Lady Trojans prep for homestand

The Whitehall High School girl’s basketball team will look to get back into the win column with two home scheduled later this week in the friendly confines of Varsity Gym.

The Lady Trojans fell to 4-6 overall and 0-5 in 5B League play Tuesday night with a 36-33 home loss to Big Timber. It was a low scoring first half for both teams, with the Lady Herders taking a 12-11 lead into the break.

Whitehall would come out strong in the third quarter and outscored Big Timber 12-4 to take a 23-17 lead into the final quarter. The fourth period would belong to the Lady Herders who outscored Whitehall 20-10 on their way to the three-point victory. The Lady Trojans were strong in the post with Isabel Evans and Dorothy Mastel each finishing with 11 points. Bryn Welker, Ann Russell, and Rachel Smith each finished with three points. Mesquite Melton finished with two points.

Following the game, Trojan head coach Herman Gerving applauded the play of his team in the close loss.

“The girls played really well, they worked hard, and our defense helped keep us in the game,” he said

The second-year coach added the team is starting to develop some of the fundamentals they work on daily at practice, but for a successful home stand they will need to play tough defense, limit turnovers, and have consistent shooting.

This week the Lady Trojans will host Anaconda Thursday and Boulder Friday.

Whitehall dropped two road games last week, the first a 53-37 loss to Townsend Friday. After trailing 31-13 at half, Whitehall rallied in the third quarter and pulled to within seven, but was never able to close the gap further in the 16 point loss.

Gerving said the team talked at half about a few adjustments to see if they could play even with the Lady Bulldogs in the second half. Welker led the way with 14 points. Mastel and Kaya Welch each had six, Smith finished with five, Evans added four points, and Melton had two.

The Lady Trojans fell behind 13-5 at the end of the first quarter Saturday in their 46-34 loss to Missoula Loyola.

Evans had a huge game with 15 points. Melton added eight, Welch and Rachel Smith each had four and Mastel finished with three points.