Libby boys now 2-1 in region

The Western News

The Libby High School boys basketball team stumbled on Thursday night at Columbia Falls but rebounded on Saturday to post a home victory over Ronan to remain in the thick of things in the Northwestern A.

The Loggers hit a wall over the second and third quarters during a 57-34 loss to the Wildcats. Columbia Falls outscored Libby, 25-6, over that 16-minute stretch. The Loggers managed just two points in the second quarter.

“They applied pressure on us and we didn’t handle it,” Libby coach Wally Winslow said. “We didn’t make very good choices. The effort was OK but we didn’t execute the things we’d been practicing. As the pressure and intensity went up, our execution went down.”

The Wildcats came at the Loggers with a balanced attack and had 10 players in the scoring column. Grant Getts led Columbia Falls with 11 points.

T.J. Benson scored 11 for the Loggers.

After a day off, Libby came back on Saturday to defeat Ronan, 57-44. With the victory, the Loggers improved to 2-1 in the conference.

“We made them do some things that they were not comfortable with,” Winslow said. “We played a little bit of man pressure and that resulted in turnovers for them and that helped.”

Libby frustrated the visitors by switching a few things in its man-to-man. The Chiefs led 16-13 after the first quarter but then scored just 11 points over the second and third quarters. Meanwhile, the Loggers built a 33-27 lead heading into the fourth.

“At the start of the fourth quarter, we were kind of flat and we went to a full man and got busy … that helped,” Winslow said.

Libby put up 24 points over those final 8 minutes for the double-digit victory.

Conner Benson threw in 18 and Joel Fuller added 14 for the Loggers. Colton Cannon and Kelly May added nine and eight points, respectively.

Mike Fisher and Nolan Harris each had 10 for the Chiefs.

Wildcats 54, Loggers 34

Thursday at Columbia Falls

Libby (1-1, 4-2)    11    2    4    17—34

C. Falls (1-0, 4-2)    16    13    12    16—57

Libby (34)

C. Benson 9, T.J. Benson 10, Fuller 5, Cannon 3, Broden 1, Cislo 6.

Columbia Falls (57)

Howell 2, Barth 6, Begay 6, Emerson 2, Nolan 9, Robbins 5, Barth 2, Wassam 6, Getts 11, Williams 8.

Loggers 57, Chiefs 44

Saturday at Libby

Ronan (0-2, 4-3)    16    6    5    17—44

Libby (2-1, 5-2)    13    11    9    24—57

Ronan (44)

Fisher 10, Cordier 5, Dustybull 1, Ness 3, Harris 10, Sorrell 3, Hendrickx 8, Piegan 4.

Libby (57)

C. Benson 18, T.J. Benson 4, Fuller 14, Cannon 9, Cislo 4, May 8.