Livingston outguns Lady Bulldogs, 53-33

HAMILTON - For eight minutes, the Lady Bulldogs were locked in a defensive struggle. After that, they simply struggled to find their offense.

The Whitefish High School girls' basketball team couldn't keep pace with the rugged Rangers on Thursday night, and Livingston pulled away for a 53-33 victory in first-round play at the Class A state tournament.

The Lady Bulldogs face Dillon today at 2 p.m. in loser-out play, while the Rangers meet Glendive in the semifinals at 8.

Whitefish (13-9) used a 7-3 spurt to force a 9-9 first-quarter tie, but the Central A champion Rangers held the Lady Bulldogs to one point in the second frame, taking a 19-10 halftime lead.

Livingston and Whitefish both were cold in the opening half, shooting 30.4 and 21.2 percent from the field, respectively. But the Rangers (16-5) found the offensive rhythm that eluded Northwestern A's highest-scoring team for most of the night.

Sage Indendi led Livingston's charge, scoring 10 points after halftime as the Rangers shot 58.3 percent while holding the Lady Bulldogs to 33.3 percent. The senior finished with 14 points and eight rebounds, while sophomore teammate MaKenzie Scofield hit three treys en route to 14 points and six boards.

Indendi and Scofield tallied four assists apiece.

Senior guard Ashley Ferda had 13 points, six rebounds and three steals for Whitefish, followed by junior slasher Kate Klundt with 11 points and seven boards. Senior guard Chelsea Ray added five points and two steals, and senior post Amanda Ormsby tallied two points and four rebounds, but the Lady Bulldogs shot 28.3 percent on the night while receiving just two points from their bench. Livingston out-rebounded Whitefish 37-32, including 23-14 in the first half.

"Livingston just got right after us," Whitefish coach Tim Olson said. "They set the tempo physically. They're a very strong ball club. They took it right at us in that second quarter.

"We knew that they were a physical ball club coming in. They're just a bunch of strong kids - in your face at all times. We had a little deer-in-the-headlights look in the second quarter and just never bounced back from that."

Most of Whitefish's highlights came during its 15-point third quarter. Klundt registered an old-fashioned 3-point play to start the second half, and Ferda intercepted a Rangers pass for an easy layup three minutes later. Ferda scored five points in an 11-second span late in the third frame, hitting a long 3-pointer followed by another steal and layup.

But the Lady Bulldogs' runs were brief and far too sporadic.

"We were being physical in that first quarter, and then when things weren't going our way, we kind of stood around and watched for somebody on our team to take over without playing as a team and as a unit, and it showed," Olson said.

"(Livingston) got to key on Ferda most of the night, and we stood around and watched."

According to Whitefish senior forward Dana Labuda, nothing the Rangers did came as a surprise. Livingston took third at state last year.

"They were exactly what we expected," she said. "We planned for them all week, we just weren't able to step up to the plate.

"We knew what we were supposed to do, we knew why we were here. We were here to win the game, I just think we couldn't run our offense like we planned."

Senior Brittany Carlson and sophomore Maria Gersack combined for 17 Livingston points on 8-for-10 shooting.

"They're a very good ball club," Olson said. "You can never take anything away from a team that does that to you, both physically and from a speed factor. They got it up and down the floor and they did a great job."

Whitefish's focus now turns to prolonging its first state tournament since 2006.

"Obviously, we weren't ready to go tonight," Olson said. "But I told the kids they've got to come out of that locker room with their heads up, look everybody in the eye and come out and prove that we're a better ball club than that tomorrow afternoon."

Labuda agreed.

"We have something to prove this weekend," she said. "We didn't come here just to come and play some games and lose. We came here to win, so I think we're all going to be hungry for a win tomorrow."

Whitefish 9 1 15 8 - 33

Livingston 9 10 18 16 - 53

WHITEFISH (13-9) - Torie Powell 0-1 0-0 0, Kate Klundt 3-10 5-9 11, Ashley Ferda 6-17 0-0 13, Desiree Clarke 0-4 0-0 0, Dana Labuda 0-1 0-0 0, Beth Donovan 1-1 0-0 2, Chelsea Ray 2-7 1-4 5, McCara Cullen 0-1 0-0 0, Amanda Ormsby 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 13-46 6-13 33.

LIVINGSTON (16-5) - Eden Anzik 0-0 1-2 1, Honey Williams 1-4 0-0 2, Sage Indendi 5-12 4-4 14, MaKenzie Scofield 5-15 1-2 14, Brittany Carlson 4-5 1-2 9, Jamie Van Horn 0-2 1-2 1, Mia Meyer 2-4 0-1 4, Mariah Gersack 4-5 0-3 8. Totals 21-47 8-16 53.

3-point goals - WF 1-8 (Ferda 1-5, Ray 0-3), Liv. 3-15 (Scofield 3-10 Indendi 0-3, Williams 0-2). Rebounds - WF 32 (Klundt 7, Ferda 6, Ormsby 4, Donovan 2, Powell, Clarke, Labuda, Ray, team 9), Liv. 37 (Indendi 8, Scofield 6, Carlson 6, Van Horn 5, Anzik 3, Gersack 3, Williams 2, Meyer, team 3).

Assists - WF 1 (Clarke), Liv. 10 (Indendi 4, Scofield 4, Williams, Van

Horn). Steals - WF 5 (Ferda 3, Ray 2), Liv. 8 (Indendi 5, Scofield, Van Horn, Gersack). Turnovers - WF 16, Liv. 15. Total fouls - WF 18, Liv. 14.Fouled out - Ray.