Dogs use stingy defense to edge Hamilton

Whitefish opened the boys basketball season with mixed results after winning and losing a pair of tight games at the Tip-off Tournament in Corvallis and Hamilton.

The Bulldogs opened with a three-point loss 59-56 to Class B Ronan on Friday. The Chiefs were able to seal the win at the free throw line in the fourth quarter.

Cooper Olson and Keaton Nicholson paced the Dogs with 11 points each. As a team the Dogs shot just 30 percent compared to Ronan’s 60 percent.

The Dogs bounced back Saturday with a three-point victory over Hamilton in a low-scoring 36-33 affair. Whitefish held on after opening a 20-12 half time lead behind stingy defense.

“We changed our style this year to feature more full court man-to-man,” Whitefish coach Mark Casazza said. “We couldn’t throw the ball in the ocean either game at the Tip-off, but that made us play better defense.”

The Dogs limited Hamilton to just one bucket in the first quarter.

“We came out and for 84 feet we were in their face and harassing them,” Casazza said.

Logan Harwood led the way with 10 points. Jace Kalbfleisch added nine.

Casazza isn’t worried about the lack of offense in the Tip-off.

“We really focused on defense at the beginning of the year,” he said. “Where we are at in February depends on defense. I know this team can score points. The points will come and it will be extremely balanced this year.”

Whitefish played Glacier on Tuesday for their only game this week.

Whitefish 9 11 8 8 — 36

Hamilton 2 10 10 11 — 33

WHITEFISH – Keaton Nicholson 8, Logan Harwood 10, Jace Kalbfleisch 9, Art Doorn 2, Cooper Olson 3, Hugh Ramlow 1, Jake May 3.

HAMILTON – Josh Bauder 8, John Ryter 3, Reese Isherwood 7, Jesse Bartels 6, Josh Heath 2, Kameron Kohn 7.

Ronan 17 12 16 14 – 59

Whitefish 17 11 13 15 – 56

RONAN – Carston Baertsch 10, Dallas Jore 11, Tim Woll 3, Alex Quequesah 5, Zachary Wagner 11, Kollin Wroblewski 15, Daniel Aylesworth 4.

WHITEFISH – EJ Havens 2, Logan Harwood 10, Jace Kalbfleisch 9, Art Doorn 2, Cooper Olson 11, Keaton Nicholson 11, Hugh Ramlaw 7, Brandon Maassen 2, Jake May 2.