Comeback efforts fall short for Bulldogs

A pair of late rally attempts came up short for the Whitefish boys basketball team last week as the Bulldogs fell to Bigfork and Frenchtown at home.

The Dogs trailed by 19 against Frenchtown in the second half of the Saturday afternoon conference game, but stormed back on a barrage of 3-pointers and tough defense.

Senior forward Art Doorn hit a trey with 11 seconds remaning to cut the deficit to two points. The Broncs escaped with a 44-42 victory after Doorn missed a game-winner at the buzzer.

Despite the conference loss, coach Mark Casazza was impressed with his team’s poise and fight.

“There wasn’t a bit of quit in them,” he said. “I told them if they keep fighting, good things will happen. They did and they fought back and we just ran out of time.”

The Dogs trailed for most of the game against Bigfork on Thursday, but made a push at the end to keep it interesting. Senior EJ Havens knocked down a pair of 3-pointers to narrow the gap, but an athletic Vikings team held off the surge to win 50-38.

Casazza says the team needs to start bringing their best game for four quarters.

"They'll work hard and I'll get it out of them," he said. "We've got to put it together soon though."

After seven games, Keaton Nicholson leads the Dogs in scoring with an average of 8.5 points per game. Big man Garrett Anderson leads the league in rebounds with nearly 10 per game. He also leads the league with 11 blocks.

Havens and Alex Wilson each have a league-best 25 steals.

Whitefish (2-5, 1-1) hosts Eureka on Friday at 7:30 p.m, then host Florence Jan. 11 at 4 p.m.

Frenchtown 6 15 15 8 — 44

Whitefish 5 5 14 18 — 42

FRENCHTOWN — John Chapman 20, Quinton Mazzola 4, Chris Delaney 2, Andrew Honken 5, Bridger Truett 6, Jordan Moe 7.

WHITEFISH — Keaton Nicholson 4, A.J. Wetsch 2, Alex Wilson 3, E.J. Havens 12, Art Doorn 10, Luke May 2, Hugh Ramlow 2, Garrett Anderson 7.

Bigfork 16 12 9 13 – 50

Whitefish 10 9 8 11 – 38

BIGFORK – Adam Jordt 3, Isaac Martel 8, Jon Landon 3, Josh Sandry 7, Ryder Trent 4, Cam Nissen 8, Christian Evans 17.

WHITEFISH – Keaton Nicholson 10, AJ Wetsch 4, Alex Wilson 5, EJ Havens 12, Art Doorn 3, Garrett Anderson 4.