Western B: Foul trouble foils Eureka in challenge game

The Eureka girls ran out of steam on Saturday afternoon, falling into foul trouble in a 67-55 loss to Florence in the Western B divisional basketball challenge game at Flathead High School. 

The Lady Lions controlled the game for the first 20 minutes, finding their way behind Florence’s aggressive pressure defense and traps to consistently stay out front. Eureka built modest leads throughout the first half and early third quarter, but was never able to pull away, with Florence finding a quick run or a 3-pointer to keep things close.

Foul trouble started to creep in for the Lions with four minutes left in the third quarter. Leading 37-32, the Lions picked up a pair of quick fouls and fell into the bonus with 1:48 left in the quarter. The fouls added up, as both Eureka post players picked up their fourth foul and a handful of starters picked up cheap fouls.

Florence closed the third on a 15-4 run, shooting 5 for 8 from the free-throw line and hitting a pair of 3s, taking a 47-41 lead to the fourth.

Eureka senior post Carli Allen fouled out 15 seconds into the fourth, putting Florence in the double bonus and Lions post Cassidy Morgan left the game two minutes later. By the time senior guard Alex Holland picked up her fifth foul, on a hand check with 3:51 to play, the frustration boiled over, as she picked up a technical foul in frustration leaving the court. 

Florence buried all four free throws, taking a 60-51 lead that virtually sealed Eureka’s fate. The Falcons hit 16 of 20 free throws in the fourth, needing just two field goals in the final period to get the win and the trip to the state tournament.

“We played scrappy,” Eureka coach R.J. McDole said. “It was scrappy both ways. Some calls didn’t go our way and we got in foul trouble. When we lost Cass and Carli, that inside presence kinda hurt.”

The Lions held Florence to just 23 percent shooting from the field and 16 percent from deep, and shot 41 percent themselves, but couldn’t make up the difference at the free-throw line. The Falcons were 32 of 46 from the charity stripe and outrebounded Eureka 53-36. Eureka was just 14 of 25 from the free-throw line.

“We just missed some shots,” McDole said. “We just didn’t capitalize on everything. Free throws again, we missed some free throws down the stretch.”

Alyssa White led the Lions with 19 points and six rebounds, hitting three 3-pointers and nearly shooting Eureka back in the game late as the rest of the starters fouled out.

“When we can keep Alyssa White on the floor, as well as she shoots the ball, we have a chance,” McDole said. “That’s all we were doing, moving the ball and hoping Alyssa could get an open shot, seeing if we can make something happen.”

Holland finished with 12 points before fouling out, including eight in the second half.

Florence’s Meg Byrne led all scorers with 23 points. Falcon forwards Kyndall Hoff and Cody Miller each picked up double-doubles, Hoff scoring 11 points with 12 rebounds and Miller scoring 10 and 10.

Eureka graduates seven seniors from this squad, a team that won the 7B and made it to the divisional championship game.

“Our goal was to go to state and make some noise, but we fell short of that,” McDole said. “We just kinda ran out of steam.”

Florence11181820—67

Eureka12191014—55

FLORENCE — Meg Byrne 7-17 7-10 23, Cass Sheers 1-6 0-0 2, Courtney Byrne 0-4 5-6 5, Jill Harris 0-2 3-4 3, Cody Miller 3-7 4-4 10, Paige Bodner 0-5 2-2 2, Courtney Austin 0-2 2-4 2, Carli O’Brien 2-8 3-6 9, Kyndall Hoff 2-10 6-8 11. Totals: 15-65 32-46 67. 

EUREKA — Alex Holland 3-8 6-7 12, Alyssa White 8-18 0-3 19, Catlin Larson 2-3 0-0 4, Cassidy Morgan 3-7 3-7 9. Carli Allen 2-5 0-0 4, Whitney Williams 1-1 2-2 4, Amanda Peterson 0-0 3-6 3. Totals: 19-46 14-25 55.

3-pointers — Florence 5-31 (M. Byrne 2, O’Brien 2), Eureka 3-15 (White 3). Rebounds — Florence 53 (Hoff 12), Eureka 36 (White 6, Morgan 6, Allen 6). Assists — Florence 3 (O’Brien 2), Eureka 7 (Brianna Lindgren 3). Steals — Florence 13 (M. Byrne 4), Eureka 9 (White 4). Fouls — Florence 25, Eureka 31. Technical fouls — Eureka 1. Fouled out — Miller, Holland, Larson, Morgan, Allen.