Bulldogs finish season in third place
By CHRIS TUCKER, Whitefish Pilot
Whitefish finished third for regular season play with a 65-63 win over Ronan on Friday and a 54-43 win over Bigfork on Saturday, putting the Dawg's record at 8-10 (7-5).
Columbia Falls finished first in conference play, and Eureka placed second. Divisionals will take place Feb. 22-25 at the Whitefish High School gym.
"Those were two huge ball games for us," coach Julio Delgado said of the two recent wins. "That gives us a good seeding for the tournament. That gets us away from having to play Columbia Falls. If we're so fortunate to win the first two ball games, we're going to get a third crack at Columbia Falls hopefully in the championship. That's a good route to go for us."
The Bulldogs led by six points at the end of the first quarter of the game against Ronan, trailed by five at the half and led again at the end of the third by just two points.
With 2:52 left In the fourth and the score tied at 55, Colt Idol added two more points for the Bulldogs, putting Whitefish ahead.
On offense, the Bulldogs slowed the game down and passed the ball around to each other, frustrating the tough Ronan team. Shawn Watterud was fouled by Ronan and sank both shots at the line to put score at 59-55 with 1:12 left in the game.
After Ronan sank two free throws, Idol scored two points from under the basket and Luke Fennelly made four more free throws and Ronan made one. Whitefish led 65-58 with less than a minute left to play when Ronan's Nolan Harris sank a three-pointer to put the game at 65-61.
Idol shot a two-pointer and then hung onto the rim with 0.7 seconds left in the game, resulting in a technical foul and giving Ronan's Moss Tanner the opportunity to sink two free-throw shots to put the game at 65-63. Ronan had possession of the ball afterward, and Tanner launched a "hail Mary" airball just as the buzzer went off.
"For us to play a real red-hot Ronan team that had won four straight, and for us to win that close, hard-fought game last night, it was huge," Delgado said.
On Saturday, the Bulldogs delivered Bigfork their 16th and final loss.
"I know they haven't won any games this year, but they played everybody tough. They don't ever give up. They're just pesky, they keep coming after you," Delgado said of the Vikings. "They played awfully hard for coach Epperly, and it was a tough ball game, so we couldn't relax any time."
Delgado credited Fennelly for his "steady performance at the point position" and Idol, Tkachyk and Clogg for scoring in double digits.
"We got a team effort, we got balanced scoring, and that's what we've been trying to get all year long," Delgado said. "So we've got some momentum going into the divisional tournament, and that's got to be good for us, and we're looking forward to it."
RONAN 14 20 13 16 — 63
WHITEFISH 20 9 20 16 — 65
Ronan — Moss Tanner 4 7-9 15, Mike Fisher 1 0-0 3, Jordan St. Clair 3 2-2 9, Gene Adams 3 0-0 7, Nolan Harris 4 0-0 12, Cameron Barber 6 5-9 17. Totals 21 14-20 63.
Whitefish — Aaron Tkachyk 7 3-3 18, Luke Fennelly 2 6-6 10, Byron Whitcomb 1 2-2 5, Colt Idol 6 2-3 14, Jamie Clogg 6 0-1 12, Jake Smith 1 0-0 2, David FauntLeRoy 2 0-0 4. Totals 25 13-15 65.
BIGFORK 8 6 8 21 — 43
WHITEFISH 14 8 14 18 — 54
Bigfork — Justin Goode 2 0-2 4, Andrew Whittaker 4 1-4 9, Roland Benedict 3 4-8 11, Brock Boll 3 2-2 9, Jon White 2 1-1 5, Lew Dockstader 1 1-2 3, Kanda Lake 1 0-0 2. Totals 16 9-19 43.
Whitefish — Kenny Overcast 2 2-3 6, Aaron Tkachyk 4 5-10 13, Luke Fennelly 2 1-3 5, Brad Nielsen 0 1-2 1, Byron Whitcomb 1 0-0 3, Colt Idol 4 6-6 14, Jamie Clogg 6 0-0 12. Totals 19 15-20 54.