whitney England/Whitefish Pilot)
The Lady Bulldogs have been gelling and feeding off the fuel from senior guard Erin Wilde in recent wins.
Whitefish closed out regular season play with a 7-10 overall record and will now host Polson in order to determine the fate of the team in the postseason.
In three games last week, Wilde led her team in scoring which helped the Bulldogs to two wins and a narrow defeat from Columbia Falls.
Whitefish first took down Class B Cut Bank in a close game which Whitefish was able to keep the edge, 41-36.
Wilde scored 16 points and sophomore Ainsley Scott put in 15 points. The Bulldogs led 30-28 after three quarters and were able to hold on for the win.
“Cut Bank, it was a tight game, down to the wire and pretty close all the way through,” Whitefish head coach Bob Bolam said.
Against Libby, Whitefish played tough defense and held the Loggers to just 8 first-half points. The Dogs came out on top 40-22. Wilde had a career-high 21 points.
“We started off a little slow, but once again our defense paved the way,” Bolam said. “Erin Wilde had a good game, she’s starting to hit some outside shots… she’s been hitting double figures lately and doing a nice job.”
In Saturday’s rivalry matchup, CFalls won narrowly 37-30. It was a much closer game than previously in the season when the Cats came out on top by over 30 points.
“They jumped out 14-2 after the first quarter and it wasn’t looking too positive,” Bolam recalled. “But I thought we at least maintained a little sense of control in this game that got away from us when we played them over there.”
Despite not shooting well in the first quarter, only scoring 2 points, Whitefish’s defense kept them in the game. Columbia Falls built a 21-9 lead by halftime, but Whitefish outscored them in the third 12-4 to stay in it.
Wilde led with 11 points, Taylor Means had 7 points.
“For us, to play smart and play competitive, that was a positive for us going into the postseason,” Bolam said.
Whitefish finishes in the fourth seed in the Northwest A and will host Polson for a divisional play-in game on Friday at 6 p.m.
Columbia Falls 14 7 4 12 — 37
Whitefish 2 7 12 9 — 30
COLUMBIA FALLS — Maddie Robison 14, Hope McAtee 11, Alexis Green 5, Scout Medhus 4, Grace Gedlaman 2, Lexi Oberholtzer 1.
WHITEFISH — Erin Wilde 11, Taylor Means 7, Jude Perry 4, Alivia Ingold 4, Ainsley Scott 4.
Libby 4 4 6 8 — 22
Whitefish 12 10 7 11 — 40
LIBBY — Taylor Munro 12, Rylee Boltz 4, Maddie Vincent 4, Kinzee Boehmler 2.
WHITEFISH — Erin Wilde 21, Hailey Ells 5, Taylor Means 5, Ainsley Scott 5, Ashley Gunset 2, Rya Hirsch 2.
Whitefish 7 12 11 11 - 41
Cut Bank 8 9 11 8 - 36
WHITEFISH — Erin Wilde 16, Ainsley Scott 15, Taylor Means 5, Jude Perry 3, Hailey Ells 2
CUT BANK — Aliyah Cruz 13, Kendra Spotted Bear 6, Mackenzie Johnson 5, Makenna Burke 4, Madison Baker 4.