Lady Loggers take third at divisionals

Bouncing back from a loss against Whitefish, 52-45, the Lady Loggers went on to defeat both Ronan and Polson, placing third overall in the Northwestern A divisional tournament.

Despite the loss to the Bulldogs, Logger coach Jim May was proud of his team.

“It was a disappointment not beating Whitefish,” he conceded. “You work hard for it, and going to state was something I wanted our seniors to experience. But I was real proud of how they competed.”

May said a few defensive mistakes tripped up the team.

“We didn't start the game real well,” said May. “We were behind most of the first half and went cold for awhile.”

However, the team rallied to a 40-39 lead at the beginning of the fourth quarter, only to fall behind but still within striking distance of a win.

“We ran a great play and it just didn't fall in,” said May, adding that the Bulldogs came back with a basket and jumped ahead 48-42 with just under two minutes left on the clock.

“Getting to the championship sometimes hangs on a few plays,” he said.

Jackie Mee paced the Loggers with 14 points, while Brittany Martin added 10 and Laice Dedrick contributed 8 points.

Brooke Hageness also added 7 points.

Against Ronan in the loser-out game, the girls started off slow and battled back hard, winning 50-38.

“We had to play a team that gave us fits during the year, and we got down by 10 that game,” said May.

Although the Loggers were trailing 22-11 earlier in the half, they managed to narrow the margin to four points at halftime, 24-20.

“They were kind of panicky,” said May. “Things weren't going well, but then we got them pretty good in the second half.”

Libby took the lead and kept on going, stretching it out to 15 points in the fourth quarter, 50-35.

“The girls were having some success - we took away a lot of their offense in the second half and that was nice,” said May.

Dedrick led for the Loggers with 19 points, while Mee contributed 13.

Against Polson Saturday afternoon, Dedrick again led the Lady Loggers with 14 points. Libby won, 37-36.

Martin and Holly Cirian added 7 points each.

“They executed some nice plays,” said May. “Then we went cold and they took a lead with less than two minutes left, so we had to battle back.”

Behind 36-30, Mee hit two free throws in a row, helping Libby to regain the lead with nine seconds left on the clock.

“We missed out on the state championship, but I tell you what, I thought the girls competed real well,” said May.

“The team was led by our seniors,” he said. “They did a great job.”

“Laice Dedrick had a great game, and Brooke Hageness played her guts out,” he said. “She got into a little bit of foul trouble, but she plays a lot of defense for us and she was tough.”

May said although it was frustrating not getting to a challenge game and not going to state, he was amazed at how far his team had come.

“They're really starting to click and it would have been real nice to have two or three more games,” he said. “At the beginning of the season, if you asked me if I thought these kids could win 15 out of 21 games…” he mused, not finishing. “But these kids are really competitive,” he added.

May noted the strong Logger support at divisionals.

“They made our town proud,” he said. “A lot of people just came down to watch.”