Lady Bulldogs cruise in opener

Just last week, the Lady Bulldogs battled Libby for the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye at the Northwestern A divisional tournament. From the looks of things, their 56-50 defeat may have been a blessing.

The Whitefish High School girls' basketball team cruised to a 52-32 first-round victory over Columbia Falls on Thursday night at Glacier High School, making the most of its failure to secure an opening night off.

No. 3 Whitefish advances to the semifinals against No. 2 Libby tonight at 6, while No. 6 Columbia Falls faces the loser of today's Bigfork-Polson matchup on Saturday at 9 a.m.

The Lady Bulldogs (12-7) led 13-4 after one quarter and 29-10 at halftime, seizing early control against the Wildkats (3-16), who played them tough in both regular-season meetings.

Five Lady Bulldogs scored at least seven points, including Kate Klundt with 12 and Ashley Ferda with 11. But it was Whitefish's tenacious defense, led by Chelsea Ray and Amanda Ormsby, that set the tone.

A senior guard, Ray notched four steals along with nine points. She turned her second takeaway into a layup, giving Whitefish an early 3-0 lead.

"(My teammates) make fun of me because I have long arms," Ray joked, explaining her penchant for steals. "We've been practicing this week to get a lot of steals because our defense has been going out on the wings more, trying to get up and down the court. That's more our style."

According to Ray, the Lady Bulldogs' chance to get in synch was just as valuable as a first-round bye.

"I was really excited not to have a bye, kind of," she said. "It's one more game we got to play. It was fun. We had a blast tonight."

Ormsby made a huge impact without scoring from the field. The senior post grabbed a game-high eight rebounds and went 8-for-8 from the foul line. Ferda and Klundt had six boards apiece.

Leading 7-4 late in the first quarter, Whitefish went on a 15-0 run and was comfortable the rest of the way.

"It's a great start," Whitefish coach Tim Olson said. "We wanted that 2 seed last week, but to get on the floor in a little bigger gym, get the tournament jitters out and get some shots off on these hoops is very important."

Freshman post Kayla DeWitt led Columbia Falls with 11 points, followed by Alyssa Ladenburg and Shay Grilley with eight apiece.

The Wildkats were outscored by just one point in the second half, 23-22, but their cold start was too much to overcome.

"Shooting percentage, I think, was the key," Columbia Falls coach Dan Fairbank said. "Our defense wasn't as good as I wanted it to be in the first half, but if we even shoot 25 percent, which is miserable, we're still decently in the game.

"It wasn't like we weren't getting shots up. They did a nice job of having an extended zone and doubling in on Kelsey (DeWitt) and Kayla whenever they got the ball."

Kelsey DeWitt's first-quarter bucket pulled Columbia Falls within three points, but Ormsby made her presence felt whenever she entered the paint.

"Amanda certainly sets the tone from a physical standpoint down low," Olson said. "She's a lot stronger than you think.

"She uses her lower body very well, and I really think she got physical with those kids down there and made it difficult for them to secure the rebounds like they did the last time we played."

Libby's Jackie Mee scored 19 points against Whitefish last week, and the Lady Loggers iced the game with a 19-15 fourth quarter.

"They're going to be here ready to play," Olson said. "A day off or not, they'll be ready to go.

"We've got our hands full tomorrow, and it's the opportunity that we've been waiting for for a long time - to play Friday night here at divisionals."

According to Fairbank, the Wildkats look to gain confidence Saturday by converting on early looks.

"Unless Bigfork is upset, we'll have Polson Saturday morning," he said. "Polson plays a very tough man-to-man, full-court (defense) on us, so if we just take care of the ball and attack, we can take advantage of some inside stuff that hopefully will be given to us."

Columbia Falls 4 6 8 14 - 32

Whitefish 13 16 13 10 - 52

COLUMBIA FALLS (3-16) - Amanda Milliard 0 1-2 1, Alyssa Ladenburg 2 4-5 8, Shay Grilley 1 6-8 8, Cortny Westgard 0 2-2 2, Samantha Ladenburg 0 0-2 0, Kelsey DeWitt 1 0-0 2, Kayla DeWitt 5 1-2 11. Totals 9 14-21 32.

WHITEFISH (12-7) - Jessie Slaybaugh 0 1-2 1, Kate Klundt 4 4-8 12, Ashley Ferda 3 3-4 11, Desiree Clarke 3 1-2 7, Dana Labuda 2 0-0 4, Chelsea Ray 2 5-6 9, McCara Cullen 0 0-4 0, Amanda Ormsby 0 8-8 8. Totals 14 22-34 52.

3-point goals - CF 0, WF 2 (Ferda 2). Total fouls - CF 23, WF 17. Fouled out - Kayla DeWitt.

Polson 54, Ronan 37

No. 4 Polson went on top early en route to a first-round victory over No. 5 Ronan.

The Pirates led 14-4 and 30-19 after the first two quarter stops.

It was Polson's third victory over Ronan this season.

"Ten turnovers in the first half - that was too many," Polson coach Randy Kelley said. "We responded a little better in the second half."

Jessica Buckless led a balanced Polson attack with 13 points. Ten Pirates figured in the scoring.

Kaylee Larson paced Ronan with 11 points.

"This was one of those games where you like to just get through it," Kelley said.

Polson (10-9) advances to today's semifinal contest against No. 1 Bigfork (17-1) at 2 p.m.

Ronan (5-14) drops into a Saturday loser-out contest against either Whitefish or Libby.

Ronan 4 15 9 9 - 37

Polson 14 16 14 10 - 54

Ronan (5-14) - Kaylee Larson 5 1-3 11, Jordan Strozzi 0 2-2 2, Carli Starkel 2 3-4 8, Ishan Wylie 3 6-11 12, Allison Crenshaw 0 1-2 1, Ali Anderson 1 0-1 2, Mikailah Thompson 0 1-4 1. Totals: 11 14-27 37.

Polson (10-9) - Jessica Buckless 4 2-2 13, Amanda James 0 4-5 4, Rochelle Woods 3 0-0 7, Breanne Kelley 1 2-3 4, Merilee Mowbray 2 2-2 6, Nicole Davey 3 0-1 6, Sierra Pete 2 0-0 4, Sarah Newton 1 2-2 4, Cali Hislop 1 0-1 2, Loni Havlovick 2 0-2 4. Totals: 19 12-18 54.

3-point goals - Starkel; Buckless (3), Woods; Team fouls - Ronan 16, Polson 22; Fouled out - Starkel, Larson.