Bulldogs amp up defensive pressure

“Ball pressure! Ball pressure!”

Those two words seemed to be the driving force for Whitefish’s boys basketball team last week as the Bulldogs picked up a pair of big victories coming out of Christmas break.

The Bulldogs swarming defensive energy was too much for the Libby Loggers Jan. 3 as Whitefish rolled to an impressive 56-39 conference win at home. Friday, the Dogs took care of business with a 59-32 win on the road at Eureka.

“Our ball pressure, that was what I was impressed with,” Whitefish coach Mark Casazza said. “It put the tempo of the games in our favor.”

Whitefish took control against Libby in the first quarter. Senior Logan Harwood knocked down a three-pointer and converted an easy layup, and Keaton Nicholson scored twice in the post to push the Dogs to a 12-3 lead.

The Dogs used an intense fullcourt press in the second quarter to rattle the Loggers. Early in the quarter, Whitefish forced a 10 second violation which led to a Cooper Olson trey for a 17-5 lead. Other times the ball pressure caused turnovers that led to easy transition buckets.

“We’ve got to use our speed and put the pressure on the other team, and not let them run any offense they want,” Casazza said. “We pushed the ball really well in transition.”

Later in the quarter, Olson tossed a no-look bounce pass to a trailing Jace Kalbfleisch who knocked down a short jumper to expand the lead to 13. EJ Havens swished a trey to make it 26-14 at the half.

Olson caught fire from deep in the second half. The senior guard sank two three-pointer to keep the offense rolling.

The play of the game came in the third. Kalbfleish blocked a shot then threw a quarterback-style pass the length of the court to Harwood for an easy layup. The play seemed natural for Harwood, who is also an All-State caliber wide receiver in football.

Harwood would cap the victory with a pair to two-handed jams in the fourth quarter to get the home crowd going. Harwood led all scorers with 19 points.

Nicholson added 11 points and Kalbfleisch finished with 10.

At Eureka, Nicholson led all scorers with 17 points as Whitefish never trailed.

“Keaton took great shots in the offense,” Casazza said. “We found the open guys in transition.”

Casazza says the past two game are indicative of the style they hope to play this season — energetic and uptempo. Picking up two wins coming out of Christmas break, he said, is a huge momentum boost.

“You always want to come out of the break feeling like the time put in at practice was worth while,” he said. “We’ve got to play that way every night. I think we’ll see that type of energy from this team on a regular basis.”

The Bulldogs next host rival Columbia Falls Jan. 12. at 6 p.m. Casazza calls it the “biggest game of the year” and that his guys will be ready to play.

Forward Art Doorn is expected back from injury, as is Hugh Ramlow, which will help the team’s depth.

Libby 3 11 13 12 — 39

Whitefish 12 14 18 12 — 56

LIBBY — Dan Leggins 8, Will Reichel 1, Jared Winslow 11, Barak Lapka 8, Kraig Nelson 11.

WHITEFISH — Keaton Nicholson 11, EJ Havens 4, Cody Olson 1, Logan Harwood 19, Jace Kalbfleisch 10, Cooper Olson 9, Jake May 2.

Whitefish 22 15 7 15 – 59

Eureka 6 6 12 8 – 32

WHITEFISH – Keaton Nicholson 17, EJ Havens 7, Brandon Maassen 2, Logan Harwood 10, Jace Kalbfleisch 13, Cooper Olson 7, AJ Wetsch 3.

EUREKA – Trey Bohne 2, Austin Perez 4, Tanner Blankers 10, Dalton Smith 7, RJ Glover 5, Cameron Griffin 1, Richard Roo 3.