Loggers battle Whitefish, CFalls at divisionals

The Loggers fought to the bitter end - in overtime - against Whitefish during the first round of the Northwestern A Boys' divisional basketball tournament at Glacier High School Thursday night, losing 57-50.

“It was a great game,” said Logger coach, Wally Winslow. “We started slow and we didn't get out of the blocks real well.”

Winslow said that after their loss to Whitefish the week before (90-64), they had resolved to slow the pace against the Bulldogs, but may have a little too much.

“We weren't quite as aggressive as we needed to be,” he said.

The Loggers were behind 22-15 at the end of the first half, but came out strong in the second.

“We upped the tempo, but we didn't shoot the ball really well,” he said, adding “but it was a great battle. They continued to show their resolve and fought back hard.”

And come back they did, with Jim Mee scoring half of his Logger-high 24 points in the fourth quarter.

With a little over three minutes left in regulation, Mee hit a crucial trey, tying the game at 42, following up with two freethrows to give Libby the lead, 44-42.

Bulldog Colt Idol responded with two freethrows, only to be answered by Logger Joel Fuller, who scored 20 seconds later, upping the anty, 46-44.

Another foul allowed Idol to tie the game at 46 with freethrows, and Libby couldn't deliver another basket with 34 seconds left on the clock, sending the game into overtime.

The 6-foot-3 junior guard Idol netted seven points, two rebounds and a steal in the extra 4 minute session, pacing Whitefish with 33 points.

“We made a couple mistakes and let it slip away,” summed up Winslow.

The next morning in the loser-out game against Columbia Falls, the Loggers got off to a sluggish start, resulting in an eventual loss, 65-44.

“We had three starters with three fouls right away, so that really hurt,” said Winslow. “But the younger kids came in and held the ship together for awhile.”

Despite trailing the Wildcats by only two points at the half, the Loggers couldn't seem to bridge the gap.

“The kids competed well, but we got into foul trouble. Columbia Falls is pretty disciplined, so they're not the kind of team that's going to let you get away with mistakes.”

Wildcat Chase Grilley paced Columbia Falls with 19 points, netting 4-for-4 at the charity stripe, while Chase Getts capitalized on 9 of 10 freethrows, scoring 19 points.

Mee led the Loggers with 13 points, while Bryan Cooper and Fuller netted 9 a piece.

Coach Winslow noted one particular turning point in the game.

“In the middle of third quarter we thought we had a steal, but they ended up picking it up and making a basket - then we fouled them. So it went from a four point game to a 10 point game pretty quick.

“But those kinds of things happen sometimes,” he added.

The Loggers finished the season out at 9-11; Columbia Falls challenged Whitefish Monday night at presstime in a challenge match for a ticket to state.