Eureka spills Whitefish

WHITEFISH — After a high-scoring first quarter, the Eureka Lady Lions shut down Whitefish’s perimeter offense and allowed just five points in the second half of a 47-18 nonconference victory Friday.

Whitefish (0-7) knocked down three three-pointers in a 12-point first quarter, but Eureka (3-3) kept pace with 17 first-quarter points, then went on a 19-1 run to put the game out of reach despite looking sloppy according to coach R.J. McDole.

Eureka hadn’t played in nearly two weeks because of the holiday break, and McDole said his team looked rusty in the first half.

“We were pretty sloppy in the first half,” McDole said. “We weren’t executing very well. Defensively we were a step behind what we normally are.

“Offensively I don’t think we looked very good the whole game, but that’s to be expected coming out of the break.”

The Lady Lions struggled in the post but were bailed out by their guard play. Alex Holland drilled two three-pointers in the first quarter and finished with eight points while Mikayla Grove scored a game-high 12 points.

“I definitely think with the long break that we had, we came out a little off balance,” said Grove, who credited Whitefish with playing strong in the first quarter.

Eureka scored the first six points of the game before Simone Craft, who led Whitefish with eight points, knocked down an 18-foot jumper to put the Bulldogs on the board. Carli Allen answered with a layup for Eureka before Whitefish’s Maura Kalbfleisch and Eureka’s Holland traded three-pointers.

Kalbfleisch hit a second three to make the score 11-8 before Grove hit a 15-foot jumper, drew a foul and converted the free throw to extend Eureka’s lead.

Holland hit another three to give the Lady Lions a nine-point advantage, but Whitefish scored the last four points of the quarter to cut its deficit to five.

Eureka picked up its defensive pressure in the second quarter and outscored Whitefish 30-6 the rest of the game.

“Our coach told us we needed to play better D, and we definitely came out fired up,” Grove said.

The Lady Lions extended their zone defense to stop Whitefish’s outside shooters and still managed to block passing lanes effectively. As a result, Whitefish went more than 16 minutes without converting a field goal.

“We gave up the high post to stop the three in the second half,” McDole said. “If they would’ve penetrated it probably would’ve been a different story, but they just moved the ball around the top and helped us out quite a bit.”

Eureka also forced several turnovers with its trapping defense.

Whitefish coach Sean Duff said his team lost its composure after the first quarter.

“We panicked a little bit and didn’t handle the pressure very well,” Duff said. “When we realize we have a chance to be in the ball game, we panic.

“We rushed a lot of shots. We need to learn to be more patient.”

Whitefish’s only second-half points came on a three-pointer by Micah McFeely and a layup by Simone Craft.

Eureka, 2-0 in District 7B, will look to stay unbeaten in conference play today at Thompson Falls.

Whitefish hosts Plains on Thursday in nonconference play.

Eureka 17 6 13 11 — 47

Whitefish 12 1 0 5 — 18

EUREKA - Mikayla Grove 4 3-3 12, Alex Holland 3 0-0 8, Alyssa White 2 1-3 6, Cassidy Morgan 3 1-3 7, Carli Allen 4 1-2 9, Whitney Williams 0 0-2 0, Brianna Lindgren 0 2-2 2, Evynn Anderson 0 1-2 1, Caitlin Larson 1 0-0 2.

WHITEFISH - Simone Craft 3 1-2 8, Maura Kalbfleisch 2 0-3 6, Shannon Craft 0 1-2 1, Micah McFeely 1 0-0 3, Jess Baldonado 0 0-0 0.