Loggers knock off Whitefish, 46-45

So much for flying under the radar.

Following a thrilling 46-45 victory over Whitefish on Saturday night, the Libby High School boys basketball team established itself as a legitimate contender in the Northwestern A. For those who place any value in preseason polls, the coaches voted Whitefish as the favorite to take the conference this season while Libby was voted fifth.

“We haven’t proven anything yet,” LHS coach Wally Winslow said. “We want to get better, that’s the goal.”

True, it was the Loggers’ opener in the conference and they have a long way to go. But responding from a seven-point deficit late in the third quarter to defeat an exceptional opponent builds confidence. On top of that, Libby is getting a battle-tested idea of its strengths – one of which seems to revolve around a blue-collar approach to the game.

“The work ethic is phenomenal,” Winslow said. “The kids have bought into the fact that the harder you work, the better you do and they believe it. They really like to scrap. It looked like a rugby match out there on a couple of plays.”

The two teams battled hoop for hoop through the first half and went into the locker room tied at 23. That theme held true through the first 3 minutes of the third quarter before Whitefish started to pull away. All of a sudden, the Loggers went cold while the Bulldogs put together a 6-0 run for a 36-29 lead.

“The thing the kids are doing is they’re not playing cheap,” Winslow said. “They’re just playing aggressive and they think when there’s a free ball, they should get in there and get it. That’s good work ethic.”

Libby broke a scoring drought of 4:20 on a hoop by Alex Cislo with 33 seconds left in the third. Then in the closing seconds, Joel Fuller came away with a steal and layup to head into the fourth with momentum.

In the fourth, the Loggers continued their roll with a 3-pointer by Conner Benson to tie the score. Then Fuller scored for the lead on an entertaining finger-roll bucket. Meanwhile, the defense held Whitefish scoreless for 4:14 of clock time.

The Bulldogs finally scored and regained the lead, 39-38. One minute later, Libby got going again when Fuller drew a foul and sank a pair of free throws. Cislo then scored on an exceptional assist from Colton Cannon. And Cannon scored himself for a 44-39 advantage with 2:27 remaining.

Whitefish fought back to within two points with 29 seconds left but an intentional foul on Bulldogs junior Willie Roche hurt their effort. Cannon hit a free throw for a 45-42 lead with 7 seconds left and then Libby got the ball out of bounds. With 4 ticks on the clock, Whitefish fouled Benson and he hit another free throw for a 46-42 lead.

The Loggers let the Bulldogs run down the floor unchallenged in the final seconds and Aaron Tkaychk nailed a 3-pointer at the buzzer but it didn’t matter.

“Whitefish has a real good club. Down at the Tip-Off Tournament, they did some very, very good things,” Winslow said.

The Loggers have shown their strengths so far this season to be quickness and speed but Cislo’s development low has proven to be a plus.

“That was our unknown quality at the start of the season,” Winslow said. “We didn’t realize how much he could help us. … He listens to what you tell him and tries to implement that.”

The 6-foot-4 Cislo finished the game with 10 rebounds.

Offensively, Benson led the Loggers with 13 points. Fuller and Cannon each added 10. As a team, the Loggers held Whitefish to just 31.4-percent shooting from the field.

The Loggers dominated Class B Eureka on Friday in a 60-16 victory.

Libby shot out to a 23-4 lead through the first 8 minutes to immediately knock the wind out of the winless Lions.

“Eureka’s really young and they had a hard time handling our quickness,” Winslow said.

Benson single-handedly outscored Eureka with 22 points. Fuller threw in a dozen and T.J. Benson added 10 for the Loggers.

Marcus Pluid scored 12 of his team’s 16 points.

It Was Over When …

Whitefish’s Willie Roche was tagged with an intentional foul with 7.6 seconds left. Libby’s Colton Cannon sank 1-of-2 free throws and then the Loggers got the ball right back. Conner Benson was then fouled and he made another free throw for a 46-42 lead.

Game Ball

Libby sophomore Alex Cislo came off the bench to grab 10 rebounds and score eight points.

Stat of the Game

The Loggers held Whitefish scoreless for 4:14 of game clock time to erase a seven-point deficit and take the lead. The Loggers continued their momentum down the stretch to secure victory.

Loggers 46, Bulldogs 45

Saturday at Libby

Whitefish (45)

Tkaychk 4 0-0 10, Roche 1 0-0 3, Hotzfield 2 0-0 5, Idol 7 6-8 20, FauntLeRoy 2 1-1 5, Whitehead 0 0-0 0, Silliker 0 2-2 2. Totals 16 9-11 45.

Libby (46)

C. Benson 5 2-4 13, T.J. Benson 2 0-0 4, May 0 1-2 1, Fuller 4 2-4 10, Cannon 4 1-2 10, Cislo 4 0-0 8, Maloney 0 0-0 0, Nelson 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 6-12 46.

Three-Pointers–Whitefish 4 (Tkaychk 2, Roche, Hotzfield), Libby 2 (C. Benson, Cannon). Rebounds–Whitefish 31 (Hotzfield 8), Libby 38 (Cislo 10). Assists–Whitefish 7 (Roche 3), Libby 10 (Fuller 3). Total Fouls–Whitefish 13, Libby 12. Technical Fouls–Libby (book error), Roche.

Loggers 60, Lions 16

Friday at Eureka

Libby (60)

C. Benson 22, T.J. Benson 10, May 2, Nelson 3, Fuller 12, Cannon 7, Cislo 2, Craig 2.

Eureka (16)

Pluid 12, Holder 4.