Lady Bulldogs drop 75 to tame Lions
Showdown looms between No. 2 Whitefish and No. 1 Bigfork tonight
By DAVID ERICKSON / Whitefish Pilot
The Whitefish girls basketball squad made a big statement on Thursday night, taking no mercy on the Class B Eureka Lady Lions in a 75-39 nonconference victory at Whitefish High School.
It was actually more of an exclamation than a statement, as Ashley Ferda picked up her second triple-double of the year, and Kate Klundt scored a career-high 25 points.
Whitefish took the ball away from Eureka an unbelievable 41 times, by far the most turnovers of any game this year.
The Lady Bulldogs, sitting at No. 2 in Northwestern Class A action, lead their conference in scoring with a 56.5 average, and they will need to keep up the show when they take on Alyssa Fierro and the formidable No. 1 Bigfork Valkyries on the road Thursday night.
Whitefish is 6-1 in league play, their only loss coming at the hands of the 7-0 Vals. Thursday night is not only an opportunity for revenge, but a chance for Whitefish to take the top spot in playoff seeding.
"I was pleased with the effort (against Eureka)," head coach Tim Olson said. "We need to start getting it up and down the floor a little more, and we did that. We had a lot of people contribute. We have a big game on Thursday, and the key is to stop Fierro and Bowen."
Olson said he has been pleased with his team's high-intensity defense in recent games.
"We need our defense to set the tone, and that is a glimpse of what we need to do late in the season," he said. "We are also going to be emphasizing rebounding in practice this week. Against Bigfork, we have to get rebounds to have a chance. We need to use our speed and full-court press."
Ferda finished with 13 points, 10 steals and 10 assists. She also went 2-2 from the free-throw line, bringing her season average from the paint to 84 percent.
Ferda is on pace to take a crack at setting the Whitefish High School single-season record of 86.9 percent, set by Johanna Closson (now a star Lady Griz) in 2004.
She is also second in the conference in scoring, steals per game and assists per game. She leads the conference in three-point percentage. Needless to say, she is having a great year.
Whitefish shot 60 percent from the field, and they lead the conference with a 41.17 combined field-goal percentage.
Whitefish senior post Amanda Ormsby had a big night inside for the Lady Bulldogs, with 11 points. Her fellow post player Dana Labuda finished with seven baskets.
Olson said his team will have their work cut out for them when they face Bigfork, but he's feeling positive.
"We are going to have to be really solid as a team on defense, and on offense we'll try to get the ball to Dana Labuda and Amanda Ormsby down low," he said. "We need to get the ball inside to those girls, and that will open up some things outside for us. With Bigfork, there's not just one player that's going to hurt you. They have a lot of kids that step up."
Eureka 12 9 8 10 - 39
Whitefish 17 28 16 14 - 75
Eureka (6-8 overall) — Marni Zauner 1 0-0 2, Melanie Finch 3 2-2 8, Auna Lawler 4 0-1 9, Rica Fils 2 0-4 4, Stephanie Vogelman 6 1-4 13, Mariah Newell 1 1-2 3. Totals 17 4-13 39.
Whitefish (9-5 overall) — Torie Powell 0 1-2 1, Kate Klundt 10 5-5 25, Ashley Ferda 5 2-2 13, Desiree Clarke 3 0-0 6, Dana Labuda 3 1-6 7, Chelsea Ray 4 2-2 10, McCara Cullen 1 0-0 2, Amanda Ormsby 4 3-4 11. Totals 30 14-21 75.
3-point goals — Eur. 1 (Lawler), WF 1 (Ferda). Team fouls — Eur. 17, WF 17. Fouled out — none.