By Derek Hendrickson
The Whitefish Lady Bulldogs stayed alive in their quest to make it to the Class A State tournament, outlasting the Stevensville Yellowjackets 42-35 Thursday evening. Stat sheet
Whitefish sophomore Dani Douglas was the star of the game as she consistently made big shots and drew attention away from her teammates, scoring well more than double any other player, finishing with 23 points and two steals.
She got help from her friends as 5 other Lady Bulldogs scored points and Annisa Brown yanked down 10 rebounds to lead everyone in that column.
After a 5 point run by Stevi tied the game at 31 Whitefish put together a 7 point run lasting into the final 90 seconds and putting the Lady Yellowjackets into scramble mode.
The Lady Bulldogs kept the door open, only hitting 5 of 14 from the line but Stevi couldn’t hit on any desperation threes in the waning minutes.
Whitefish advances to take on Corvallis Friday afternoon at 1:15. The Lady Bulldogs improved to 7-13 on the season.
Stevensville was eliminated and will finish with a 3-17 mark. They were led by Mariah Hinson who had nine points, Makayla Davids added 8 and both Deanna Blair and Payton Tillotson put in 7.
Douglas opened and closed the first half scoring, taking the opening tap for a layin and draining a 3 to make it 20-17 at the break. She totaled 12 in the first half and was the only player on either side to score more than five.
It was back and forth all of the first half, with 3 ties and six lead changes. Neither team was able to take more than a four point lead.
The second half was played within a small window as well, Stevi led by 7 on several occasions including the final. Much of the fourth quarter was played with the score 33-31 before Douglas drained her final triple and gave the Lady Bulldogs some breathing room.
