Lady Bulldogs bite 'Kats

Whitefish Pilot

The Lady Bulldogs rolled over the Columbia Falls Wildkats 58-44 Saturday night at Whitefish High School to avenge last year's loss, although they still got a fight.

Give the Wildkats credit — they played tough defense, battling to a 23-point tie going into halftime.

Whatever head coach Tim Olson told his Lady Bulldogs at halftime, however, it worked. The Lady Bulldogs ripped off 13 points in the first few minutes of the third quarter, compared to only one basket for the Wildkats.

Whitefish outscored Columbia Falls 22-7 in the third. A lot of those points came off three-pointers from Ashley Ferda, who had four treys in the game. Kate Klundt added three long baskets, and Chelsea Ray had one. Ferda had 16 points in the second half.

It was a terrific defensive showing for Whitefish in the second half, as they took the ball away from the Wildkats 18 times. Ferda and senior forward Dana Labuda both had four steals, while senior guard Desiree Clarke had three.

Whitefish has been using a full-court press on defense for most of the season, and it has been effective, especially when the quicker girls can get a paw in and swipe a ball away before the opposing team has a chance to get a pass off.

Free-throw inconsistency kept the Whitefish squad from running up the score even higher, as they went 2-9 overall.

The Lady Bulldogs improved to 3-1 in Northwestern A action and 5-4 overall. They take on Flathead High School at home Friday night.

C Falls 12 11 7 14 - 44

Whitefish 14 9 22 13 - 58

Columbia Falls (2-8, 1-4) — Alyssa Ladenburg 3 1-1 7, Cedar Smith 1 1-2 3, Sarah Marcille 2 0-0 4, Cortny Westgard 0 2-2 2, Samantha Ladenburg 3 2-6 8, Kelsey DeWitt 9 2-5 20. Totals 18 8-16 44.

Whitefish (5-4, 3-1) — Jessie Slaybaugh 1 0-0 2, Torie Powell 2 0-0 4, Kate Klundt 7 1-3 18, Ashley Ferda 6 0-0 16, Heather Melcer 0 0-2 0, Dana Labuda 1 0-0 2, Chelsea Ray 4 1-2 10, McCara Cullen 2 0-0 4, Amanda Ormsby 1 0-2 2. Totals 24 2-9 58.

3-point goals — CF 0, WF 8 (Ferda 4, Klundt 3, Ray). Team fouls — CF 10, WF 19. Fouled out — Powell.