Dogs run out of gas against Flathead

Whitefish held its own in a physical battle with Flathead on Friday in the season-opener for both teams, but ultimately fizzled at the end.

Feeding off the energy of the packed home crowd, the Bulldogs crashed the boards, hit the floor for loose balls and attacked the paint. After jumping out to a first quarter lead, they went into the locker room at halftime tied 31-31 with the Class AA Braves.

But the energy seemingly dried up after the break, and with it the offense.

Flathead opened a lead in the third and went on a 15-3 run to start the fourth to turn a tight battle into a 73-54 blowout.

“We tried to play an uptempo game on offense and defense and just ran out of gas,” said Whitefish coach Curtis Green, who made his coaching debut for the Dogs.

“I thought our effort was there. The kids worked really hard. The loss wasn’t a matter of effort.”

AJ Wetsch led Whitefish with 12 points and Jack Streibich had 11. Guard Cody Olson was aggressive all night and finished with 10 points.

The trio of seniors, along with senior Luke Cardon, highlight a big and athletic roster this year for the Dogs. More than half the varsity team is over 6 feet tall.

Forwards Chaffin Ross and Wetsch are the tallest at 6-4. Streibich comes in at 6-3, junior Brian FauntLeRoy at 6-1, and Cardon and sophomore Derek Kastella are at 6-0.

Luke May and Olson, both 5-10, will hold down the guard positions and will be the primary ball-handlers, Green said.

Guards Logan Freeman and Peter Mow round out the varsity roster.

Whitefish played all 10 on the roster Friday night.

“It’s great we are able to play all the guys, especially early on in the season,” Green said. “We’ll need those guys to step up.”

Whitefish is in action this weekend at the Northwest/Southwest Tip-Off at the Adams Center on the University of Montana campus in Missoula.

They play Stevensville on Friday at 6 p.m., then Anaconda on Saturday at 9 a.m.

Flathead 13 18 19 23 — 73

Whitefish 16 15 12 11 — 54

FLATHEAD — Matt Marshall 11, Seth Adolph 2, Alex Croymans 18, Kye Auclaire 2, Bridger Johnson 2, Tyler Johnson 13, Keaton Krantz 6, Blake Wilson 4, Micah Bucy 7, Trae Habel 8.

WHITEFISH — Derek Kastella 4, Brian FauntLeRoy 6, AJ Wetsch 12, Cody Olson 10, Luke May 5, Jack Streibich 11, Luke Cardon 2, Chaffin Ross 4.