Girls Basketball: Lady Loggers knock off Columbia Falls

Playing for the final time on their home floor, Libby High School seniors Jackie Mee and LaRona Luscher put together memorable performances Tuesday night to lead the Lady Loggers’ basketball team to a 51-44 victory over Columbia Falls.

Mee was in the zone all evening and finished with 29 points, which included six 3-pointers. Luscher continued a late-season scoring surge and added 10 points. Both Mee and Luscher hit a pair of free throws in the final 15 seconds to ice the victory over a Columbia Falls team that came into the game unbeaten in the Northwestern A.

“We got a little overanxious and it made for a long minute at the end there,” LHS Coach Jim May said about the late-game suspense that saw the Wildkats cut into Libby’s lead.

The Lady Loggers held a seven-point advantage with 46 seconds left but Columbia Falls put together one last run. Brooke Cady hit two free throws and then Shay Grilley went to the free-throw line after drawing a foul on a 3-point field goal attempt.

If Grilley could hit all three free throws, the Wildkats would trail by just two points with 16 seconds still on the clock. The Wildkat senior hit the first two but the third wouldn’t fall and Mee grabbed the rebound. Columbia Falls had to continue fouling and Mee and Luscher closed out the game at the foul line.

Libby had to rally from a rough start. The Wildkats jumped out to an 8-0 lead in a game that was starting to resemble Columbia Falls’ 54-44 win over the Loggers earlier this season.

“It was a shaky start. We were a little flat but we snapped out of it and hung around,” May said. “We stayed in the game. When we played there, they got out to a 20-5 lead on us in the first quarter.”

By the end of the first, the game was tied, 10-10, thanks to three straight 3-pointers by Mee. The two teams stayed close in the second and the Wildkats led by three points at halftime.

In the third quarter, Libby upped its intensity – especially on defense. The Wildkats managed only seven points while the Loggers created offensive opportunities with an in-your-face “D.”

“I think it comes from our defense,” May said about the team’s third-quarter fortunes. “You can’t get a lead when you’re trading baskets with them.”

Libby outscored Columbia Falls by 10 points in the third quarter and endured a lull early in the fourth. The Wildkats got back to within, 39-35, after LHS failed to put any points on the board for a stretch of more than three minutes.

That’s when Mee sparked another outburst with baskets at the 2:52 and 2:22 marks of the fourth – the latter hoop on a perfectly timed pass inside from Alysha Martin. Columbia Falls then began to foul and Libby hit less than 50 percent on its first nine attempts before Mee and Luscher closed it out.

Libby’s defense produced seven blocked shots – all by Mee – and nine steals in the win. Mee finished with nine rebounds. Logan Best dished out a half-dozen assists.

Kelsey DeWit scored 16 and Kayla DeWit added 12 for the Wildkats (6-1, 11-6).

Libby (5-2, 12-5) finishes up the regular season on Saturday with a road game at Whitefish – currently tied for last place in the conference. The Loggers will then prepare for the Northwestern A tournament on Feb. 25-27 at Glacier High School in Kalispell.

For video of Libby's win over Columbia Falls, click here.

Libby 51, C. Falls 44

Tuesday at Libby

Scoring by Quarters:

Columbia Falls    10    11      7    16—44

Libby                   10      8    17    16—51

COLUMBIA FALLS (44)

Stratton 0 1-2 1, Gilley 1 0-0 2, Fairbank 1 0-0 2, Kayla DeWit 4 4-8 12, Cady 0 5-6 5, Grilley 0 6-9 6, Kelsey DeWit 8 0-0 16. Totals 14 16-25 44.

LIBBY (51)

Luscher 3 3-4 10, Martin 1 0-0 2, Gilden 2 1-3 5, Best 1 2-4 4, Mee 9 5-7 29, Kulbeck 0 1-2 1. Totals 16 12-20 51.