Loggers boys, girls defeat Trojans in local rivalry

Libby High (1-4) swept a Lincoln County showdown with Troy (2-3) Saturday night with both boys and girls teams winning basketball games.

The boys’ game was a tale of two halves. Both teams earned multiple leads in the first quarter. A Michael Curtiss rebound and kick-out to Jared Winslow for three made it 7-3 Libby. Troy responded with baskets from three different players to claim a 9-7 lead with 50 seconds remaining. Winslow closed the first frame with a fading, rhythm three-pointer that swished the net as time expired, giving Libby a 10-9 lead. The reigning All-State guard made the shot over Trojan Luke Haggerty’s outstretched arm. Winslow celebrated the shot with a fist pump and tapped Haggerty’s rear on the far walk to the away bench. The celebration was the first of several displays of emotion in what was a physical, chatty competition between two young men who are teammates on the baseball diamond.   

The momentum carried into the second quarter, which Libby won 21-7. Winslow scored nine of his game-high 27 points and 6-foot-4 freshman Erik Lauer scored two layups in the final minute to give Libby a 31-16 lead at half.

Despite the wide margin, Libby Coach Wally Winslow implored his team to prepare for a different Troy team in the second half.

“It’s a game of runs,” Coach Winslow said. “Every year this is a good game. You knew they were going to make a run.”

The Trojans won the third quarter 11-10 and were down 44-27 with 6:24 remaining after Jared Winslow converted a three-pointer. It was his last bucket of the night.

With sophomore post Sean Opland and senior guard Gabe Hickman on the bench with foul trouble, the Trojans looked doomed. With 6:08 to go, senior Nathan Olds made a three for Troy. Then Haggerty stripped Winslow and Olds made a layup. With four minutes left, Libby turned it over on a five-second inbound calling. At this point, the Trojan half of the capacity, evenly-partisan crowd was roaring.

The deficit down to seven with 2:43 remaining, Winslow was on the verge of putting the game on ice with a driving layup after blowing by Haggerty. As the ball rolled from Winslow’s fingertips, Trojan senior Bruce Metz elevated for an authoritative rejection. One minute later, Haggerty barked at Winslow after his junk-yard dog defense pressured the Libby guard out of bounds.

A comeback within reach, the Troy offense would stall and Ryan Huffman’s buzzer-beating three-pointer went for naught. Troy lost, 47-45.

“We just didn’t play well at all,” Troy Coach Cory Andersen said. “Libby played good defense,  and we were lackadaisical from the start.”

 Troy’s Gage Tallmadge led his team with 16 points. As a team, the Trojans missed numerous uncontested shots and finished 6-17 from the free-throw line. Opland led the Trojans in frustration, scoring three points despite several good looks.

“Opland is so athletic and strong,” Coach Winslow said. “Keeping him off block was a goal. We have to block him out. He thinks the ball belongs to him when he is rebounding. We talked about keeping him blocked out before the start of game”

While Jared Winslow carried the load offensively, his father and coach singled out senior post Quinn Sullivan, who did not score a point, for his outstanding post defense.

“He grabbed nine rebounds and is relishing the role of a great defender and rebounder,” Coach Winslow said. “His impact in winning the game was immeasurable.”

Before the boys took the court, the Lady Loggers (2-3) dominated the Lady Trojans (1-4), 43-13. Libby jumped to a 12-1 lead in the first quarter thanks to pressure defense and success in transition. At halftime, the Lady Loggers led 18-4. Junior wing Shyla Stevenson scored six points in the first half. Her tenacious defense on Troy’s Kellie Lundin completely disarmed the Lady Trojan attack.

“Defensively, we made it difficult for them to score,” Libby Coach Jim May said. “We did struggle with half-court offense, though.”

A spinning Lundin layup with nine seconds remaining in the third quarter made it 33-11. Libby ended the game on a 10-2 run.

“We knew it was going to be tough,” Troy Coach Justin Young said. “We have girls like (Olivia) Roach, (Sami) Rohrich and (Hailey) Peterson who should be JV players. But without the numbers they are playing very hard in a difficult role. I am proud of their effort.”

Stevenson led Libby with 12 points, 10 rebounds and four assists. Taylor Quinn and Dayln Germany both scored 11 for Libby. Caitlin Johnston led Troy with five points. The Lady Loggers forced 31 turnovers.

In earlier action:

Flathead 54, Libby 33: At Flathead, the Loggers struggled against a bigger, older team.

“I believe that was the game we grew the most as a team,” Coach Winslow said while reflecting on his team’s Friday loss to Flathead (3-3). “It was a mental step forward, and we got over the block of playing on our heels.”

Winslow led the Loggers with 17 points, eight rebounds, four steals and three assists.

“The fact that we stepped up and competed every quarter was a big step for us,” Coach Winslow said.

Adam Bradley led Flathead with 14 points.

Flathead 66, Libby 25: At Flathead, no Lady Logger scored higher than six points Friday in a tough game against Flathead (3-3).

“The girls really battled and played strong throughout,” Coach May said. “(Flathead) is an aggressive, athletic, deep team.”

Libby was only down 7-6 midway through the first quarter when trouble with a Flathead press led to a 10-0 run for the home team. Jenessa Heine led Flathead in scoring with 17 points.

“We had a hard time finishing scoring opportunities,” May said.

Troy 46, Thompson Falls 42: At Thompson Falls, the Trojans made key shots down the stretch and held on for a District 7-B win. Hickman scored 11 of his 17 points in the second quarter and the Trojans won the fourth quarter 13-8 to claim the victory.

“Bruce (Metz) and Sean (Opland) did a great job for us on interior defense,” Coach Andersen said. “Good defense led to points for us.”

Tallmadge scored 10 points and Metz scored nine. Tanner Laws led Thompson Falls with 12 points.

Thompson Falls 55, Troy 24: At Thompson Falls, the Lady Trojans ran into a familiar situation.

“We are getting off to really slow starts,” Coach Young said. “We learned we need to work on handling pressure and up-tempo basketball.”

Caitlin Johnston led the Lady Trojans with 11 points. Kellie Lundin added seven. Thompson Falls’ Logan Beckman led all players with 17 points. The score was 34-11 before both teams erupted for a 21-13 final frame.