Bulldogs rally, top Polson 48-44
WHITEFISH — With one quarter to play, the Whitefish Bulldogs had some work to do while staring at a 10-point deficit in the opening round of the Northwest A divisional tournament.
Finally, they caught fire.
Whitefish (3-16) shot 67 percent from the field in the fourth quarter and held Polson to just two 3-pointers, outscoring the Lady Pirates 20-6 in the final eight minutes en route to a 48-44 victory on Thursday night.
Behind freshman guard Dani Douglas’ game-high 14 points, including a perfect 3 for 3 effort from behind the arc, the Bulldogs completed the comeback after being outscored in every quarter prior to the fourth.
Polson (3-16) held a 26-21 advantage at halftime after scoring 13 points in the first two periods of play. They pushed the lead to ten with 12 points in the third, a quarter where Whitefish shot just 22 percent.
But fourth-seeded Polson would meet some shooting woes of there own in the decisive fourth quarter, going 2 for 16 while Whitefish made its run.
Douglas grabbed five defensive boards to lead the team with six total.
Mariah Drown tallied 11 points. Katie Fyall finished with five rebounds and four points. Haley Nicholson, who scored two points, also brought in five boards.
The Lady Pirates outrebounded Whitefish 39 to 36. Nichole Lake grabbed a game-high eight rebounds, four on each end of the floor.
Marlee Congdon and Brenna Clark were the leading scorers for the Piratres as each scored nine points to pace Polson. Clark was 2 for 3 from behind the arc.
Lauren Lefthand finished with eight points. Like Congdon, Lefthand was a perfect 2 for 2 from the free-throw line. Polson was 58 percent at the charity stripe while the Bulldogs were just 4 of 14.
With the victory, Whitefish, the fifth seed in the tournament, will take on top-ranked Columbia Falls tonight at 6 p.m.
Polson will await the loser of the Frenchtown-Libby matchup which tips off at 7:30 p.m. in Whitefish.
Whitefish 10 11 7 20 — 48
Polson 13 13 12 6 — 44
WHITEFISH — Dani Douglas 5 1-2 14, Coral Schulz 2 0-0 6, Allie Schulz 2 0-2 4, Katie Fyall 2 0-2 4, Mariah Drown 5 1-2 11, Anna Peterson 2 0-1 5, Haley Nicholson 0 2-4 2, Annisa Brown 1 0-1 2. Totals 19 4-14 48.
POLSON — Skyla Krantz 1 0-0 2, Marlee Congdon 3 2-2 9, Lauren Lefthand 2 2-2 8, Dylan Quinn 0 1-2 1, Brenna Clark 2 3-4 9, Nichole Lake 1 0-0 2, Erin Sampson 3 1-3 7, MaKenna Weltz 1 1-2 3, Peyton Anderson 1 1-4 3. Totals 14 11-19 44.
Boys
Frencthown 57,
Libby 27
Bridger Truett scored 15 of his game-high 21 points in the second quarter as Frenchtown rolled past Libby.
Frenchtown led 29-16 at intermission and outscored Libby 28-11 in the final half.
Collin Johnson scored seven points for Libby.
Frenchtown (8-11) advances to a semifinal contest today versus top-ranked Columbia Falls (15-3) at 3 p.m.
Whitefish (8-10) faces Polson (8-10) in the other semifinal.
Libby (2-17) drops into loser-out action on Saturday at 9 a.m.
Frenchtown 11 18 15 13 — 57
Libby 13 3 2 9 — 27
FRENCHTOWN — Jacob Price 3 0-0 6, Kyle Smith 2 1-2 6, Chris Delaney 2 1-2 5, Brandon Rasor 1 0-0 2, Andy Brooks 0 4-4 4, Bridger Truett 9 2-2 21, Austin Means 3 1-4 7, Andrew King 1 1-2 3, Dawson Jones 0 1-2 1, Taylor Birgenheifer 1 0-0 2. Totals: 22 11-18 57.
LIBBY — Luke Adamson 0 1-2 1, Jonny Cielak 2 0-2 5, Collin Johnson 3 1-2 7, Gabe Peck 0 1-2 1, Colin Maloney 1 0-1 2, Erik Lawer 1 0-0 2, Brand Sadewaser 2 2-2 6, Michael Curtiss 1 1-4 3. Totals: 10 6-15 27.