Libby, Polson reach title game

RONAN - Seems hard to believe, especially after what transpired Thursday evening, that the first two times Libby and Whitefish tangled, the outcome was determined in overtime.

Not this one.

This time it was over in a hurry.

Libby hit six of its first seven shots for a 15-2 start and the Loggers rolled from there for a 54-34 victory over the Bulldogs, the tournament's No. 2 seed.

Libby (13-7) now advances to Saturday's Northwestern A Division title game, 6:30 p.m., game with Polson (11-9).

Polson upset top-seeded Ronan (15-4) earlier in the day, 43-35.

"It doesn't hurt, especially in a tournament," said Libby coach Jim May of his team's torrid shooting in the opening minutes. "It loosens you up and makes your defense better. You come back (to the other end of the court) on your toes."

Whitefish, in an effort to jump-start its offense and slow Libby down a little bit, switched to a man defense and threw a fullcourt press at the Loggers.

It worked.

The press resulted in three quick steals and three easy buckets at the other end of the floor.

Suddenly, the Libby lead was five points, 15-10.

But Libby put together an 11-0 run to start the second quarter and the Loggers were back in control of the situation, 26-10.

Whitefish missed 13 straight shots at one point between the first and second periods and went 7:30 without a field goal. For the game, Whitefish shot 30 percent (13-of-44).

"We got outplayed by their starters, we got outplayed by their bench," said Whitefish coach Dean McFadden.

"They outshot us too. They played well.

"They're on a roll," McFadden continued.

"They're on a mission. I wish them the best of luck."

Sarah Becker led Libby's offensive attack, and all scorers, with 16 points. She had two treys in the ballgame.

Rose Young added nine points.

Whitefish's Tessa Kalfell wound up with 14.

Libby's largest lead in the contest was 20 points, four times in the second half.

Whitefish got as close as 14 points twice in the final quarter, but Libby always answered from the free throw line.

Libby was 11-of-17 from the charity stripe in the final 6:15 of play and hit on 17-of-31 for the game.

Whitefish went to the line 14 times and made four.

This marked Libby's ninth consecutive year of advancing to semifinal play at the divisionals.

Whitefish had its string of divisional title game appearances snapped at three.

"It's going to be an honor to play against (Polson coach) Bruce (Thomas)," said May.

"I truly mean that. When I took the job here nine years ago, he's one of the guys I wanted to emulate. It's going to be a privilege to play against him and his kids."

The winner automatically advances to the state tournament in Hamilton, which begins next Thursday.

The loser faces the possibility of a challenge game on Monday.

Whitefish now drops into loser-out action today, 1 p.m., versus Bigfork.

LOGGERS 54, BULLDOGS 34

Libby 15 16 10 13 - 54

Whitefish 10 5 8 11 - 34

Libby - Sarah Becker 4-10 6-9 16, Rose Young 4-9 0-2 9, Nicole Rowan 2-4 4-8 8, Sam Hodel 3-3 0-2 7, Erin Bothman 1-1 2-3 5, Teri Rebo 1-3 2-3 4, Sam Schultz 1-2 2-2 4, Hollis May 0-0 1-2 1. Totals: 16-32 17-31 54.

Whitefish - Tessa Kalfell 5-16 3-4 14, Kyla Salisbury 2-5 0-2 6, Ashley Ferda 2-7 0-1 4, Kali Schmidt 2-4 0-0 4, Tayler Bertelsen 1-1 0-0 3, Tracy Schwada 1-5 0-1 2, Kaitlin O'Leary 0-1 1-2 1, Erin Greiner 0-3 0-0 0, JJ Wram 0-1 0-0 0, Cassady Gray 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 13-44 4-10 34.

3-point goals: Becker (2), Young, Hodel, Bothman; Kalfell, Salisbury (2), Bertelsen. Team fouls: Libby 12, Whitefish 24. Fouled out: Ferda.

Polson 43, Ronan 35

RONAN - Jen Orchard had 16 points in 16 minutes of play to lead all scorers and propel fourth-seeded Polson to a 43-35 upset of top-ranked Ronan in the Northwestern A Divisional tournament on Thursday.

Strohm Fouty and Kari Mowbray each had 12 points, and Mowbray added 10 rebounds for the Pirates, who will face Libby in the championship game Saturday.

The Maidens were undone by poor shooting, both from the field and at the line. Ronan was 14-for-43 from the floor and just 5-of-13 on free throws.

Polson was a more efficient 15-of-34 and 10-for-17.

Cambri Starkel and Jamie Lake led the Maidens with nine points apiece.

The two teams combined for 55 turnovers. Ronan plays Columbia Falls today at 6:30 p.m. in the consolation bracket.

PIRATES 43, MAIDENS 35

Polson 14 9 10 10 - 43

Ronan 11 6 9 9 - 35

Polson - Jen Orchard 16, Strohm Fouty 12, Kari Mowbray 12, Kara Huyser 2, Nesladek 1.

Ronan - Cambri Starkel 9, Jamie Lake 9, Des Krell 8, Kayla Couture 5, Bridget Taylor 2, Lauryn Lynch 2.

3-point goals-Polson 3-5, Ronan 2-7. Team fouls-Polson 12, Ronan 21. Fouled out-Lake.