Lady Loggers lose at home to Wildkats
<p>Hailey Craig looks to pass in fourth quarter vs. Columbia Falls 2-21-15.</p>
The Lady Loggers took to their home court in the Ralph Tate Memorial Gym Saturday night looking to avenge a previous beating suffered at the hands of Columbia Falls. The girls fought hard, but ran out of gas in the end, falling to the visiting Wildkats, 69-45.
After an emotional presentation of the graduating seniors, the Lady Loggers stormed the court with Hailley Moe and Dayln Germany leading the way with five and four points, respectively. The girls fought to a 14-14 tie at the end of the first quarter against a team that handed them a 59-20 loss on Jan. 2.
The Lady Loggers played aggressive defense through the first and second quarters, struggling to keep pace with the Wildkats. The visitors were not to be reined in, though, as they outscored Libby 16-8 in the second period to take a 30-22 lead into the locker room at the half.
The third quarter was the Wildkats’ time to shine. Fielding a deeper bench than the Lady Loggers, Columbia Falls kept pushing the ball up the court and seemed to drain the energy reserves of the home girls. The ‘Kats scored 18 to Libby’s nine in that critical period to seal their victory.
“The girls played hard,” coach Jim May said, “But we made some mistakes in that third quarter that cost us.”
As the fourth quarter started, with Libby trailing 43-31, it was obvious that the Lady Loggers were running on fumes. Their passes weren’t as crisp and shots that should fall just didn’t go in.
They continued to play hard, though, and with just 3:05 left in the game senior Hailley Moe fouled out and left the court with the applause of the crowd. Moe, like all of coach May’s girls, left it all out on the floor Saturday night against Columbia Falls.
“They killed us earlier in the season,” May said, obviously proud of his team’s performance against the squad he called “the team to beat” after their last meeting. His team left the floor with a final score of 69-45.
The Lady Loggers travel to Whitefish Friday for the divisional tournament. They tip off at 7:30 p.m. against Frenchtown. The top two teams will then advance to the state competition.