Girls Hoops: Wildkats bounce back against Dogs

The Daily Inter Lake

COLUMBIA FALLS - The first-place Columbia Falls girls got a wake- up call in Frenchtown on Thursday, but were back to top form on Friday.

Alyssa Ladenburg scored 11 points, Kayla DeWit had eight and the Wildkats dismantled rival Whitefish 35-20 in Northwestern A girls basketball play.

Columbia Falls wasted no time and built a quick lead in the first quarter. It held off the Bulldogs for the remainder of the game, and pulled away in the fourth.

"The girls were much more focused in this game," Columbia Falls coach Dan Fairbank said. "I think in the Frenchtown game, they just did not come focused to play."

Frenchtown knocked off Columbia Falls 45-41.

Kate Klundt paced Whitefish (1-7 in conference) with 10 points and Torie Powell added five.

"It was a defensive battle for awhile there," Fairbank said. "(Whitefish) has such a tenacious defense."

Kelsey DeWit had six points and Danielle Gilley and Brooke Cady scored four apiece for Columbia Falls (7-1).

Whitefish 5 7 7 1 - 20

Columbia Falls 10 8 6 11 - 35

Whitefish - Jessie Slaybaugh 2, Torie Powell 5, Kate Klundt 10, Heather Melcer 1, Adele FauntLeRoy 1, Paula Oliveira 1

Columbia Falls - Danielle Gilley 4, Brooke Cady 4, Kayla DeWit 8, Alyssa Ladenburg 11, Shay Grilley 2, Kelsey DeWit 6

Eureka 44, Polson 43

EUREKA - Steller defensive play inside by Mariah Newell and Steph Vogelman in the final seconds prevented Polson from getting off a solid last-second shot as the Lions held on for the nonconference victory.

Eureka, 9-8 overall, outscored Polson 12-4 in the fourth quarter.

"Huge (win)," Eureka coach John Hammond said.

"They are a good team and it was Senior Night for us tonight. The kids stepped up and really played well."

Newell finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds, both team highs. Auna Lawler scored a season-best 17 points, 15 coming on treys.

Breanne Kelley led Polson with 17 points.

Polson 11 12 16 4 - 43

Eureka 14 10 8 12 - 44

POLSON - Staci Benson 2, Sierra Pete 2, Breanne Kelley 17, Rochelle Woods 10, Riley Kenny 6, Nicole Davey 4, Loni Havlovick 2.

EUREKA - Kayci West 2, Auna Lawler 17, Steph Vogelman 5, Mariah Newell 20.

Bigfork 66, Ronan 41

RONAN - Roxy Thurman tossed in 13 points and Mallery Knoll and Caitlin Charlebois both had 12 as Bigfork rolled to an easy Northwestern A victory.

Bigfork led 37-14 at the half.

Jordan Strozzi scored 15 points for Ronan.

Bigfork improves to 4-3 in league play, 10-5 overall. Ronan drops to 0-7 and 0-15.

Bigfork 18 19 13 16 - 66

Ronan 7 7 9 18 - 41

BIGFORK - Mallery Knoll 12, Quinci Paine 6, Arianna Shutts 4, Lila Cenis 2, Taylor Peck 4, Roxy Thurman 12, Catlin Charlebois 12, Kailey Fierro 7, Signa McLeod 6.

RONAN - Ashley Cheff 2, Larson 8, Jordan Strozzi 15, Carli Starkel 9, Orozzo 3, Belgarde 4.