Loggers fight to survive

The Loggers gave Polson a run for their money Saturday night, losing in the final seconds, 59-55, while Whitefish capitalized on a sluggish Logger defense Thursday night to win, 90-64.

Polson will head into Divisionals seeded second while Libby will play Whitefish tomorrow in Kalispell for a chance at the Northwestern A championship.

When Libby played Whitefish last week, Logger coach Wally Winslow said they gambled late in the game defensively and made too many mistakes.

"We were in it with three minutes left in the fourth quarter," he said. "We were down 10 and had the ball, but then turned it over and they scored.

Colt Idol was a big thorn in Libby's side, who scored a career-high of 39 points - six of them from the 3-point range, 7-for-8 from the foul line.

"We started pressing, but we fouled too much," Winslow added. "Our intentions were good, but our execution wasn't as a good."

Conner Benson contributed 12 points, while Joel Fuller added 11 for Libby.

Fuller said that paying attention to the smaller details has helped the team improve overall, but they still need to focus on defense against Whitefish.

"We need to play better defense than last time," said Fuller, mentioning Bulldogs Idol and Shawn Watterud.

"We need to stop (Idol) from penetrating and guard him on the outside, and there's another pointer - Watterud."

Mee, who led in points for the Loggers against both Whitefish and Polson with 24 and 26 points respectively, also thought defense would be key in advancing in Divisionals.

"If we play solid defense and take care of the ball, we have just as good a shot as anyone in winning the tournament."

Mee added they played against Polson OK, but "didn't finish coming down the stretch."

Despite their loss against Polson Saturday night, Winslow was pleased with the Logger effort.

"We did things pretty well," he said. "But there were a few possesions that got away from us.

"When you play a team like Polson, who is very precise, you can't turn it over or not get a shot - especially late in the game. They did a really good job," he added.

Zack Rowan contributed 12 points against Polson, with Fuller adding seven.

Bryan Cooper said Libby played as a team more against Polson.

"We played well after coming back from Whitefish, but we came up short."

Libby, seeded fifth, plays Whitefish at 4 p.m. in Glacier High School in Kalispell tomorrow.

Winslow said that they will have to keep the scoring to a slower tempo - the mid 50s or low 60s.

"Whitefish was the one that got away from us," he said. "Our defense wasn't good, so we need to make adjustments. It's very doable."