Boys hit rough patch

The Whitefish boys basketball team fell

to 2-2 overall last week when they lost 62-47 to Class AA Glacier

High School and then 76-54 to conference foe Polson. After a

positive start at the Tip-off tourney one week earlier, the

Bulldogs now head into Christmas break reeling as they look to

rediscover the high-powered offense that escaped them in

consecutive games.

Whitefish faced Glacier High on

Thursday at home. With the Dawg House rocking, the Bulldogs came

out and grabbed an early lead in the opening quarter by dominating

the post. Senior Alex Duroche controlled the boards and scored on a

number of put-back opportunities, while Gage Vasquez and Mac Roche

converted on their open looks.

Whitefish was in the thick of an upset

chance as they rode the wave of scoring into the locker room down

by only two at the half. But Glacier came out of the break on fire

and out scored the Bulldogs 19-7 in the third quarter. They also

locked down on defense and took Vasquez out of his game.

“Glacier came out in the second half

with defensive pressure that caused us to make a lot of mistakes,”

Whitefish coach Mark Casazza said. “We panicked a little bit.”

The game was out of reach midway

through the fourth when both coaches unloaded their benches. Roche

finished the game with 16 points to lead the ‘Dogs. Vasquez had 13,

and Duroche tallied 10.

Whitefish traveled to Polson on

Saturday to face the top-rated Pirates in their first conference

game of the season. The Pirates were every bit as impressive as the

scouting report predicted. They scored 33 points in the first half,

led by seniors Kyle Bagnell and Louis Mohr — both top-10 in scoring

in the league.

More importantly, the Pirates defense

held Whitefish’s big three post players in check. The ‘Dogs tallied

only 13 total points in the half.

“I’ve got to give Polson some credit,”

Casazza said. “We came out extremely flat, we got in a hole, they

smelled blood and sealed the deal against us.

“Mohr is a flat-out player. Polson

doesn’t have a weak link in their starting five, and when

everything was falling for them, we didn’t respond.”

The Bulldogs regrouped in the third and

fourth periods but couldn’t overcome the early deficit. Vasquez led

the team with 13 points, followed by 10 from Chris Forrest. Vasquez

is now third in the league in scoring, averaging 16.5 points a

game.

Casazza says the team needs to regroup

over Christmas break and find a better balance on offense. He noted

that teams will be looking to shut down Vasquez, so there needs to

be alternative offensive outlets.

“We can’t have it so other teams can

just key in on one player,” he said. “I see Mac Roche stepping up

after the break and giving some needed leadership and making his

mark.”

Whitefish plays Frenchtown and Flathead

on Jan. 7-8.