Dawgs have beaten the drought

The drought has ended – the Whitefish Lady Bulldogs are back in the State A girls’ basketball tournament.

It’s been a long time coming.

It was 2008 when the Bulldogs were last there.

Bob Bolam, with three decades of coaching experience under his belt, is in his third season as head coach – he took over the Whitefish program after two years coaching the freshman team.

Bolam’s first year, the Bulldogs won one game, the next year, two. When Bolam took over varsity, they were 4-14 his first year and 7-15 the next.

The Bulldogs were able to upset Dillon at last year’s Western A Divisional, which was a huge win for the program.

“We definitely had improved and played better and had some kids we were able to build with going into this year,” Bolam said.

This is the first winning season for the Bulldogs (13-6) since that 2008 state tourney appearance.

Of the five seniors, none have been to a state tournament during their high school careers, so the Bulldogs are relatively inexperienced in that arena.

Some of that inexperience showed last week at the Western A divisional, where Whitefish had trouble shooting and lost 45-38 to Hamilton in the first round. A bit of jitters, Bolam concedes.

“We settled in the next day, that’s for sure,” he adds.

Then Ronan upset top-seeded Butte Central and Whitefish faced them right off the bat in loser-out play and handily beat them 63-45.

“We never expected the first place team to lose the first game, but they did,” Bolam said. “So now we’re playing the first place team as a loser-out team on their own floor. I thought we matched up well and we went into that game and the girls played confident. We got out ahead, we were able to just keep increasing that. That was a big win.”

Then came a familiar foe, Browning, in the next round. The Bulldogs won that game too and found themselves again facing Hamilton in the third place game. Hamilton won, 31-28. By then a state tourney berth was already secured. Everything else at that point was cake.

Whitefish draws Billings Central for the first round of State A, starting today at Four Seasons Arena in Great Falls.

After watching film on Billings Central, Bolam has zeroed in on their strengths: Mya Hansen, a dynamic point guard bound for the Montana Lady Griz, and an aggressive and disciplined attack.

“That’s gonna be a challenge for us to go in there,” Bolam said. “We’re going to have to play our best game of the year if we want to be competitive in that.

“We’re looking to go in and give it our all and not leave anything, cause you’re at the state tournament. You have to play as hard as you can for as long as you can and see what happens.”

At the helm for Whitefish are five seniors, including scoring leader and captain Gracie Smyley, Ashton Ramsey and Brook Smith.

All three transferred out of Whitefish at various points; Smyley moved to Florida in middle school and returned as a sophomore; Smith left as a freshman and came back for her senior season. Ramsey spent a couple years in North Carolina.

“They make a big difference for us,” Bolam said.

Whitefish plays today’s nightcap at 7:30 p.m. Neighboring Columbia Falls (19-0) will play Glendive at 11 a.m.

“We’re excited, the community’s excited, because it’s been a while for Whitefish girls,” Bolam said. “It’s not just to go to state, but just to be competitive enough to think about going to state. It’s been hard for a few years. We just hope we represent, you know, ourselves and the community well and and just build off it going forward for the program.”

The Columbia Falls Wildkats are riding high, fresh from a Western A divisional title win and most importantly, locking in a berth at the state tournament. Last year the Wildkats went 16-4 and missed the state tourney after losing twice at the divisional.

“I’m just happy with the way this team has played all year,” Columbia Falls coach Cary Finberg said. “From day one they wanted to put last year’s disappointment behind them and they’ve done that.”

The Wildkats’ opponent today, Glendive, is actually not so unfamiliar to them – Finberg recalls playing the Red Devils in the opening round of the State A tourney three years ago.

Glendive averages 37 points per game, with leading scorers Jillian Whitliller (another Lady Griz commit) and Madison Wahl averaging 15.5 and 10 points, respectively.

“We just need to get that first win and get ourselves into a Thursday night semifinal,” Finberg said.