RONAN GIRLS BBALL ROUNDUP: Warm welcome

WHITEFISH - Not bad for an introduction to Lake County

basketball, Clayton Curley. Taking over a team that won one game

last season, Curley's Ronan Maidens got the basketball season off

on the right foot, splitting a pair of games at last weekend's

Tip-off Tournament.

WHITEFISH - Not bad for an introduction to Lake County basketball, Clayton Curley. Taking over a team that won one game last season, Curley's Ronan Maidens got the basketball season off on the right foot, splitting a pair of games at last weekend's Tip-off Tournament.

On Friday, the Maidens used an impressive effort on defense to help Curley earn his first victory with a 32-28 win.

"It was really awesome," Curley, Ronan's new head coach, said. "It was definitely cool. The girls were playing tough and have a lot of heart."

Courtney Clairmont led the Maidens with 17 points, becoming the first Ronan girl to put up that many since Nina Orozco-Charlo two seasons ago. No Maiden has eclipsed that number since 2008-09 when Morgan Belgrade (24, 18), Carli Starkel (26, 22), Kaylee Larson (18) and Jordan Strozzi (21) each did it.

"It was a quiet 17," Curley said. "I didn't realize it until after the game. She hit a few threes and got to the line a lot. She put a lot of time in during the summer at camps."

Raymi Clairmont added six points, Ashleigh Lynch four, Ashley Grandchamp three and Brianna Frank two in the victory.

The next day against Bigfork, Ronan put in another great game on defense, but couldn't garner any offensive momentum as they fell to 1-1 with a 31-16 loss. Lynch put in seven points, Grandchamp added three and Trinity Rosenbaum, Courtney Clairmont and Angela North Piegan each scored two in the defeat.

"We played better defense than them, forcing more turnovers, but they got us on rebounding," Curley said. "They had size, so rebounding is something we'll have to work on."

In the split, Curley was impressed with his team's ability to press the issue on D.

"Defensively, we were able to hurt other teams' ability to set up," Curley said. "One thing I liked was that we forced turnovers. We won the turnover battle both games. Against Bigfork, we forced 24 turnovers to our 17. Against Libby, they had 38 turnovers against us."

Ronan turns their attention to this weekend when they'll face Florence and Troy in a pair of games. Curley looks to continue working with his girls to put them in the best position to keep winning.

"We want to get easier buckets, more layups rather than threes," Curley said. "We're getting more shots, which is giving us a better opportunity to win. We have a lot of hope that way and a lot of confidence after winning that first game."

MAIDENS VS LIBBY

Libby - 4 - 2 - 11 - 11 - 28

Ronan - 8 - 9 - 7 - 8 - 32

Maidens scoring - Raymi Clairmont 6, Brianna Frank 2, Courtney Clairmont 17, Ashleigh Lynch 4, Ashley Grandchamp 3

MAIDENS VS BIGFORK

Bigfork - 9 - 8 - 4 - 10 - 31

Ronan - 2 - 6 - 6 - 2 - 16

Maidens scoring - Angela North Piegan 2, Courtney Clairmont 2, Ashleigh Lynch 7, Ashley Grandchamp 3, Trinity

Rosenbaum 2