In the six seasons before Bob Bolem took over as their head coach, the Whitefish Bulldogs girls’ basketball team averaged less than three wins a year.

On Feb. 9 the Bulldogs beat Ronan 51-29 for their eighth win, assuring the program of its first winning season, unofficially, since 2008. That’s the last year Whitefish made the State A girls’ tournament.

Bolem came to Whitefish as a retiree, having coached in Washington state for 27 years. His wife, the former Katie Doyle, is a Whitefish native. He restarted his coaching career as a freshman coach at Whitefish, and after two years was elevated to lead the program.

The Bulldogs are 11-3 in his third season, and Bolem credits the return of three players who had transferred out of state – Brooke Smith, Gracie Smyley and Ashton Ramsey – along with a support staff.

“A good head coach always finds good assistants,” said Bolem, referring to Whitefish native Kate Kastella, Darcy Bennett and Lynn Montague. “Our girls, they really adore all our coaches. It’s a great thing to see.”

Smyley is shooting at a 49 percent clip from the field, a league-best 75 percent from the line and is second in the Northwest A in scoring at 15.8 points per game. Smith is among the league’s top rebounders. Ramsey averages 7.5 ppg, followed closely by Jadi Walburn (7.2).

“It just all came together this year, where we had a good solid group and they all mixed well,” said Bolem, though he admits: “It’s been three years of work, just getting kids in the gym and getting them believing in themselves.”

Whitefish came within a point of unbeaten Columbia Falls in January, then lost a lopsided rematch to the Wildkats 52-34 on Feb. 5. Since then the Bulldogs have won three straight, and a state tournament berth doesn’t seem far off.

The program won a state title in the early days of girls’ basketball as an MHSA sport, in 1976; and added runner-up finishes in 1978, 1983 and 2003.

In 1983 Dawn (Silliker) Deden led the Bulldogs; in 2003 it was Johanna (Closson) Steenekamp. Both went on to the Montana Lady Griz (Deden’s daughter Lexi is having an excellent freshman season at MSU).

A return to those days is what Bolem envisions.

“We’re hoping a year like this will create a little excitement for those kids down in middle school,” he said.

B Showdown

Lodge Grass, ranked No. 1 in Class B for boys’ basketball, dazzled the MetraPark crowd Saturday in an 85-84, triple-overtime win over No. 5 Fairfield. Damon Gros Ventre, who’d missed several games with an ankle injury, played all 44 minutes and scored 27 points for the winners.

AA Showdown

Missoula Hellgate’s girls fell from the unbeaten ranks Saturday with a 44-30 loss at Helena Capital. The Bruins, who’d lost at Hellgate 52-50 on Jan. 9, had 20 points from Lady Griz signee Dani Bartsch, and 14 points and 10 boards from her sister Paige.

Big Games

Kooper Oxarart of Malta poured in 38 points Saturday while the Mustangs thumped Harlem 77-54 Saturday. On Tuesday Harlem turned around and beat Malta 74-46 behind 34 points from RJ Ramone. … Lady Griz commit Mya Hanson of Billings Central scored 21 points, including 12 free throws, as the top-ranked Rams beat No. 5 Laurel 49-43 Tuesday. ... Flathead’s girls are at Capital today and return home to face Helena Saturday, while Glacier is at Helena today and plays host to the Bruins Saturday. … The Flathead boys bring in Capital for a game tonight, while the Glacier boys host Helena.