Bulldogs move into first-place tie with wins

There is a new threat in Northwestern Class A boys basketball.

The Whitefish Bulldogs surged into a tie for first place in the conference with a dominating 58-36 win over Libby on Saturday night.

The Loggers, who were ranked No. 5 in the state coming into the game, were completely out matched by the ‘Dogs (5-2 league, 9-4 overall) from the second quarter on. In that frame, Whitefish outscored Libby 17-4.

Libby beat Whitefish by a point earlier in the year after rallying late, but the Bulldogs didn’t let their lead evaporate this time, scoring 23 points in the third quarter to Libby’s 10. It was the seventh victory in a row for the red-hot Bulldogs.

“It feels really nice — the exhilaration of victory,” senior David FauntLeRoy said. “Our team chemistry has always been there, and that’s what helped pull us through the adversity (early in the year).”

It was the defense that finally came alive for Whitefish, which in turn seemed to spark the offense. The Bulldogs forced turnovers and wouldn’t let the Loggers inside or take free shots from beyond the arc.

“The second half against Libby was the best we’ve played all year defensive-wise,” FauntLeRoy said. “We did a much better job this time of limiting their extra possessions. Last time we played them, we got a lot of offensive boards, but we only converted two of them. The key is teamwork. It took us several games for us to buy into that, but now we go out there as one unit.”

Colt Idol led all scorers with 23 points. Marc Hotzfield led the team with seven rebounds, and Matt Whitehead had seven steals and six assists. FauntLeRoy had four points.

On Friday, the Bulldogs took down Ronan on the road 62-50. They jumped out to a 16-11 lead in the first quarter and never relinquished the lead.

Matt Whitehead finished with five steals and nine points, Aaron Tkachyk had 11 points, and Josh Backer had five rebounds. Idol had a monster game with 25 points, six rebounds and four steals.

Whitefish has two non-conference games this week — at Eureka away on Thursday and Frenchtown at home on Saturday.

“It’s a break from our conference,” FauntLeRoy said. “We’re just looking to get two more solid victories before the final stretch and the divisional tournament.”

Libby       10  4  10  12   - 36

Whitefish  7  17  23  11  - 58

LIBBY — Conner Benson 2, Joel Fuller 14, Colton Cannon 8, Nate Broden 4, Alex Cislo 8.

WHITEFISH — Matt Whitehead 8, Aaron Tkachyk 6, Willie Roche 2, Josh Backer 6, Marc Hotzfield 5, Connor Silliker 4, Colt Idol 23, David FauntLeRoy 4.

Whitefish  16 15 14 17  - 62

Ronan       11 13 13 13  - 50

WHITEFISH — Matt Whitehead 9, Aaron Tkachyk 11, Willie Roche 4, Josh Backer 6, Marc Hotzfield 4, Connor Silliker 1, Colt Idol 25, David FauntLeRoy 2.

RONAN — Jarod Tanner 2, Mike Fisher 4, Dallas Cordier 8, Justin Dustybull 5, Eddie Ness 10, Nolan Harris 16, Kyle Hendrickx 5.