Boys win one, lose one
The Bulldogs' David FauntLeRoy shoots for two during the game against the Columbia Falls Wildcats on Friday. Chris Tucker / Whitefish Pilot
By CHRIS TUCKER - Whitefish Pilot
Whitefish split two games this week, defeating the Eureka Lions (12-3, 8-3) by 10 points, 46-36, last Thursday, then losing to the Columbia Falls Wildcats (12-4, 9-1) by 52-77 on Friday.
The Bulldogs now stand at 6-10 (5-5).
"We played a terrific ball game up in Eureka," coach Julio Delgado said of the Eureka game. "We out rebounded them, we were more physical than they were. We just played a great ball game."
The Bulldogs scored 10 unanswered points in the first quarter. Aaron Tkachyk, Byron Whitcomb and Colt Idol each made three-pointers, and David FauntLeRoy made one of two free-throws.
Eureka woke up in the second quarter, making 16 baskets to Whitefish's 18 and keeping play competitive for the rest of the game.
Against Columbia Falls, Whitefish kept pace with the Wildcats for the first quarter before the Cats sprinted ahead the rest of the game for the win.
"It was completely the opposite from Eureka when we played Columbia Falls here," Delgado said.
The loss ended Whitefish's six-game Class A winning streak.
"That was disappointing because we had a huge crowd finally," Delgado said. "We got our people back, our fans came back, and we just didn't play the type of ball game that we were looking for."
Idol scored 15 points, and teammates Jamie Clogg and Tkachyk scored 12 and 7.
"Columbia Falls out rebounded us, they out shot us, we didn't play as good a defense," Delgado said. "They basically had too many weapons for us this time around. But we're looking forward to a re-match with them."
Next up, the Bulldogs play two conference home games against Ronan (7-8, 3-5) on Friday and against the winless Bigfork Vikings (0-14, 0-10) on Saturday.
Earlier in the season, the Bulldogs defeated Ronan 63-45.
Whitefish 10 18 6 12 — 46
Eureka 0 16 5 15 — 36
EUREKA (12-3, 8-3) — Clete Deshazer 2 1-1 5, Zach Richter 1 1-3 3, Tony Boka 2 1-2 6, Danny Cameron 2 1-2 7, John Davis 1 0-2 2, Spencer Sartori 1 0-0 2, Isiah Linnell 4 2-4 11. Totals 13 6-14 36.
WHITEFISH (6-10, 5-5) — Aaron Tkachyk 4 2-4 11, Luke Fennelly 0 3-4 3, Byron Whitcomb 2 0-0 5, Colt Idol 3 4-4 11, Jamie Clogg 3 4-5 10, David FauntLeRoy 2 2-5 6. Totals 14 15-22 46.
Whitefish 13 10 19 10 — 52
Columbia Falls 12 20 28 17 — 77
WHITEFISH (6-10, 5-5) — Kenny Overcast 0 0-2 0, Aaron Tkachyk 4 2-4 11, Luke Fennelly 1 0-1 2, Marc Hotzfield 1 0-0 3, Colt Idol 6 2-3 15, Jamie Clogg 6 0-1 12, Jake Smith 2 2-2 6, Dane Sjoden 0 0-1 0, David FauntLeRoy 2 1-2 5. Totals 20 10-18 52.
COLUMBIA FALLS (12-4, 9-1) — Chase Fairbank 3 3-4 10, Jared Jimmerson 1 0-0 2, Kyle Jangula 0 1-2 1, Dustin Gibson 3 3-4 9, Zane Ridings 1 0-0 2, Karsten Peterson 6 5-5 17, Bobby Pearce 3 0-0 8, Mackey Nolan 0 0-3 0, Michael Taylor 3 0-0 7, Chase Grilley 3 3-4 11, Grant Getts 4 1-2 10. Totals 27 16-24 77.