Boys vault to 2nd in league

Whitefish led from wire to wire to earn a 49-41 conference win at Libby on Friday.

Balanced scoring lifted the Dogs to their third consecutive Northwest A win. Cody Olson, Luke May and AJ Wetsch each tallied nine points to lead the effort at Libby.

“Our keys Friday night were consistency on the offensive and defensive ends of the court,” Whitefish coach Curtis Green said. “And for the first three quarters we did just that.”

Whitefish took an early 14-10 lead, and expanded it to 31-19 by halftime.

The Loggers made a fourth-quarter push that came up just short. Johnny Cielak led the Loggers, hitting four 3-pointers for a game-high 14 points.

Whitefish won the rebounding battle 25-20 and shot 61 percent from the field.

With the win, Whitefish stands alone in second place in the league with two games remaining.

“I believe we have put a big emphasis this year on continuing to improve every practice and every game, knowing that the season is not a sprint but a marathon,” Green said. “With all the changes that we have made, we feel that we are peaking at the right time.”

The Dogs travel to Plains on Thursday before hosting top-rated Columbia Falls on Saturday at 6:30 p.m.

“We are expecting much more of a controlled game against Columbia Falls,” Green said. “We have refined much of what was new to us the first go-around and are anticipating a much different game this weekend.”

Whitefish 14 17 12 6 – 49

Libby 10 9 6 16 – 41

WHITEFISH – Derek Kastella 8, Brian FauntLeRoy 7, AJ Wetsch 9, Cody Olson 9, Luke May 9, Jack Streibich 4, Luke Cardon 2, Chaffin Ross 1.

LIBBY – Luke Adamson 1, Jonny Cielak 14, Collin Johnson 11, Zander Peterson 3, Colin Maloney 2, Erik Lauer 4, Michael Curtiss 6.