By DAVID ERICKSON

Whitefish Pilot

The Whitefish girls basketball squad (1-8) proved that overall records won’t mean much at the upcoming divisional tournament, as they gave Bigfork (5-3) a big scare on Saturday night.

It was the Valkries’ senior night, but Whitefish took them into two overtime periods before Bigfork finally pulled away with a 62-56 win.

Although they lost the game, the Whitefish girls showed they can play with one of the best teams in the conference. On any given night, they will still be a force to be reckoned with come tournament time.

Last year, the Lady ‘Dogs entered divisionals as the No. 3 seed and went on to secure one of the two state-playoff berths.

Kate Klundt bounced back from a concussion she suffered in the Frenchtown game, scoring a team-high 25 points in the loss to Bigfork. She was clutch in overtime, going 10-for-12 from the free-throw line.

Opposing teams have to pick their poison with Klundt, because allowing her to take open shots is just as deadly as allowing her to step to the charity stripe.

The Lady Bulldogs led the entire game, but Bigfork freshman Taylor Peck sank a put-back just before the final buzzer of regulation to tie the game.

In the first period of overtime, Whitefish jumped out to another lead, but Bigfork’s Roxy Thurman tied the game again with a 3-pointer. Peck also had a three-pointer, but Whitefish was determined not to let the lead slip away, and Klundt’s clutch free-throws kept the game going.

The Lady ‘Dogs ran out of gas in the second overtime, however, and Bigfork sank another trey to seal the win.

Jessie Slaybaugh scored 11 points for Whitefish, while McCara Cullen had seven and Paula Oliveira had six.

On Friday, the Lady Bulldogs lost a gritty defensive struggle to Columbia Falls, 20-35. Klundt had 10 points to lead Whitefish. The Wildkats lead the conference at 8-1.

The Lady ‘Dogs host Ronan for their final regular-season game on Feb. 20, with a performance by the cheerleading squad at halftime. The Whitefish girls travel to Glacier High School on Feb. 26-28 for the Northwestern Class A divisional basketball tournament.

Whitefish     5   7  7   1    - 20

C Falls        10  8  6  11   - 35

Whitefish — Jessie Slaybaugh 2, Torie Powell 5, Kate Klundt 10, Heather Melcer 1, Adele FauntLeRoy 1, Paula Oliveira 1

Columbia Falls — Danielle Gilley 4, Brooke Cady 4, Kayla DeWit 8, Alyssa Ladenburg 11, Shay Grilley 2, Kelsey DeWit 6

Whitefish  15  9  8   9   6  9   - 56

Bigfork     15  8  5  13  6 15   - 62

Whitefish - Jessie Slaybaugh 11, Torie Powell 5, Kate Klundt 25, Daren Skelton 1, Heather Melcer 1, McCara Cullen 7, Paula Oliveira 6.