Boys Basketball: Bigfork outlasts Loggers
Paul Sievers/The Western News Kelly May hit a trio of 3-pointers and finished with a double-double by scoring 12 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Alex Cislo also had a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
With no field goals over the final 3-1/2 minutes in a tight game on Tuesday night, the matchup between Libby and Bigfork quickly turned into a free-throw shooting contest.
In fact, the Vikings didn’t sink a single basket through the entire fourth quarter. But the visitors did make 8-of-11 free throws to get out of town with a 43-41 victory.
“We made some mistakes down the stretch,” LHS coach Wally Winslow said about the nonconference game. “We were up by two with a couple of minutes to go and made some silly fouls. It wasn’t a good exchange.”
Libby had rallied from a nine-point first-quarter deficit to put itself in a position to win at the end. The Vikings shot out to leads of 9-2 and 14-5 in the opening quarter behind a strong start from Christian Ker. The Bigfork junior scored his team’s first nine points of the game.
The Loggers settled down in the second quarter and began to match up better while on defense. Libby cut the deficit to 26-22 by halftime.
“We played a little more zone and tried to control the tempo of the game,” Winslow said.
In the third, Libby got to within 29-27 only to see Bigfork go on a 6-0 run. Nate Broden’s bucket right before the buzzer made it 35-29 and seemed to give the Loggers a little life.
Libby opened the fourth by scoring another eight points to complete a 10-0 run. Alex Cislo hit a couple of free throws and a basket to cut the deficit to 35-33. Then following a steal, Libby tied the game on a T.J. Benson shot. And the Loggers took the lead on a driving layup by Colton Cannon with 3:47 left in the game.
Neither team made another basket.
Cannon hit a pair of free throws with 2:15 on the clock to put Libby up, 39-37. But the rest of the way, the Loggers shot only 40 percent at the stripe.
Kelly May’s 3-point attempt with 15 seconds left from the top of the key wouldn’t fall. The Loggers then had one final chance to try to set up for a game-tying 3 but Bigfork fouled with 2.9 seconds on the clock to send Cree Maloney to the free-throw line. He hit the first and purposely missed the second so LHS could go after the offensive rebound and put-back. But Bigfork rebounded and the buzzer sounded to end it.
Cislo played a key role in Libby’s second-half surge with nine of his 12 points. May nailed three 3-pointers and ended up with 12 points as well. Both Cislo and May had a double-double with 12 and 11 rebounds, respectively.
“Alex is a great rebounder … he gets many of his points off offensive rebounds,” Winslow said. “He was in foul trouble tonight and that hurt late in the game. Kelly has shot the ball pretty well the last couple of games.”
Libby’s Benson dished out six assists. And after Bigfork’s Ker scored those first nine points, Libby’s defense adjusted and he added only four more the rest of the game. He still finished as his team’s top scorer with 13.
The Loggers (5-5 overall) head to Class AA Kalispell Glacier on Saturday.
Bigfork 43, Libby 41
Tuesday at Libby
BIGFORK (43)
Richmond 1 4-4 6, Jordt 1 0-0 2, Knoll 3 2-2 9, Ker 4 4-5 13, Evans 3 0-1 8, Carter 1 1-4 4, Lorang 1 0-1 2. Totals 14 11-16 43.
LIBBY (41)
Benson 2 0-0 4, May 4 1-1 12, Cannon 1 2-2 4, Broden 3 2-6 8, Cislo 4 4-9 12, Craig 0 0-0 0, Maloney 0 1-2 1. Totals 14 10-20 41.
Scoring by Quarters:
Bigfork 14 12 9 8—43
Libby 8 14 7 12—41
Three-Pointers–Bigfork 4 (Knoll, Ker, Evans, Sorensen), Libby 3 (May 3). Rebounds–Bigfork 32 (Ker 10), 37 (Cislo 12). Assists–Bigfork 9 (Knoll 2, Ker 2), Libby 12 (Benson 6). Total Fouls–Bigfork 16, Libby 18. Fouled Out—Cislo. Technical Fouls–None.