Dogs' state title hopes dashed early
The Whitefish boys made an early exit from the 2009 Class A state basketball tournament in Great Falls over the weekend, falling 42-48 in the first round to eventual state champions Dillon.
The Bulldogs trailed by only three points with less than a minute left in Thursday night's game against the Beavers. Things were looking good until senior forward David FauntLeRoy was called for charging as he drove toward the basket, and Dillon's Dakota Norris sank both free throws to put the game out of reach.
Whitefish jumped out to a 12-7 lead in the first quarter, but the Beavers sank several treys to take a lead going into halftime, and Whitefish could never catch up. Only four 'Dogs scored in the game. Led by senior Colt Idol with 21 points. FauntLeRoy had 11, while Josh Backer had six and Aaron Tkachyk had four. The Bulldogs went to the free-throw line only seven times in the game, while Dillon took 26 trips to the paint.
Dillon was the dark horse of the tournament, having never cracked the top-five in the coaches' power polls during the regular season. They went on to defeat Columbia Falls in the state title game on Saturday night.
In the loser-out game on Friday, the Bulldogs took on the Butte Central Maroons. The Whitefish boys led until deep in the third quarter, when Butte went on a 12-0 run and pulled away, ending Whitefish's season.
Butte went 24-of-28 from the free-throw line. The Bulldogs shot just 8-of-21 (38 percent) from the line for the game and 10-of-27 (37 percent) from the floor in the second half.
Idol had 21 points, while FauntLeRoy had 14 points and six rebounds. Seniors Matt Whitehead and Josh Backer had six and five points respectively.
It was the last high school game for Idol, FauntLeRoy, Tkachyk, Backer, Whitehead, Marc Hotzfield and Alex Elespuru.
The 'Dogs will look to current juniors Willie Roche, Connor Silliker, Austin Green and Cole Havens and sophomore standouts Mac Roche and Kyler Blades to continue their success next year.
Whitefish 12 7 9 14 – 42
Dillon 7 13 11 17 – 48
Butte Cent. 13 8 18 18 – 67
Whitefish 11 15 9 17 – 52