Girls Basketball: Lady Loggers prepare for battle
The Libby High School girls basketball team may not have a whole lot of depth heading into this season but when it comes to putting the first five on the floor, coach Jim May’s confidence leve remains high.
Seniors Jackie Mee and LaRona Luscher along with junior Jaime Gilden highlight a varsity lineup that should be able to effectively compete in the always-tight Northwestern A region.
“Hopefully, we have some unfinished business,” May said, referring to last year’s disappointment of losing two straight games at divisionals after an 8-2 regular season in the conference. “The kids were not happy with the way the season ended in the tournament.”
Mee, a two-time all-state selection, will obviously attract a lot of attention from opponents. Although she injured her ankle in the state volleyball playoffs, May said she’s doing just fine.
“She’s more mobile and doing a great job so far,” he said about Mee, a fourth-year starter. “She just works hard in the weight room and takes everything she does real serious. We’re going to build a lot of things around her.”
Luscher started every game for the Lady Loggers last season. She has been a player to direct the offense while creating ball movement in the offensive setup. Gilden, meanwhile, brings athleticism and energy to the floor. As the coach summarized, she’s an athlete that can “play all kinds of different positions and is able to run the floor forever it seems.”
Juniors Logan Best and Alysha Martin are returning letterwinners who have looked good in practice. Best displays exceptional defensive skills while Martin is one of the team’s top pure shooters.
Junior Alex Kulbeck, who blew her knee out the second game last year, is expected to miss the first few weeks of the season after injuring her other knee.
“She’s got a nice 15-footer and we can do things on defense when she’s in there,” May said. “We hope to get her back in a week or two or three.”
May said the team needs to develop depth so foul trouble could become an issue. Of the younger players, junior Sheena Good moves up from junior varsity and shows promise at guard.
“Columbia Falls will be the team to beat in our conference,” May said. “They have two posts back and they’ll need to work out some guard issues. Polson will be tough.”
The Lady Loggers (13-8 overall last season) will see two very tough teams to open the season. On Friday in the Tip-Off Tournament at Polson, Libby will face defending state champion Anaconda. Then on Saturday when the tournament moves to Ronan, the Loggers will take on Hamilton – last year’s state runner-up.
“It’s fun … there’s a lot of basketball and you get to play a little against teams we don’t usually see,” May said. “Anaconda … they have all of their players back; they graduated one kid. It’s fun to play them because you know what they’re going to do and you try to not let them get away with it.”
Following the two tourney games, Libby will play host to Glacier this coming Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.