by Scott Sacry
The Florence girls took 2nd place in the Western B Divisional tournament on Saturday, March 1 in Hamilton. The Lady Falcons had an impressive overall tournament, winning their first two games and playing Missoula Loyola in the championship. In the championship game they couldn’t solve the problem of Missoula Loyola and were heartbroken by the Breakers in a 43-68 loss.
This was the fourth matchup of the season between the two schools. Florence won the first matchup, and now Loyola has won the last three times.
Florence’s biggest strength as a team is their high pressure, full court defense. They are able to rattle teams, causing turnovers which give them easy transition buckets. To counter this, Loyola has a solid group of ball handlers who can withstand the pressure. So the last two Florence/Loyola games have come down to who is better at half court offense and Loyola has had the edge, especially with star Spencer Laird in the center. Laird is unguardable at times; she scored 31 points in this game.
Florence sophomore Emory Ralston (#5) shoots a free throw at the Western B Divisional tournament in Hamilton. The Florence girls took 2nd place and qualified for the Class B State tournament in Missoula on March 13-15. Photo by Scott Sacry.
A slow first quarter was the undoing for Florence, much like in the 6B District championship game the previous week against Loyola. Florence’s shots weren’t falling and Loyola was hitting their shots, and at the end of the first quarter Florence trailed 3-20.
By halftime, Florence was able to get back on track, but they still trailed 13-36. The Lady Falcons settled into the second half and played Loyola even, but the deficit was too much to overcome.
For Florence in the championship game, Emory Ralston led the scoring with 9 points. Ali Meinhold had 8, Jaden Fisher had 7, Maggie Schneiter had 5, Kendyl Meinhold had 4, Madigan Hurlbert and Kenzy Pickering each had 3, and Shelby Crocker and Alyx Monaco each added 2.
The Class B State Girls tournament is in Missoula on March 13-15. Florence plays Chinook, the #2 seed out of the North Division, on Thursday, March 13 at 8 p.m.
Florence 66, Eureka 27
In their first round game the Florence girls played Eureka on Thursday, Feb. 27. Florence took a couple minutes to get going, but once they did they didn’t look back and jumped out to a 42-11 halftime lead and cruised to the 66-27 victory.
For Florence, Maggie Schneiter led the scoring with 13 points. Kenzy Pickering had 9, Ali Meinhold had 8, Emory Ralston and Kendyl Meinhold each had 7, Taylor Pyette and Madigan Hurlbert each had 6, and Jaden Fisher and Shelby Crocker each added 5.
Florence 56, St. Ignatius 39
Florence played St. Ignatius, the top seed out of the 7B conference, in the divisional semifinal game on Friday night. The Lady Bulldogs came into the game with a 15-game winning streak, including a win over Missoula Loyola.
The game was tied 9-9 after one quarter. Florence made a surge right before halftime and led 28-19 going into the break. The Lady Falcons kept up the defensive pressure in the second half and extended their lead to 41-30 after three quarters and held on for the 56-39 victory.
Florence had a well rounded offensive attack, with Ali Meinhold leading the scoring with 9 points. Jaden Fisher, Kenzy Pickering and Kendyl Meinhold each had 8, Taylor Pyette had 6, Emory Ralston had 5, and Shelby Crocker, Madigan Hurlbert and Maggie Schneiter each added 4.
This win sent them to the championship game against Loyola.