BUTTE n The Bulldogs are back.Sophomore Colt Idol scored 15 points, eight coming in the final quarter as the Whitefish Bulldogs held off Libby 36-33 for the Northwestern A divisional championship Saturday.
Whitefish (11-10) and Libby (12-9) both clinched berths into the State A tournament March 8-10 in Belgrade. It is Whitefish’s first trip to state in four seasons.
Whitefish 36, Libby 33
The victory capped a turnaround from an 0-8 start for Whitefish under coach Julio Delgado. Delgado returned to the helm he vacated in 2000, and guided the Bulldogs to their first divisional title since ’01.It came by way of defense, with Libby shooting just 23 percent and matching its season low for points.
Idol’s short-range jumper put the Bulldogs up for good at 34-33 with 48 seconds left, and after Jim Mee missed for Libby, Idol rebounded and hit two free throws.
That capped the scoring, though Libby’s Zach Rowan tracked down a ball knocked loose by Idol and got off a 30-footer that drew back iron at the buzzer.
David FauntLeRoy grabbed nine rebounds for Whitefish, and Jamie Clogg added six points and eight rebounds for the winners.
Kyle Baker scored 13 points to lead the Loggers, including a tip-in that put Libby up 33-32 with 1:04 remaining.
Championship
Libby 3 10 10 10 n 33
Whitefish 10 4 9 13 n 36
LIBBY n Kyle Baker 6-15 1-4 13, Jim Mee 2-17 3-3 9, Charley May 2-7 2-4 6, Joel Fuller 0-2 0-1 0, Zach Rowan 1-7 0-0 3, Neil Young 0-2 0-0 0, Nick Broden 0-0 0-0 0, Rob Carney 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 12-52 6-12 33.
WHITEFISH n Colt Idol 5 5-6 15, Jamie Clogg 3 0-0 6, David Fauntleroy 1 2-2 4, Aaron Tkachyk 3 1-2 7, Luke Fennelly 2 0-0 4, Byron Whitcomb 0 0-0 0, Jake Smith 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 8-10 36.
3-point goals - Libby 3-24 (Mee 2-9, Rowan 1-5, Fuller 0-1, Young 0-2, May 0-3, Baker 0-4),, Whitefish 0-5 (Tkachyk 0-1, Fennellly 0-1, Whitcomb 0-1, Idol 0-2). Rebounds n Libby 26 (May 6, Baker 6), Whitefish 32 (FauntLeRoy 9, Idol 8, Clogg 8). Fouls n Libby 13, Whitefish 15. Turnovers n Libby 8, Whitefish 16.
h3>Columbia Falls 61, Ronan 50Chase Grilley tossed in 20 points to lead Columbia Falls to the victory in the consolation game.
The Wildcats trailed by one point at halftime but stormed out to a 14-8 advantage during the third quarter.
Mike Fisher scored 12 points to lead the Chiefs. Cameron Barber scored eight points and grabbed 12 rebounds.
Ronan finished the year at 10-11.
Consolation
Ronan 10 16 8 16 n 50
Columbia Falls 9 16 14 22 n 61
RONAN n Moss Tanner 2 0-0 4, Mike Fisher II 4 2-2 12, Billy Antoine 0 2-2 2, Ryon Hesselgesser 1 0-0 2, Jordan St. Clair 2 1-1 6, Kyle Orr 0 0-2 0, Gene Adams 3 1-2 7, Nolan Harris 3 0-0 9, Cameron Barber 3 2-4 8. Totals 18 8-13 50. .
COLUMBIA?FALLS?n Chase Fairbank 2 0-1 4, Jared Jimmerson 0 2-4 2, Kyle Jangula 1 0-0 2, Dustin Gibson 0 1-3 1, Karsten Peterson 3 1-3 7, Bobby Pearce 3 0-0 8, Mackey Nolan 1 0-0 2, Michael Taylor 3 7-7 13, Chase Grilley 7 5-8 20, Grant Getts 0 2-2 2. Totals 20 18-28 61.
3-point goals n Ronan. 6 (Harris 3, Fisher II 2, St. Clair), Columbia Falls 3 (Pearce 2, Grilley). Rebounds n Ronan. 24 (Barber 12), Columbia Falls 27 (Gibson 6). Turnovers n Ronan. 20, Columbia Falls 20. Total fouls n Ronan. 26, Columbia Falls 13. Fouled out n Harris.
Columbia Falls 77, Polson 42
Four Wildcats finished in double figures, led by Dustin Gibson’s 19 points, as Columbia Falls cracked Polson.Polson was led by 11 points from Chris Ogle and nine from Zach Langston. The Pirates ended the year at 8-13.
Loser out
Polson 7 15 14 6 n 42
Columbia Falls 20 26 16 15 n 77
POLSON n Craig Bagnell 2 0-0 5, John Rausch 2 1-2 6, Chris Ogle 4 3-5 11, Cody Doyle 0 0-0 0, Joe Andrews 0 2-2 2, Tyler Gordon 2 1-3 5, Aaron Clairmont 0 0-0 0, Ryan Kelley 1 2-2 4, Tim Rausch 0 0-2 0, Zach Langston 3 2-2 9. Totals 15 12-16 42.
COLUMBIA FALLS n Chase Fairbank 2 0-0 4, Jared Jimmerson 1 1-2 3, Kyle Jangula 4 2-2 10, Dustin Gibson 9 1-2 19, Karsten Peterson 5 2-2 13, Bobby Pearce 1 4-5 6, Mackey Nolan 2 2-3 6, Michael Taylor 5 0-0 10, Chase Grilley 3 0-0 7, Mitchell Wassam 2 0-0 4, Grant Getts 0 1-5 1. Totals 34 13-20 77.
3-point goals — Polson 3 (Bagnell, J. Rausch, Langston), Columbia Falls 2 (Grilley, Peterson). Rebounds — Polson. 23 (Ogle 6), Columbia Falls 29 (Gibson 5) Turnovers — Polson 18, Columbia Falls 17. Total fouls — Polson 16, Columbia Falls 20.
Ronan 85, Eureka 67
Barber scored 28 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to engineer the demise of second-seeded Eureka.
Ronan, the tournament’s fourth seed, outscored the Lions 53-28 in the second and third quarters.
Moss Tanner added 19 points and Nolan Harris finished with 11 for the Chiefs.
Isiah Linnell ended with 24 points and Spencer Satori added 18 for Eurkea, which finished 14-6.
Loser out
Eureka 21 14 14 18 n 67
Ronan 13 29 24 19 n 85
EUREKA n Clete DeShazer 0 1-5 1, Mattie Longfield 1 1-2 3, Tony Boka 1 2-2 5, Danny Cameron 1 5-8 7, Ben De Chart 0 2-2 2, John Davis 3 1-4 7, Spencer Satori 8 2-3 18, Isiah Linnell 9 4-4 24. Totals: 23 18-31 67..
RONAN n Moss Tanner 6 7-8 19, Mike Fisher 1 0-0 2, Billy Antoine 3 0-0 7, Ryan Hesselgesser 0 2-2 2, Levi Maughan 0 1-2 1, Jordan St. Clair 0 5-8 5, Kyle Orr 2 1-2 3, Gene Adams 3 0-0 7, Nolan Harris 4 0-0 11, Cameron Barber 12 2-6 28. Totals: 30 18-29 85.
3-point goals n Eureka 3 ( Linnell 2, Boka), Ronan 7 (Harris 3, Barber 2, Adams, Antoine). Rebounds n Eureka 30 (Linnell 7, Satori 6), Ronan 35 (Barber 10, Tanner 7). Turnovers n Eureka 16, Ronan 18. Total fouls n Eureka 23, Ronan 21. Fouled out n Linnell.
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