Lady Loggers start season on a strong footing

The Lady Loggers basketball team traveled to Missoula for the Tipoff Tournament Friday and Saturday, and came home with two wins to start the new season.

The girls knocked off Ronan Friday evening in their opening game, 51-47, followed by a Saturday victory over Stevensville, 48-41.

“It was a good weekend for the Loggers,” said head coach Jim May. “It was really nice to get two wins to start the season off.”

The girls started off slowly against the Maidens, trailing 22-16 after a blistering opening quarter. They made up four points of that deficit in the second, holding Ronan to just five points while scoring nine to go into the locker room at the half down 27-25. The Maidens extended their lead to five points, outscoring Libby’s girls 10-7 in the third. The Lady Loggers fought back in the final stanza, though, outscoring Ronan 19-10 to secure the four-point win.

Saturday’s game against Stevensville started much the same, with the Lady Loggers trailing 15-8 after the first quarter. The Stevensville girls added six more points to their lead in the second, heading into halftime up 32-19. Libby stormed back in the third, closing the gap to just one point with a 15-3 performance. The Lady Loggers ran away with the game in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Stevensville girls 14-6 to seal the win, 48-41.

Coach May was pleased with his team’s performance, especially in fighting through the rough spots.

“We played four great quarters of basketball,” he said. “Quarters where we dictated things with our defense and were very efficient on offense. The other four quarters need some work. The girls got a taste of what we can be about, though.”

The girls travel to Thompson Falls Friday and return to Libby Saturday for a home game against Bigfork, both games May said should be tough in-conference battles.

“We’re looking forward to this week’s practices before two huge district challenges this weekend,” he said.