Girls Basketball: Lady Loggers win big over Whitefish, 46-18

Coming into Saturday’s matchup against the Lady Loggers, the Whitefish girls had just one victory to their credit. Libby, meanwhile, hovered around the .500 mark but on paper, looked like the easy favorite.

It’s those types of games that can scare coaches the most.

But in Libby’s case, the girls did not take the opponent lightly, garnered control from the opening tip-off and rolled to a 46-18 victory.

Although the offense had plenty of highlights, it was the “D” that came through big.

“Our defense was very good. I thought we had them frustrated most of the night,” LHS coach Jim May said. “We controlled the tempo with our defense.”

Whitefish scored no more than six points in any one quarter and could never find a hint of rhythm against the Loggers’ defensive setup. Oftentimes, good defense translates into good offense – and LHS proved it.

Libby junior Jaime Gilden could not be stopped with 18 points on eight field goals and 1-of-2 free throws.

“She was very active and is playing with more and more confidence every game,” May said.

Following a pair of free throws by senior Jackie Mee in the game’s first 33 seconds, Gilden scored three straight baskets to lead LHS to an 8-0 lead. The Loggers furthered the advantage to 10-0 on a basket by Mee – who had left the game holding a sore wrist but returned after about 1 minute on the bench.

Whitefish’s Jessica Slaybaugh scored on a 3-pointer in the final seconds to cut her team’s deficit to 12-5. But Libby put together another long run to open the second and had the Bulldogs on their heels by halftime.

Alysha Martin scored six of her 12 points during a 12-0 run in the second quarter. Gilden also had a pair of hoops during that stretch and Mee’s fortunes at the free-throw line continued. Martin’s 3-point goal with 1:32 left in the half helped the Loggers to a 27-7 lead at the break.

In the second half, the Libby effort continued with Mee and Gilden each hitting 3-pointers. Joining Gilden in double figures were Mee with 13 points and Martin with 12. Mee made three field goals and 6-of-8 free throws while Martin hit four baskets and made 3-of-4 foul shots. As a team, LHS shot 69 percent from the stripe.

Slaybaugh led Whitefish with 11 points – which included a 3 and 4-of-4 at the line.

Earlier in the week, the Lady Loggers stepped out of the conference for a 50-35 win at Eureka.

Mee scored a game-high 17 points to lead the LHS offensive assault. Gilden and Martin also hit double figures with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Libby led 14-6 after the first and 29-13 by halftime to pull away early.

Steph Vogelman scored 10 for the Lady Lions.

Libby (2-2, 7-5) sits in third place in the Northwestern A behind Polson and Columbia Falls. The Loggers were scheduled to host Class B Bigfork on Tuesday before heading to Ronan on Saturday.

Libby 46, Whitefish 18

Saturday at Libby

Scoring by Quarters:

Whitefish    5      2     6     5—18

Libby        12    15    10    9—46

WHITEFISH (18)

Slaybaugh 3 4-4 11, DeMarco 1 0-0 2, Backer 0 1-2 1, Curtiss 0 1-2 1, Voight 1 0-2 3. Totals 5 6-10 18.

LIBBY (46)

Martin 4 3-4 12, Gilden 8 1-2 18, Best 1 0-0 2, Mee 3 6-8 13, Tangen 0 1-2 1. Totals 16 11-16 46.

Libby 50, Eureka 35

Thursday at Eureka

Scoring by Quarters:

Libby    14    15    11    10—50

Eureka    6     7    16      6—35

LIBBY (50)

Good 2, Luscher 4, Martin 10, Gilden 12, Best 5, Mee 17.

EUREKA (35)

Holder 5, Hammond 4, Elster 5, White 2, Morgan 9, Vogelman 10.

For video highlights of Libby vs. Whitefish, click here