Lady Bulldogs back on track

WHITEFISH - The Wildkats' zone was effective. The Lady Bulldogs' press was even better.

The Whitefish High School girls' basketball team forced 11 Columbia Falls turnovers in the pivotal third quarter Saturday night, breaking a three-game losing skid with a 58-44 Northwestern A victory.

Tied 23-all at halftime, the Lady Bulldogs outscored the Wildkats 22-7 in the third frame, including a 13-2 run in the first four minutes of the second half. Whitefish capitalized on its outside looks against Columbia Falls' tough 2-3 zone while remaining patient in its press to create easy buckets in transition.

"It's not really looking for us to steal the ball, it's looking for them to make mistakes in the full court," Whitefish coach Tim Olson said. "We weren't pressing the ball right on the first pass, we were waiting for the second, third or fourth pass to maybe get a hand on it."

Whitefish hit eight 3-pointers while improving to 3-1 in conference and 5-4 overall. Junior Kate Klundt drained three treys en route to a team-high 18 points and seven rebounds, while do-all senior guard Ashley Ferda hit four shots from downtown in her 16-point second half.

Ferda also dished nine assists, including a first-quarter dart to Klundt, who completed an old-fashioned three-point play, giving Whitefish its first lead at 14-12.

Lady Bulldogs senior Chelsea Ray scored 10 points off the bench, including a 3-pointer in the second stanza.

The Wildkats (2-8, 1-4) did most of their damage in the paint. Sophomore Kelsey DeWitt scored 20 points, and senior forward Samantha Ladenburg added eight. Junior guard Alyssa Ladenburg tallied seven points, including a buzzer-beating layup to end the first half.

Columbia Falls was sharp before the break, but finished the night with 25 turnovers.

"The first half, the press didn't hurt us at all, and then … we had more turnovers just in the third quarter than we had the whole first half," Columbia Falls coach Dan Fairbank said.

The Wildkats were short on experienced ballhandlers with senior point guard Jylisa Fields out with a knee injury. They struggled feeding DeWitt inside during the third quarter as the 6-foot-1 post did of all her scoring in the first, second and fourth frames.

"Our focus should be to get the ball into her more than half the time," Fairbank said. "In the third quarter, we just played Whitefish's game. We couldn't get the ball up the floor.

"When we did, we were taking shots that probably weren't out of an offensive set. Kelsey was just completely a non-factor in that third quarter, and that hurt us as well."

Whitefish hit six 3-pointers in the second half to offset its uncharacteristic 2-for-9 performance from the foul line. Olson said the game might have been much different had the Lady Bulldogs not gotten hot from beyond the arc.

"(The Wildkats) did a great job in their 2-3 zone in the first half," he said. "That's where the credit (for the halftime tie) is due, is C-Falls packing it in.

"We distorted that zone in the second half. We had crisp ball movement that led to some wide-open looks."

Ferda and senior forward Dana Labuda had four steals apiece, while senior guard Desiree Clarke grabbed three.

"We decided just to go out and work harder than we did the first half because we didn't want to lose to C-Falls again like we did last year," Clarke said. "We didn't want to let up at all."

Clarke didn't score a point, but she was her typical, pestering self on defense.

"I know that I'm not the point scorer or the one to drive in, so I try to make up for it defensively," she said.

According to Fairbank, it was easy to spot the contest's turning point.

"We had one horrible quarter," he said. "We lost track of Ferda four times, and she was 4-for-4 (from 3-point range in the second half).

"That was a 12-point swing just on Ferda and some non-block outs, and that was the game right there."

Columbia Falls 12 11 7 14 - 44

Whitefish 14 9 22 13 - 58

COLUMBIA FALLS (2-8, 1-4) - Alyssa Ladenburg 3 1-1 7, Cedar Smith 1 1-2 3, Sarah Marcille 2 0-0 4, Cortny Westgard 0 2-2 2, Samantha Ladenburg 3 2-6 8, Kelsey DeWitt 9 2-5 20. Totals 18 8-16 44.

WHITEFISH (5-4, 3-1) - Jessie Slaybaugh 1 0-0 2, Torie Powell 2 0-0 4, Kate Klundt 7 1-3 18, Ashley Ferda 6 0-0 16, Heather Melcer 0 0-2 0, Dana Labuda 1 0-0 2, Chelsea Ray 4 1-2 10, McCara Cullen 2 0-0 4, Amanda Ormsby 1 0-2 2. Totals 24 2-9 58.

3-point goals - CF 0, WF 8 (Ferda 4, Klundt 3, Ray). Team fouls - CF 10, WF 19. Fouled out - Powell.