Girls Basketball: LHS defeats Troy, Polson

Hanging on to a two-point lead in a close one on Saturday night, the Libby High School girls basketball team needed a little breathing room to make sure visiting Polson didn’t pull off a fourth qarter rally on the way to victory.

That cushion materialized over the first 1:20 of the fourth quarter when LaRona Luscher, Logan Best and Alysha Martin all scored for an eight-point lead. The Lady Loggers went on to a 53-46 win.

Martin, a 5-foot-7 junior, stole the show in the fourth quarter with 11 of her game-high 16 points.

“She’s a shooter. There were a couple of shots that as a coach, you’re silently wondering if she should take them,” May said with a smile.

Martin’s two biggest baskets came in the final 90 seconds. With Polson still within striking distance, Martin scored with 1:30 remaining for a 48-41 lead. After the Pirates went to the free-throw line to cut their deficit to six, Martin slammed home the LHS victory with a 3-pointer with 1:02 on the clock. She even hit a couple of free throws with 45 seconds left.

Although Jackie Mee finished in double figures with 11 points, the Polson defense kept Libby’s star senior in check most of the evening. In fact, Mee didn’t hit her first basket from the field until the midway point of the third quarter.

“They were running a junk defense on her,” LHS coach Jim May said. “Obviously, we were going to see that but I thought we did an OK job.”

Mee’s teammates picked up key baskets, including timely jumpers by Best and Luscher. Alex Kulbeck and Jaime Gilden also did some damage and the Pirates found out that there were just too many weapons to stop.

May said the Lady Loggers are starting to play better on offense and added that he likes the defense “most of the time” as the divisional tournament approaches.

“The kids zoned in to what we’re trying to do,” May said.

On Thursday, the Lady Loggers stepped out of the conference for a 53-14 victory over Troy. Libby jumped out to a 14-2 lead in the first quarter and held a 24-2 advantage by halftime.

Mee hit nine field goals and 5-of-5 free throws to put up 24 points. Gilden added 11 points and had 12 of the team’s 24 steals.

Jackie Pepiot scored eight points to lead Troy.

Sierra Pete scored 13 and Breanne Kelley added 10 for the Lady Pirates (4-2, 13-4).

Libby (4-2, 11-5) took a six-game winning streak into a Tuesday matchup at Columbia Falls. The Loggers will play on Saturday at Whitefish.

Libby 53, Polson 46

Saturday at Libby

Scoring by Quarters:

Polson      9      6    14    17—46

Libby        6    15    10    22—53

Polson (46)

Hamel 2 4-5 8, Pete 5 3-4 13, Kelley 4 2-2 10, Kenney 2 4-4 8, Duford 1 0-0 2, Davey 2 0-2 4, Rausch 0 1-2 1. Totals 16 14-19 46.

Libby (53)

Luscher 3 0-0 7, Martin 6 2-2 16, Gilden 2 0-0 4, Best 4 1-2 9, Mee 3 4-6 11, Kulbeck 3 0-0 6. Totals 21 7-10 53.

Libby 53, Troy 14

Thursday at Libby

Scoring by Quarters:

Troy       2      0    10      2—14

Libby    14    10    18    11—53

Troy (14)

Klin 1 0-0 2, Bonifas 0 0-2 0, Williams 2 0-0 4, Pepiot 2 4-6 8. Totals 5 4-8 14.

Libby (53)

Good 2 0-0 4, Martin 1 0-1 2, Gilden 5 1-2 11, Best 2 1-4 5, Mee 9 5-5 24, Kulbeck 2 0-0 4, Tangen 1 1-1 3. Totals 22 8-13 53.