Bulldogs prevail over Cats in thriller

By DAVID ERICKSON

Whitefish Pilot

The Whitefish boys basketball team is dangerously close to becoming a juggernaut in Northwestern Class A hoops action, having rolled up their 11th straight win with a 61-58 thriller over Columbia Falls on Friday night.

Colt Idol set a new Whitefish High School record as the all-time leading career scorer with 1,369 points, surpassing Steve Kastella’s 38-year-old record (1970-’71) by one point. Idol’s record has a chance to stand for decades, as injuries and modern defenses stand in the way of anyone trying to average 350 points a year for four years.

Idol had 24 points in Friday’s game, sitting out most of the third quarter due to foul trouble. He’s the leading scorer in Northwestern A action, averaging 20.18 points a game. He’s scored 343 for the season, 80 more than his closest competitor.

Valentine’s Day weekend has been good to Idol. Last Feb. 14, Idol set a new single-game scoring record for Whitefish with 39 points against Libby.

The Whitefish boys swept the Wildcats this season, but both games were tight, coming down to the final quarter. The ‘Cats took a 35-31 lead into halftime as they fed off the energy of their always-rowdy hometown crowd.

The ‘Dogs never let the Wildcats pull away, however, and slowly crept back in the second half to tie the game in the third quarter.

Matt Whitehead dropped a pair of big-time three-pointers in the final minutes to give his team momentum on the scoreboard and get the Whitefish crowd going.

Whitefish had a few key steals in the fourth frame to stymie the Wildcat offense, capitalizing on the turnovers and turning them into points.

Josh Backer had seven of his 11 points in the fourth quarter. Aaron Tkachyk finished with eight, and David FauntLeRoy had seven. Whitehead finished with six.

The Bulldogs shot 16-of-18 from the free-throw line and committed only nine turnovers.

Whitefish is still tied for the conference lead with Libby, as both teams sit at 6-2 in Northwestern A.

On Thursday night, the Bulldogs rolled over Bigfork 63-38 to extend their win streak to 10. The Vikings jumped out to a lead in the first quarter but came out with a nasty defense in the second half. Alex Elespuru had six points off the bench, and Tkachyk had 16.

The Whitefish boys play their final regular-season game at home against Ronan on Thursday, Feb. 19 (tonight) before the divisional tournament on Feb. 26-28 at Glacier High School.

The Whitefish vs. Columbia Falls showdown was the best game of last year’s divisional tournament, and it looks like this year will be no different.

Whitefish   14 17 9 21  - 61

C Falls       16 19 6 17  - 58

Whitefish — Matt Whitehead 6, Aaron Tkachyk 8, Willie Roche 3, Josh Backer 11, Connor Silliker 2, Colt Idol 24, David FauntLeRoy 7.

Columbia Falls — Kyle Howell 12, Tanner Barth 8, Matt Triplett 2, Mackey Nolan 11, Austin Robbins 9, Austin Barth 4, Mitchell Wassam 7, Grant Getts 5.