Libby boys fall 1 win short of state playoffs

The Western News

Over the course of the season, the Libby High School boys basketball team raised a few eyebrows.

The Loggers didn’t get much respect in the preseason coaches’ poll but put together a good run in the Northwestern A to take the No. 2 seed into last week’s divisional tournament.

But Libby couldn’t translate that success during the regular season into the same results in the battle to earn a state playoff berth. The Loggers fell to Polson Friday in the semifinals and then ended up fourth on Saturday after a win over Ronan and loss to Whitefish – the tourney’s No. 1 seed that was also upset in the semifinals.

“Any time  you don’t make the state tournament, it’s disappointing,” Libby coach Wally Winslow said. “However, that’s where the disappointment ended. I thought they did a lot of really good things and played competitive basketball. There were times when we didn’t make a play at the right time and that basically cost us the Polson game.”

Libby had defeated Polson twice during the regular season but Pirates junior Tim Rausch sank a pair of free throws with 19 seconds left and Libby missed out on several opportunities in the final seconds in a 35-34 loss.

“What can I say, you hold them to 34 points, and that’s a good basketball team,” Polson coach Karl Tait said. “We just made the shots, made the plays that we needed just enough to win.”

Libby went 1-for-9 from the free-throw line and missed on the front end of three 1-and-1 opportunities in the last two minutes. The Loggers also missed three layups in the last couple of minutes.

The Logger offense was cold from the start, missing its first nine shots from the floor.

“It was a struggle to get the ball in the hole,” Winslow said. “We shot way too many 3s (at the start), which is OK when they’re going in, but they weren’t, so then we had to switch gears.”

Still, Polson didn’t burn up the nets either and managed just 16 points in the first half. The two teams then fought all the way to the end with the Pirates escaping with the win.

“Sometimes it goes in, sometimes it doesn’t,” Winslow said. “In a situation like that, a low-scoring game, you gotta take advantage of your opportunities.”

The most Libby led by was five during the third quarter, but Craig Bagnell drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer to make it 29-27 heading into the final eight minutes.

Polson cut the lead to one with a minute left after Bagnell hit a mid-range jumper. Polson grabbed two separate rebounds off Libby missed free throws and the ball eventually landed in Rausch’s hands for the game-winning free throws.

“It’s a semifinal basketball game, you have to make plays,” Winslow said. “I’m very happy with our effort, they worked very hard, they defended really well, but sometimes you just have to hit the shots at the right time.”

Conner Benson had a game-high 13 points and Joel Fuller netted eight for Libby.

The following morning, the Loggers had to re-group to take care of business against Ronan. The Loggers scored 20 points in the opening quarter and played well enough the rest of the way to down the Chiefs (11-9), 59-53.

“I thought it was a great show of character to come out Saturday morning and play with energy,” Winslow said. “That was a testament to the kids.”

Benson hit five 3-pointers and scored a game-high 21 points to lead the Loggers. Fuller added 14 points and Alex Cislo had 12.

The victory advanced Libby into the third-place game against Whitefish – a matchup that if seedings had held up would’ve occurred in the championship. The Bulldogs hit well from the free-throw line to earn a 56-48 victory and keep their hopes alive for a state playoff spot.

Under tournament rules, Whitefish was eligible for a challenge game against Polson, the team that lost to Columbia Falls in the championship game on Saturday. Whitefish beat Polson, 45-41, on Monday to advance.

In the win over Libby, the Bulldogs made 9-of-11 from the foul line in the fourth quarter to secure the win. Colt Idol scored 14 to lead the Bulldogs. Teammate Josh Backer scored seven in the fourth.

The Loggers’ Benson led all scorers with 18.

Libby’s season ended with an overall record of 14-7.

(Dillon Tabish of the Daily Inter Lake in Kalispell contributed to this story).

Northwestern A

Boys Tournament

Feb. 26-March 2 at Kalispell

Thursday’s Scores

Columbia Falls 69, Ronan 47

Polson 50, Bigfork 43

Friday’s Scores

Columbia Falls 58, Whitefish 53

Polson 35, Libby 34

Saturday’s Scores

Libby 59, Ronan 53

Whitefish 78, Bigfork 53

Third-Place Game

Whitefish 56, Libby 48

Championship Game

Columbia Falls 64, Polson 45

Monday’s Score

Challenge Game

Whitefish 45, Polson 41

Pirates 35, Loggers 34

Friday at Kalispell

Polson (35)

C. Bagnell 2 0-0 5, K. Bagnell 3 0-1 7, Michel 2, Rausch 2 4-4 8, Mohr 4 0-0 9, Kelley 1 2-2 4. Totals 13 6-7 35.

Libby (34)

Maloney 1 0-0 2, Benson 6 0-1 13, May 0 0-2 0, Fuller 3 0-0 8, Cannon 2 0-0 6, Cislo 2 1-6 5. Totals 14 1-9 34.

Three-pointers–Polson 3 (C. Bagnell, K. Bagnell, Mohr), Libby 5 (Cannon 3, Fuller 2, Benson). Total fouls–Polson 14, Libby 11. Fouled out–None.

Loggers 59, Chiefs 53

Friday at Kalispell

Ronan (53)

Fisher 6 3-4 15, Cordier 2 3-4 9, Sorrell 1 0-0 3, Harris 3 3-4 10, Ness 2 0-0 4, Hendrickx 5 2-3 12. Totals 19 11-15 53.

Libby (59)

Benson 7 2-2 21, May 2 2-4 6, Fuller 3 7-9 14, Cannon 2 0-0 6, Cislo 5 2-7 12. Totals 19 13-22 59.

Three-pointers–Ronan 4 (Cordier 2, Harris 1, Sorrell 1), Libby 8 (Benson 5, Cannon 2, Fuller 1). Total fouls–Ronan 16, Libby 12. Fouled out–None.

Bulldogs 56, Loggers 48

Saturday at Kalispell

Whitefish (56)

Whitehead 2 3-4 7, Tkaychk 3 4-4 10, Roche 1 1-2 3, Backer 2 3-4 7, Hotzfield 1 0-0 2, Silkier 0 1-2 1, Idol 4 5-5 14, FauntLeRoy 5 2-2 12. Totals 18 19-23 56.

Libby (48)

Maloney 0 0-2 0, Benson 7 2-2 18, May 4 0-1 8, Fuller 4 1-3 9, Cannon 1 0-0 2, Cislo 4 0-0 8, Broden 1 1-2 3. Totals 21 4-10 48.

Three-pointers–Whitefish 1 (Idol), Libby 2 (Benson 2). Total fouls–Whitefish 11, Libby 19. Fouled out–Cislo.