Whitefish girls edge Libby, drop matchup to top-rated Bigfork

Bigfork showed why they are undefeated in Northwestern A Conference play, defeating Whitefish on Thursday, Jan. 30.

“Against Bigfork, we were outmatched and never really in the game. They stormed out to a comfortable first-quarter lead, built it up into halftime, and then cruised home for the win,” said Whitefish Head Coach Bob Bolam. “I appreciated the fact that the girls played hard and competed for the entire game even though it got a bit lopsided, which is something we have done all season.”

The Valkyries sprinted out to a 39-8 halftime lead and began the second half on a 12-4 run.

Allie Shors led Whitefish with seven points, while Bigfork’s Braeden Gunlock’s 21 points. 

Whitefish fell to 3-7 on the season, while Bigfork improved to 10-2 overall and 6-0 in conference play.

“Our league is Bigfork and everybody else,” Bolam said. “Teams in the middle are beating each other, so positions two through four are up for grabs. Browning looks better, as is Columbia Falls. Ronan and Polson have beaten both of those teams, so they are all in a logjam in the middle. We and Libby are still on the outside looking in heading into the second half of the league season. It is going to take some wins to better our position going into play-in games at the end of the month.”

Bulldogs get win over Libby 

Carmella Alfieri’s two three-pointers sparked Whitefish in the second half for a 33-30 Northwestern A Conference victory over Libby 33-30 on Tuesday, Jan. 28.

“We got behind up at Libby but were able to grab the lead in the third quarter due to some good defense and just enough offense with Carmella Alfieri netting eight of our ten points in the quarter,” Whitefish Bob Bolam said. “We built the lead into the fourth quarter and made enough free throws down the stretch to seal the win.”

Alfieri finished with 10 points, while Allie Shors added eight points. The Bulldogs trailed 17-15 at halftime but went on a 10-4 run in the third quarter for a 25-20 lead.

Libby fell to 1-10 overall and 0-5 in league play.

“We were glad to get Senior Captain Yoli Krastev back last week as she saw her first game action in over a month and a half,” Bolam said. “Her contributions should help provide some relief for the freshman girls who have put in a lot of time without her. Overall, we are slowly getting healthy and ready to take on the rest of the season as our attitude and resolve are good, and we are working hard to get better.”

At Libby

WHITEFISH 33, LIBBY 30

Whitefish - 11 - 4 - 10 - 8 - 33  

Libby - 11 - 6 - 4 - 10 - 30

WHITEFISH SCORING: Carmella Alfieri 10, Allie Shors 8, Izze Short 6, Reese Hudson 3, Charlize Ullrich 3, Stella Frisbee 3

At Bigfork

BIGFORK 51, WHITEFISH 17 

Whitefish - 3 - 5 - 4 - 5 - 17 

Bigfork - 20 - 19 - 12 - 0 - 51

WHITEFISH SCORING: Allie Shors 7, Stella Frisbee 3, Carmella Alfieri 3, Charlize Ullrich 3, Vivian Trieweiler-Schmidt 1