'Dogs pick up pace

Willie Roche exploded for 18 points and snagged six rebounds to lead all scorers as Whitefish routed Ronan 59-39 in a Northwest A league match at the Dawg House on Jan. 2.

The Bulldogs' lock-down defense kept Ronan off the scoreboard for the first six minutes and opened up a breakneck offensive pace for Whitefish (2-3, 1-1), which posted its highest scoring game of the season.

"It was really important to win that game," coach Mark Casazza said. "I told the guys that we had to be playing as a team by the Ronan game. We went out and played really good team defense, which helped our offense that much more."

Roche dropped six points in the first quarter, including a fast-break layup that was a byproduct of consecutive blocked shots beneath Ronan's basket.

Casazza said Roche set the tone defensively, which helped him be more aggressive on the other end of the floor. Ten of his 18 points came in the first half.

Zach Maassen played strong off the bench and closed out the opening quarter by sinking a baseline three-pointer in front of Ronan's bench to put the 'Dogs up 15-4.

"We had great minutes from the bench, which helped us play a faster pace," Casazza said. "You can't play at that kind of pace without contributions from the bench."

Casazza pointed to Maassen, Cooper Olson and Drew Galbraith as his go-to players off the bench.

The 'Dogs went on to score 14 more points in the second quarter to take a 29-16 lead into the half.

The third quarter was dominated by the 'Dogs' suffocating defense and sharp passing marked by a series halfway though the quarter where every player touched the ball before being dumped off to Gage Vasquez in the post for an easy layup.

"The great thing about this team is that they don't care who scores," Casazza said. "They improved a ton on their passing over Christmas break."

In what was the play of the game, Willie Roche and his brother Mac Roche reminded fans how good they were on the football field when Mac grabbed an offensive rebound and launched an overarm pass the length of the floor to Willie for a layup to end the third quarter.

Mac was the quarterback of the 2009 Bulldog football team, and Willie was the team's leading receiver. The two connected on nine passing scores in six consecutive games during the season.

The 'Dogs closed out the game by scoring 14 points in the fourth between six players, led by four from senior Cole Havens.

Ronan (1-5, 0-1) was led by 12 points from both Jerod Tanner and Justin Dusty Bull.

Whitefish next plays Class AA Flathead on Friday, Jan. 8, at Flathead High School. The game is slated for 8 p.m.