Dogs down Eureka, fall to Polson at home
Bulldog Lee Walburn looks to make a pass around a Polson defender Saturday at the Whitefish High School gym. (Heidi Desch/Whitefish Pilot)
Bulldog Sawyer Silliker goes up for a shot over Polson Saturday at the Whitefish High School gym. (Heidi Desch/Whitefish Pilot)
Bulldog Ryan Kemm drives to the hoop against Polson Saturday at the Whitefish High School gym. (Heidi Desch/Whitefish Pilot)
The Bulldogs split two home games this weekend, defeating Eureka 48-37 before falling to Polson 63-54 the following night.
Despite finishing the tightly defended first quarter down 7-6, Whitefish was able to find some offensive momentum and gain the lead with a 20-8 run in the second quarter. A hot start to the second half got the Bulldogs up to a 19-point lead in the third, and Whitefish held on for the win.
Head coach Sean Duff said while they got the win, he didn’t think his team played their best game.
“We didn’t play very well, we were flat,” Duff said. “With finals this week they were getting only a few hours of sleep.”
Derek Kastella led the Bulldogs with 18 points, and Sawyer Silliker added 12. Riley Durham had 14 points to lead Eureka (2-8).
On Saturday Whitefish hosted Polson in the Dogs’ second conference matchup of the season. Polson jumped out to an early first-quarter lead, up 21-13 after 8 minutes. That lead extended to 10 points at half and 14 points going into the fourth, but the Dogs weren’t done fighting yet. A Whitefish run cut the deficit to just four points with two minutes remaining, but Polson was able to hold on and make their free throws as the time for a Whitefish comeback ticked away.
Kastella scored 16 and Silliker had 14 for Whitefish. Tanner Wilson had 19 points to lead Polson.
“We actually played one of our better basketball games,” Duff said. “We just didn’t quite get it over the hump. Polson’s tough. We actually beat them in the second half, we just couldn’t make up the difference.”
Duff said he saw the momentum in a few of his team’s comeback runs disappear after quick shots on key possessions. Not surprisingly, patience on offense will be a priority in practice this week.
“They’re not hard things to clean up. We’re playing some good basketball,” he said.
Whitefish (4-7, 0-2) travels to Bigfork on Thursday and Frenchtown on Saturday.
Eureka 7 8 5 17 — 37
Whitefish 6 20 13 9 — 48
EUREKA — Jamie Good 5, Austin Callendar 4, Brad Stein 8, Riley Durham 14, Jake Cardinale 6.
WHITEFISH — Alex Keuylian 4, Derek Kastella 18, Murphy Wick 3, Sawyer Silliker 12, Ryan Kemm 3, Lee Walburn 4, Dillon Botner 4.
Polson 21 13 14 15 — 63
Whitefish 13 11 10 20 — 54
POLSON — Jayden Bautista 12, Tanner Wilson 19, Jeremiah North Piegan 14, Connor Lanier 7, Matt Rensvold 11.
WHITEFISH — Derek Kastella 16, Murphy Wick 3, Vegard Ellingsen 2, Sawyer Silliker 14, Ryan Kemm 6, Lee Walburn 8, Dillon Botner 5.