Loggers suffer two league losses

Coach Wally Winslow said the team just ran out of time in the end against Ronan last Saturday in Libby; the Chiefs won, 57-48.

"We missed shots that we normally would make," he said. "Against a team like Ronan, you're not going to be able to make up those missed shots."

In the exciting final 6 minutes of the game, junior Conner Benson stole the ball, making a layup to tie the game at 40 points.

"Bryan Cooper did a good job of scoring the ball inside," said Winslow, adding "we played real hard overall as a team."

But even as the Loggers took the lead with five minutes left, the Chiefs were able to hang on and eventually take control with the help of the leading scorer for Ronan, Nolan Harris, who scored 10 of his 23 points in the last quarter.

"We had a couple bad possessions," Winslow said of the final quarter. "Basically it became a five minute game, and it's hard to make up in that short of time."

"That's what got us in the end," he said.

Winslow said the Ronan defense philosphy was to stick to Senior Jim Mee at all times.

"He had to work hard for what he got," he said.

Mee powered Libby with 21 points.

Senior Zack Rowan scored 10 points, while Benson and Cooper each contributed 8.

In Columbia Falls on Friday, despite a 6-0 run in the third period - coming within 6 points of the Wildcats - the Loggers lost, 59-53.

Mee scored 25 points for Libby, while junior Joel Fuller contributed 11.

So far in the Northwestern A league team standings, the Loggers have one win and two losses under their belt.

Columbia Falls is 3-0, with everyone else having either one or two losses, according to Winslow - except Big Fork, who is 0-3.

"There's a group of us in the middle. Things haven't sorted themselves out yet," he said, calling the league a hodgepodge.