Logger boys fall to Whitefish in low-scoring battle

In the tight Northwestern A, every game

counts.

Unbeaten Columbia Falls has a solid

hold on first place but Polson, Libby and Whitefish find themselves

in a battle for second. A key game in the conference unfolded on

Saturday night in Libby with Whitefish taking a 42-31 victory.

“They took advantage of their

opportunities and made us turn it over at inopportune times,” Libby

High School boys basketball coach Wally Winslow said. “Free throws

have been a bug-a-boo for us all year and it didn’t help us again

tonight.”

To make things even tougher, the rest

of Libby’s conference schedule features all road games with trips

to Columbia Falls, Ronan, Polson and Whitefish.

“We’re all right … there are some

things we need to work on but it will be a good stretch run for

everybody,” Winslow said. “It’ll be a battle. There are four games

for everybody.”

Against the Bulldogs, Libby struggled

at the free-throw line and with long-range shooting. Whitefish had

an 11-4 advantage at the foul line and hit five three-pointers

compared to just one for the Loggers.

Winslow blamed himself for the

loss.

“I told the kids that after the game –

that one’s on the coach, that’s not theirs, that’s mine,” Winslow

said. “I didn’t have them doing the things that they needed to do.

I didn’t have them practicing against the right things this

week.”

Winslow said he wasn’t able to

counterattack the Bulldogs’ game plan.

“We’ll play them at least one more time

and we’ll do some things differently,” he said. “The kids worked

hard and tried to do what I asked them to do and unfortunately I

don’t think it was the right thing all the time.”

Libby played well in the early going

with a lead of 4-0 over the first 2-1/2 minutes. James Hare scored

inside and Kelly May got a steal and layup for the quick lead. By

the end of the quarter, the Loggers’ lead was 10-8. May hit a

three-pointer and Dan Webster scored on an offensive rebound with 6

seconds left in the quarter.

Whitefish slowed down the Libby attack

in the second quarter. Hare scored off an in-bounds pass and Alex

Cislo later hit with an assist from Cree Maloney. Libby tied the

game, 16-16, on a Maloney jumpshot with 21 seconds left in the

half.

Back-to-back three-pointers by Mac

Roche boosted Whitefish early in the third quarter. The Loggers

rallied to regain the lead, 23-22, with Hare scoring in the lane

and Garrett Craig completing a three-point play. The Bulldogs

finished the quarter strong, however, and took a 30-25 advantage

into the fourth.

Whitefish’s Cooper Olson buried a

three-pointer with 5:45 remaining for a seven-point lead. Libby’s

Maloney weaved through traffic to score a short time later but the

Bulldogs had an answer. Olson scored on a layup following a Logger

turnover and Gage Vasquez hit a pair of free throws for a 37-28

lead with 3:03 left.

Libby got back to within six on a

Maloney free throw and Reese Jensen jumpshot. But time ran short

and Whitefish hit five free throws in the final 1:02 to secure the

victory.

Libby shot 35.1 percent from the field

and 44.4 percent from the free-throw line. Whitefish shot 33.3

percent from the field and 68.8 percent from the foul line.

Maloney finished with a team-high nine

points for the Loggers. Craig had a game-high eight rebounds.

The Loggers (2-2, 7-6) play at Columbia

Falls on Friday and at Ronan on Saturday. Earlier this season,

Libby lost to C. Falls by 17 points and beat Ronan by two

points.