Whitefish struggles in 4th quarter, edged by Ronan
The Lady Bulldogs hung with Ronan through three quarters of play, but in the final 8 minutes struggled to score as the Maidens took a narrow 38-31 victory.
It was a low-scoring competition as Whitefish continued to play intense defense. At halftime, the Bulldogs led Ronan 15-13. Whitefish senior Taylor Means recorded 14 points and shot the ball well to keep her team neck-and-neck with the Maidens.
“We knew we’d have a tough game on our hands,” Whitefish coach Bob Bolam said. “We played tough defense, we didn’t really play great offense for a lot of the game… but we were on top so we were happy about that.”
But in the fourth quarter, Ronan outscored Whitefish 15-5 and made some important shots down the stretch. Whitefish had a chance to cut it to within 2 points again in the final minutes after a steal but missed the layup and in turn, Ronan hit its free throws.
Bolam recalled in the final frame, Whitefish only hit one shot and two free throws which wasn’t enough to stay ahead.
“The fourth quarter just got away from us and we couldn’t score when we needed to,” he recalled. “It was a tough one, but good that we hung in there with them.”
Ronan’s Olivia Heiner led her team with a game-high 17 points and Dani Coffman scored 13. Ronan was missing one of its top-scorers though, according to Bolam.
Whitefish’s Bailey Smith contributed 6 points and Erin Wilde had 5 for the Dogs.
Whitefish now looks ahead to taking on both Eureka at home and then traveling to Browning the following day. Bolam says both teams are known to full-court press and look to get out on the break — handing those components well should give Whitefish a chance.
“It’s going to be our first home game in over a month, so we’re just glad to not have to get on the bus and travel for a game,” Bolam said of Thursday’s matchup with Eureka. “It’s going to be a challenge… but if we can take care of the ball we can compete with them.”
He added that Browning usually likes to run the floor and push the ball up the court quickly; if Whitefish can slow down the pace and take care of the ball he believes they can stick with them.
Thursday, Whitefish hosts Eureka at the Whitefish High School gym beginning at 6 p.m. Then Friday the Bulldogs will play Browning on the road, game time is 7:30 p.m.
Whitefish 9 6 11 5 — 31
Ronan 4 9 10 15 — 38
WHITEFISH — Taylor Means 14, Bailey Smith 6, Erin Wilde 5, Ainsley Scott 2, Hailey Ells 2, Ashley Gunset 2.
RONAN —Olivia Heiner 17, Dani Coffman 13, Kylie Fetui 6, Lauryn Buhr 2, LaReina Ulutoa 1.