Libby hopes patience continues
The two teams that make it out of this year's Northwestern A girls divisional will have definitely earned it.
In typical fashion, the competition is stiff and the top teams are loaded. But like Libby coach Jim May puts it, any team could beat any team and it wouldn't be too big of an upset.
At the league tourney, which begins today at Glacier High School, the No. 2 seed Loggers are hoping to avoid the word upset in any shape or form. At last year's divisional, they were in the same position before being ousted by Whitefish in the semifinals and finishing third.
In the standings this season, Libby trails only regular-season champ Columbia Falls (11-7 overall, 9-1 in conference), who has a first-round bye. The Loggers (13-5, 8-2) don't have the bull's-eye set on them like the Wildkats do, but May's squad is leery of underestimating anyone. Libby lost four seniors from last year's crew and then two varsity players went down this season with injuries.
"It's been an odd season," May said. "But I'm very happy with how they progressed, through the leadership of Jackie (Mee) and Brittany (Martin)."
Mee, a junior, averaged a whopping 19.2 points per game this season. Martin, the team's only senior, follows with 11.7 ppg.
"We're pretty patient on offense, and that's when we're at our best," said May, who has coached in Libby for 13 years. "I think we're pretty solid on defense. A couple times, teams have gotten us for 50 (points), but it doesn't happen often."
The Loggers have a first-round bye and face the winner of Bigfork (12-6, 6-4) and Ronan (0-18-0-10), who play tonight at 8.
Bigfork has played close with teams all season, and that includes nonconference matchups as well. The Valkyries beat Western AA's Glacier Wolfpack (7-11, 3-7) earlier this season. Senior Roxy Thurman (14.1 ppg) leads the Vals' attack.
The league's scoring title lands in Whitefish, where Kate Klundt has put together a stellar senior season, averaging 19.4 ppg and 11 rebounds per game. Klundt helped the Bulldogs stave off a four-game losing streak to end the season against Ronan, scoring a monster 30 points and grabbing 18 boards. The Bulldogs (5-13, 2-8) won 46-41. They face Polson tonight at 6 and the winner squares off against Columbia Falls on Friday at 6.
The Polson Pirates (8-10, 5-5) have had an up and down trip through this season's schedule, with two-game win streaks followed by similar losing slides. Currently, the Pirates are on a three-game skid, but with the help of Breanne Kelley (10.8 ppg), they look to turn it around.
If one team is hoping to find new life in postseason play, it's the Ronan Maidens. With a bevy of injuries to varsity players, the Maidens have had to shuffle around their lineup constantly. Nevertheless, Ronan has lost a number of games by only a handful of points. Against Whitefish recently, the Maidens fell 46-41, and versus Polson, 52-46. Carli Starkel leads the Ronan offense with 9.8 ppg.