Bulldogs look for big win against Lions

It was another tough early-season battle last week for the Bulldogs, who fell to Frenchtown 76-48.

After Whitefish got in a 10-point deficit after one quarter, the Broncs opened the lead up to 18 by half, led by Brandon Finley’s 18 first-half points.

The Bulldogs only managed 20 of their own points in the second half, though they did outscore Frenchtown 12-9 in the final frame.

Sam Menicke led the team with 15, while Bodie Smith added 14.

While head coach Scott Smith found some positives out of last week’s losses in the Tip Off Tournament, he said he was having trouble finding any after Friday’s game.

“We didn’t play very well,” he said. “We had no energy, it was just one of those games where for whatever reason the kids didn’t show up to play. Just not a lot of intensity, effort — we’ve got a lot of ways to go.”

The Bulldogs are looking for some good news this week after an 0-3 start to the season.

Practice this week is all about fundamentals, Smith said, and cleaning up the basics.

“Our focus is just getting back to the basics. Just fundamentals and bringing intensity on defense,” he said.

They’ll get their home opener on Thursday against Eureka at 6 p.m. Then on Friday they’ll head south to Polson for a battle with the Pirates at 7:30 p.m.

“Eureka is going to come in and they’re going to be no slouch. Polson’s going to be a crucial conference game. You don’t want to go into the break with one loss in conference, so we’re going to have to get after it,” Smith said.

“It doesn’t matter who were playing, anybody’s beatable, but if we don’t pick it up and have a good week of practice we could be falling into a cycle we don’t want to be in.”

Frenchtown 26 20 21 9 – 76

Whitefish 16 12 8 12 – 48

FRENCHTOWN – Cade Baker 19, Mason Pyron 2, Brandon Finley 24, Hank Rugg 9, Zack Baker 10, Ben Larson 5, Devin Shelton 5, Tel Arthur 2.

WHITEFISH – Bodie Smith 14, Justin Conklin 5, Jayce Cripe 5, Sam Menicke 15, Talon Holmquist 9.