Boys basketball keeps striving for state tourney
Whitefish senior Orion Moore dribbles the ball down the court during the boys basketball practice on Dec. 9. (Whitney England/Whitefish Pilot)
Bulldog Marvin Kimera lays the ball up toward the hoop during a drill at the Whitefish boys basketball practice Dec. 9. (Whitney England/Whitefish Pilot)
Bulldog Jack Sears takes a shot over the defense during a drill at the boys basketball practice on Dec. 9. (Whitney England/Whitefish Pilot)
Whitefish's Jaxsen Schlauch is guarded by Orion Moore during practice on Dec. 9. (Whitney England/Whitefish Pilot)
The Whitefish boys basketball team has the same goal every year — playing on a Saturday evening at the state tournament.
Head coach Scott Smith, who has been at the helm for the past two years, says although the team came up short both years by losing the game on the final day of divisionals that would have qualified them for state, he is confident Whitefish’s team this year will have a great shot at it.
“Like I tell our kids, getting to divisionals is good but you can’t be satisfied with that; you’ve got to want more and you’ve got to practice harder than you’re used to at times,” Smith said. “We’ve just got to make sure that at every practice we’re moving forward, we don’t move backward because we have a goal of getting to state.”
“I think we have a good core group of kids that we can get there, we just have to clean some things up,” he added.
In early December the boys began practice and will have a full month, minus a week off for the holidays, before games begin due to Montana High School Association delaying the start of winter sports in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the extra time is somewhat odd, Smith says it’s an advantage if anything.
“In a normal year we’re playing a team of athletes and you’ve got to have a bunch of stuff in to be ready for that first game, this year we haven’t had to do that. It’s been kind of nice to slow some things down and add stuff in stuff slowly when we’re ready,” he said.
This year the Bulldogs return some key players from last season including Bodie Smith, Talon Holmquist and Jayce Cripe. Bodie Smith averaged 9.2 points per game, with Holmquist right behind him averaging 8.3 points per game with over six rebounds as well; Cripe averaged 7.3 points per game.
Smith and Cripe also earned all-conference honorable mention postseason honors following last season.
In addition, Coach Scott Smith said he is expecting several other players who had limited varsity minutes last year to be stepping up.
“Just some of these kids you haven’t seen as much in the past, but I think they’re going to make a little noise this year in the conference and do some good things for us,” he said.
This year seniors include Cripe, Orion Moore, Trey Hunt, and Marvin Kimera.
Last year Whitefish finished with a record of 9-13 overall, 3-7 in conference play. Smith said his team lost by three or less in five of those games and it could have been a different story by just cleaning up a few errors.
In the divisional tournament the Bulldogs upset Hamilton, the second seed in the Southwest A, in their opening game 49-42. However following the win they lost to Browning and eventually Columbia Falls, failing to qualify for the state tournament.
Smith and the Bulldogs are working toward a strong season and another shot at qualifying this year.
“I’m hoping this is the year that we actually get over that hump and we have an opportunity to go to state,” Smith said.
Whitefish is set to kick off its season in Frenchtown on Thursday, Jan. 7. Then the Bulldogs will host their first home game of the season on Saturday, Jan. 9 at 4 p.m. against Hamilton.
