Loggers fall at the buzzer at home; girls hit stride

A buzzer-beating three-pointer by Polson freshman Tanner Wilson sunk Libby’s upset bid on Saturday’s Senior Night. The Loggers (0-7, 1-16) entered the fourth quarter with a 44-37 lead and looked as though they would escape with a narrow home victory before Wilson’s fateful shot. Polson (2-4, 4-12) won, 50-49.

“I told the kids they played a great game,” Libby Coach Wally Winslow said. “Polson beat us by 30 down there. It was a dramatic improvement and they should be awful proud of their effort.”

Senior All-State guard Jared Winslow led all scorers with 18 points in his final home game. Fellow senior Quinn Sullivan, a defensive stalwart, scored four points.

“The seniors played very well, they did an excellent job,” Coach Winslow said. “We put ourselves in a position to win and things didn’t go the way we wanted down the stretch. There was a lot of fun going on out there. We were making plays and followed the game plan to a tee. We started running some clock to milk the lead a little, which is OK, but when you change the tempo of the game mistakes become magnified.”

Andrew Weltz led Polson with 17 points. Wilson finished with 11 points, including three three-pointers.

The Loggers close their regular season Friday when they travel to Columbia Falls for a 7 p.m. tip.

“We need that game to be in the high 40s or low 50s,” Coach Winslow said. “They have a lot of depth and will try to wear us down.”

LIBBY: 17 10 17 5 —49

POLSON: 17 9 11 13 — 50

Eureka 56, Libby 48: At Eureka, the Loggers let a 35-32 fourth-quarter lead slip away Thursday to the deeper Lions.

Winslow led all scorers with 21 points. Juniors Michael Curtiss and Collin Johnson scored 13 and 10 points, respectively.

“Eureka has a good club,” Coach Winslow said. “They executed well. We’re letting leads get away from us. We have to take care of the details at the end.”

Freshman point guard Chase Bohne led Eureka with 13 points.

“The thing about him is he is fearless,” Coach Winslow said of Bohne. “He’s already good and he’s going to get nothing but better. He understands the game and knows where to get the ball.”

LIBBY: 12 9 14 13— 48

EUREKA: 11 14 7 24 —  56

Libby 32, Polson 27: At Libby, the Lady Loggers (4-3, 7-10) earned themselves a winning streak Saturday on Senior Night against Polson (1-5, 2-14).

“We controlled the game most of the way,” Libby Coach Jim May said. “We had the lead and got a little nervous, but we staved them off and were able to keep the lead.”

Taylor Quinn and Devon Gallagher led Libby with eight points each. Skyla Krantz and Lauren Lefthand led Polson with six points each.

Junior Dayln Germany returned to the court after pulling a leg muscle. May said he believes his starting wing will be healthy for future action.

The win secured the Lady Loggers the third seed in the Northwestern A playoffs.

The Lady Loggers wrap their regular season schedule with a 4 p.m. tip in Columbia Falls.

LIBBY: 10 6 9 7—32

POLSON: 2 7 7 11— 27

Libby 52, Eureka 44: At Libby, the Lady Loggers won a wild one.

Despite being outscored 16-4 from the charity stripe, the Lady Loggers triumphed behind the scoring efforts of seven players.

“We got into foul trouble probably more than we have all year,” May said. “We were pretty overly aggressive with our hands.”

Shyla Stevenson led all scorers with 12 points. Gallagher and Quinn scored 11 and 10 points, respectively. Amanda Peterson led all scorers with 18 points.

“It was a survival thing winning that game,” May said. “It’s cool having three in double figures.”

LIBBY: 12 12 14 14—52

EUREKA: 6 11 14 13—44