Park defeats Bulldogs in OT at Western A Tip-Off Tournament
Whitefish's Ryder Barinowski goes up for a tough two against Park's Wilson Saile (0) and Alec Dalby (12) at the Frenchtown Tip-Off Tournament Friday, Dec. 9. (Jeremy Weber/Daily Inter Lake)
Whitefish's Josh Downie pulls up for a jumper late in the second overtime against Park at the Frenchtown Tip-Off Tournament Friday, Dec. 9. (Jeremy Weber/Daily Inter Lake)
Bulldog Jack Sears takes a shot over Park defenders at the Frenchtown Tip-Off Tournament Friday, Dec. 9. (Jeremy Weber/Daily Inter Lake)
Whitefish's Mason Genovese drives in for a layup against Park during action at the Frenchtown Tip-Off Tournament Friday, Dec. 9. (Jeremy Weber/Daily Inter Lake)
After pushing the game to a second overtime, the Bulldogs fell by just three points to Park High School on the first day of the Western A Tip-Off Tournament in Frenchtown last weekend.
Whitefish lost the game 75-72, then had to play an extremely experienced Frenchtown team on Saturday, which they lost 78-38. The Bulldogs are now 1-2 on the season.
“We have not even been together a month… the court experience isn’t quite there and the conditioning isn’t quite there, but everything will come together,” Whitefish coach Alex Gonzalez said. “I have nothing but great expectations of these guys as they do of themselves. They play hard and that group is amazing.”
Against Park, the two teams were all tied up at 34 at the half. The Bulldogs had a big third quarter to take a 5-point lead into the fourth quarter. Livingston came back to tie it up and force overtime. After one overtime the two teams were tied again at 67-67. The Rangers edged the Bulldogs in the second overtime by three points.
“We lost a heartbreaker on Friday. We battled and lost in double overtime…” Gonzalez said. “I couldn’t be any prouder of these young men for battling as hard as they did. We were in it, and just little mistakes here and there.”
Bulldog junior Mason Genovese led his team in scoring with 29 points and Jack Sears dumped in 23 points. Mason Kelch was also in double figures with 11 points.
The next day against Frenchtown, Whitefish played a veteran Frenchtown team that touted good size and a lot of playing time on the varsity court. The Bulldogs had a thin bench due to injury and other matters, and came off a double overtime game the night before.
Whitefish came out slow in the first quarter, allowing the Broncs to score 28 points. Frenchtown scored another 21 points in the second quarter to take a massive 49-18 lead into halftime. The deficit was too much to come back from.
“We just didn’t come out like our normal selves. We just weren’t as focused, made little mistakes that ended up being big mistakes down the line,” Gonzalez said.
In the game, Kelch scored 11 to lead all Whitefish scorers. Sears added 8 and Ryder Barinowski and Genovese each had 6 points.
Whitefish will take on Corvallis on Friday night in Corvallis and then host Browning in Whitefish on Saturday at 4 p.m.
Livingston 75, Whitefish 72 2OT
Whitefish 13 21 17 8 8 5 - 72
Livingston 16 18 12 13 8 8 - 75
WHITEFISH — Mason Genovese 29, Jack Sears 23, Mason Kelch 11, Josh Downie 6, Ryder Barinowski 3, CJ Thew 2.
LIVINGSTON — Calvin Caplis 21, Ryan Brown 15, Houston Dunn 10, Williams Saile 13, Kimball Smith 5, Ryan Bauer 2.
Frenchtown 78, Whitefish 38
Whitefish 10 8 8 12 - 38
Frenchtown 28 21 14 15 - 78
WHITEFISH — Mason Genovese 6, Scott Dalen 2, Jack Sears 8, Ryder Barinowski 6, Mason Kelch 11, Dane Hunt 3.
FRENCHTOWN — Conner Michaud 22, Kellen Klimple 14, Sully Belcourt 12, Eli Quinn 11, Josh Lucier 8, Dugan Yance 2, Carter White 1, Carter Anciaux 5, B. Peterson 3.
