Klundt having a big year for Lady Bulldogs
David Erickson / Whitefish Pilot
By DAVID ERICKSON
Whitefish Pilot
Question: Who stands 5 feet 8 inches in basketball shoes but plays like a 6-foot 5-inch sharp-shooting center? The answer: Whitefish’s Kate Klundt.
The senior guard is having the finest year ever of her outstanding basketball career at Whitefish High School. Not only is she leading the entire Northwestern A conference in scoring, with a whopping 161 points (an average of more than 20 points per game), she is also the conference leader in rebounds with 11.62 per game.
Those numbers would not be surprising for someone with a height advantage over her competitors, but it’s utterly astounding for a girl who wouldn’t stand above anybody in a crowd.
Klundt’s stats come from her competitive drive on the court. Her coach, Tim Olson, has said that she just wants to win more than anyone else on the court and will fight for every loose ball.
Her ferocity come game time stands in stark contrast to her easy-going personality off the court. She is usually smiling and laughing with teammates on the bench, and she rarely loses her composure.
Klundt says the game has come easier for her in her final year at Whitefish High School.
“This is the best year I’ve had,” she said. “I’m starting to understand the game more. It’s coming a lot smoother.”
She said she spent a lot of time this summer working on her shooting skills, including free throws, and it’s paid off. She finds the basket often and takes a lot of trips to the charity stripe because of it.
“This summer, I went to every open gym,” she explained.
After the departure of All-State shooting guard Ashley Ferda to the University of Montana last year, Klundt has become the focal point of the Lady Bulldog’s offensive attack.
“I get double-teamed a lot,” she said. “I just have to trust in my teammates, and I have to get the ball to them.”
One of the things that makes Klundt special is her desire to keep improving. She says she and her teammates still have a lot of things they need to work on.
“I think we need to step it up on offense,” she says. “Right now, I would say we’re a defensive team. Offensively, we were starting to click a bit against Flathead on Saturday. We just need to keep practicing every day.”
The Lady Bulldogs defeated Class AA Flathead for the second time this year on Saturday, 53-48, to move to 3-5 overall on the season. The Whitefish girls are still 0-2 in their conference, but they have been competitive in every game. They took down Class B Eureka on Friday night, 52-37. Klundt scored 26, half her team’s points.
Klundt is fourth in the conference in assists per game and second in free-throw percentage among girls with more than 10 attempts. She leads the conference with an average of six field goals per game, and she’s tied for seventh in three-pointers.
There’s nothing she can’t do on the court offensively, and nobody in Northwest A would say they want to face her on defense.
Klundt is the cousin of former Whitefish and UM Lady Griz star Johanna Closson, so she knows first-hand what it takes to dominate. She also says she likes the chemistry of her team this year.
“We always fight back,” she said. “It was really a great win coming from behind against Flathead.”
Jessie Slaybaugh, also a senior, had a big night against the Bravettes. She hit three big treys in the fourth quarter to help the Lady ‘Dogs ruin Flathead’s quest for their first win of the season. Torie Powell chipped in with eight points, and Olivia Nagler had six.
Klundt doesn’t elaborate when she explains what her team needs to do in upcoming games.
“Just win,” she says with a slight chuckle.
For Klundt, those two words will define her career as a Lady Bulldog.
The Whitefish girls have a big showdown with the Bigfork Valkyries on Thursday at Whitefish High School at 7:15 p.m. Then they take on Columbia Falls at home on Saturday at 6 p.m.
Whitefish 6 11 14 22 - 53
Flathead 13 8 11 16 - 48
Whitefish — Jessica Slaybaugh 4 3-5 14, Torie Powell 3 2-4 8, Kate Klundt 8 3-7 19, Olivia Nagler 1 4-8 6, McCara Cullen 1 0-0 2, Paula Oliveira 2 0-0 4. Totals 19 12-24 53.
3-point goals: Whitefish 3 (Slaybaugh), Flathead 2 (Hildal, Brenneman); Total fouls: Whitefish 18, Flathead 20.