Northwestern A Girls Divisional Tournament In Eureka

(Top two advance to state)

Friday

Libby 51, Ronan 41, lo

C. Falls 65, Whitefish 61 OT, sf

Bigfork 52, Eureka 30, sf

Today

9:30 a.m. - Polson (5-14) vs. Whitefish (8-12), lo

11 a.m. - Libby (9-11) vs. Eureka (7-12), lo

6 p.m. - Consolation: Morning winners

8 p.m. - Championship: Bigfork (17-2) vs. Columbia Falls (14-6)

No surprise: Bigfork, C-Falls for title

Wildkats escape from Whitefish in overtime, Valkyries clip Eureka

The Daily Inter Lake

EUREKA - As expected, top-seeded Bigfork and second-seeded Columbia Falls will be playing for the Northwestern A girls basketball divisional tournament title.

Columbia Falls escaped from third-seeded Whitefish, 65-61, in overtime Friday night in one undefeated semifinal. Bigfork beat host Eureka, 52-30, in the other semifinal.

The Wildkats and Valkyries will play at about 8 tonight in the championship. The winner will earn an automatic berth into the state tournament in Belgrade, starting March 1. The loser may have to play a challenge game in order to make it to state, depending on who wins the 6 p.m. consolation game.

Libby and Polson are alive, along with Whitefish and Eureka, in the consolation bracket.

Libby eliminated Ronan in the first-round loser-out game, 51-41.

The Loggers will play Eureka in one consolation semifinal after Polson plays Whitefish, which begins at 9:30 a.m., in the other consolation semifinal. Except for Whitefish sweeping Polson, each of those teams split their regular-season matchups with each other.

C-Falls 65,

Whitefish 61 OT

Trailing by seven points entering the fourth quarter after Whitefish won each of the first three quarters, Columbia Falls senior guard Mary Nolan scored eight of her 18 points and junior guard Jylissa Fields scored seven of her 15 points to help the Wildkats force overtime.

Down by two points with about 5 seconds left in regulation, the Wildkats' Callie Spencer used a strong move inside to score the game-tying points and Whitefish's buzzer beater from about halfcourt hit the glass and bounced off the rim.

"Whitefish controlled the game," Columbia Falls coach Kris Salonen said. "We were stale in the first three quarters and then just stepped it up in the fourth quarter. My girls never gave up. We were aggressive on offense, took it to them because we were in the double bonus the entire fourth quarter."

The Wildkats made eight of 14 free throws in the fourth.

In overtime, senior guard Jessica Boyer and sophomore guard Alyssa Ladenburg each made field goals and the Wildkats went 3-for-6 from the free-throw line while Whitefish could only get three of four free throws out of Ashley Ferda.

Junior post Sam Ladenburg scored six of her 10 points in the fourth to help the Wildkats rally.

The teams combined for 44 fouls. Whitefish made 18 of 21 free throws to stay in contention. Columbia Falls made 23 of 38 free throws. The teams shot nearly identical from the field. C-Falls hit 21 of 50 shots with no 3-pointers; Whitefish hit 20 of 50 shots, including three 3-pointers.

The teams were close in turnovers and rebounds as well.

Ferda had game highs in points (25) and rebounds (9) to lead the Bulldogs. She also had three steals. She scored eight of her points in the fourth quarter to keep the Bulldogs afloat, then scored all three of their points in OT. Sophomore Kate Klundt had 10 points, four rebounds and five assists in the loss. Dana Labuda had seven points and six rebounds. Chelsea Ray also had seven points.

The Ladenburg sisters each had six rebounds and Alyssa also had three assists to lead the 'Kats.

C-Falls 13 8 15 22 7 - 65

Whitefish 15 10 18 15 3 - 61

COLUMBIA FALLS (14-6) - Jylissa Fields 0-0 0-0 0, Callie SPencer 5-6 5-8 15, Amber Lampman 2-8 2-4 6, Jessica Boyer 2-7 1-2 5, Mary Nolan 3-9 12-15 18, Alyssa Ladenburg 4-8 3-5 11, Sarah Marcille 0-0 0-0 0, Cortny Westgard 0-0 0-0 0, Sam Ladenburg 5-7 0-4 10. Totals 21-50 23-38 65.

WHITEFISH (8-12) - Kirsten Blackburn 0-2 0-0 0, Kaitline O'Leary 1-4 2-2 4, Ashley Ferda 8-22 7-8 25, Kali Schmidt 1-5 0-0 3, Desiree Clark 1-3 3-5 5, Dana Labuda 2-4 3-4 7, Kate Klundt 4-5 2-2 10, Chelsea Ray 3-5 1-2 7. Totals 20-50 18-21 61.

3-point goals - CF 0-5, Wf. 3-17 (Ferda 2-12, Schmidt 1-3, Blackburn 0-1, Clarke 0-1). Rebounds - CF 24 (S. Ladenburg 6, A. Ladenburg 6, Lampman 4, Spencer 3, Boyer 3, Nolan 2) Wf. 27 (Ferda 8, Labuda 6, Klundt 4, Ray 3, three tied with 2). Assists - CF 9 (A. Ladenburg 3, Spencer 2, four tied with 1), Wf. 13 (Klundt 5, Ferda 3, Ray 2, three tied with 1). Steals - CF 6 (Lampman 2, four tied with 1), Wf. 7 (Clarke 4, three tied with 1). Blocks - CF 1 (Lampman), Wf. 2 (Labuda, Ray). Turnovers - CF 18, Wf. 21. Total fouls - CF 19, Wf. 25. Fouled out - S. Ladenburg, Blackburn, Klundt.

Bigfork 52, Eureka 30

Alyssa Fierro had 17 points and 11 rebounds while Hattie Bowen hit three 3-pointers en route to 12 points to help lead Bigfork advance to the championship.

Fierro scored 11 of her points, and Bowen scored 10, in the first half as Bigfork took 20-9 and 37-13 leads after the first and second quarters, respectively.

The Vals made 48.9 percent of their shots (22-for-45). Eureka made just eight of 39 shots (20.5 percent).

All told, eight Valkyries scored points. Carly Hilley added nine points - including two 3-pointers, three steals and three assists in the winning effort.

Amy Roberts paced Eureka with 13 points, 11 rebounds and two steals.

Bigfork 20 17 4 11 - 52

Eureka 9 4 11 6 - 30

BIGFORK (17-2) - Quindee Averill 0-0 0-0 0, Jamie Halliday 1-2 1-2 3, Roxy Thurman 1-4 3-3 5, Hattie Bowen 5-10 2-2 15, Charlene Miller 1-3 1-1 3, Avery Vogel 0-1 0-0 0, Carly Hilley 3-4 1-2 9, Alyssa Fierro 9-13 1-6 19, Kaylee Fierro 0-2 0-0 0, Jaylee Haveman 1-5 0-0 2, Keamyn Meagher 1-1 1-2 3. Totals 22-45 10-19 52.

EUREKA (7-12) - Cami Stacy 0-1 2-3 2, Marni Zauner 0-1 0-0 0, Melanie Finch 1-2 1-2 3, Amy Roberts 5-11 3-6 13, Kayci West 0-1 0-0 0, Ashley Gullo 0-0 0-0 0, Auna Lawler 1-5 0-0 3, Megan Hannay 0-1 2-2 2, Briann Linnell 0-7 2-2 2, April Paden 0-3 0-0 0, Stephanie Vegelman 0-0 0-0 0, Mariah Newell 1-7 3-4 5. Totals 8-39 13-19 30.

3-point goals - Bf. 5-8 (Bowen 3-4, Hilley 2-3, Halliday 0-1), Eur. 1-6 (Lawler 1-4, Paden 0-1, Roberts 0-1). Rebounds - Bf. 29 (Fierro 10, Haveman 4, Vogel 4, Miller 4, Halliday 2, four tied with 1), Eur. 29 (Roberts 11, Newell 4, Linnell 3, Zauner 2, Finch 2, Lawler 2, Paden 2, three tied with 1). Assists - Bf. 12 (Vogel 4, Hilley 3, five tied with 1), Eur. 3 (Paden 2, Roberts). Steals - Bf. 6 (Hilley 3, three tied with 1), Eur. 5 (Roberts 2, three tied with 1). Blocks - Bf. 2 (Bowen, Fierro), Eur. 2 (Linnell, Roberts). Turnovers - Bf. 14, Eur. 22. Total fouls - Bf. 16, Eur. 15. Fouled out - none.

Libby 51, Ronan 41

Libby sophomore Brittany Martin was a perfect 5-for-5 from the field in scoring 14 points and Brooke Hageness added 10 points as Libby advanced in the losers' bracket.

Hageness scored five of her points in the first quarter, as freshman Jackie Mee scored five of her nine points, to help Libby to a 19-6 first-quarter lead. Libby junior wing Korey Kulbeck scored four of her seven points in the first quarter.

Ronan dominated in rebounding, 34-20, to help cut into its deficit. But the Maidens made just 32.6 percent of their shots and scored only five points in the third quarter.

The Loggers finished with a 43.2 percent shooting clip and made five 3-pointers to keep themselves distanced. Hageness, who tallied five assists and three steals, and Martin each went 2-for-2 from 3-point range.

Ishan Wylie scored 12 points to pace the Maidens while Jordan Strozzi and Ali Anderson each added nine points. Anderson was 3-for-4 from beyond the perimeter and collected six rebounds. Kaylee Larson had game-high nine rebounds to go with two points in the loss.

Libby junior guard Holly Cirian had five points and seven steals.

The Maidens' season ended with a 6-14 record.

Ronan 6 14 5 16 - 41

Libby 19 11 11 10 - 51

RONAN (6-14) - Ashlee Cheff 0-2 0-0 0, Stephanie Salomon 0-7 1-2 1, Jordan Strozzi 2-5 4-6 9, Kaylee Larson 1-3 0-3 2, Ali Anderson 3-5 0-1 9, Carli Starkel 3-9 1-2 7, Ishan Wylie 5-10 2-5 12, Allison Crenshaw 0-2 1-2 1, Stephanie Meyers 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-43 9-21 41.

LIBBY (9-11) - Brooke Hageness 3-5 2-3 1, Sperry Robinson 0-0 0-0 0, Holly Cirian 2-5 0-0 5, Korey Kulbeck 3-6 1-4 7, Brittany Martin 5-5 2-4 14, Laice Dedrick 1-6 1-2 3, Jetta Dunham 0-0 0-0 0, Jackie Mee 1-10 7-8 9, Ashley Brossman 1-1 1-2 3, Nichole Newman 0-0 0-0 0, Jordan Refsland 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-37 14-23 51.

3-point goals - Ron. 4-13 (Anderson 3-4, Strozzi 1-2, Cheff 0-1, Salomon 0-3, Starkel 0-3), Lib. 5-11 (Hageness 2-2, Martin 2-2, Cirian 1-3, Mee 0-4). Rebounds - Ron. 34 (Larson 7, Anderson 6, Salomon 5, Crenshaw 5, Starkel 4, Wylie 4, Strozzi 3), Lib. 20 (Mee 11, Brossman 3, Martin 2, four tied with 1). Assists - Ron. 6 (Strozzi 2, four tied with 1), Lib. 12 (Hageness 5, Cirian 2, Dedrick 2, three tied with 1). Steals - Ron. 13 (Salomon 3, Crenshaw 3, Anderson 2, six tied with 1), Lib. 14 (Cirian 7, Hageness 3, Martin 2, two tied with 1). Blocks - Ron. 1 (Larson), Lib. 3 (Mee 2, Hageness). Turnovers - Ron. 21, Lib. 17. Total fouls - Ron. 19, Lib. 17. Fouled out - Dedrick.