When we last checked in with Bob Bolam and the Whitefish girls basketball program, they were on the verge of breaking a state tournament drought in 2021. 

Five years later the Bulldogs are back, and the difference is that along with the talent they have youth. And Bolam, who moved to The Valley with his Whitefish-born wife to retire and is suddenly in his eighth year as head coach, saw it coming. 

“I’d been watching some of these girls since fifth grade,” he said this week, as his team prepared for another State A Tournament. “They played together on a traveling team those early years, and then through middle school they stayed together. 

“I looked forward to this group.” 

Nine Bulldogs have played at least 20 games and seven are underclassmen: Sophomores Reese Hudson, Alli Shors, Stella Frisbee and Vivian Trieweiler-Schmidt; and freshmen Avery Orme, Sammie Shors and Blake Ruta. 

Two juniors, Clair Easterley and Grace Inabnit, dot the roster along with the lone senior, Amelia Krezowski. Together they are 16-6, a high-water mark in Whitefish’s recent history. 

They have taken some lumps, but a stretch of five straight wins should have convinced everyone that they had staying power — especially road victories over Bigfork and Columbia Falls. 

“Those two games together put a lot of character in our team,” said Bolam, whose club dropped a 60-31 decision to the Kats s on Feb. 6, then beat them 48-38 11 nights later. “They proved to the girls that they could beat teams that were at that time, ahead of us. Those were big wins, back-to-back.” 

Fast forward to Saturday morning at Hamilton Middle School, and Whitefish rode defense and transition to a 27-19 halftime lead over Columbia Falls in a Western A loser-out. 

The Wildkats then launched a 19-4 surge to open the second half and had all the momentum.  

“You take a time out and settle your kids down,” Bolam recalled. “You tell them how to get back into the game, that defense is going to do it. And that’s what happened.” 

Whitefish didn’t allow a point in the final 5:40 of a 48-45 win that bought them a trip to Great Falls.    

“We got a few turnovers for easy baskets and got back into the game, then made a couple clutch plays at the end to win it,” Bolam said.

Bolam admits that if this group wasn’t winning seventh-grade championships and the like, he might have really retired by now. He’s glad he stuck around. 

“It’s nice to see the waiting has paid off,” he said. “Really good kids. Really good YOUNG kids. 

“One of the biggest things is to see the joy on the girls’ faces. That’s the best part of it for me - how much they enjoy the process and getting to the state tournament.” 

Reach Fritz Neighbor at [email protected] at 758-4463.