Bulldogs put regular season behind them, head into play-in game

After finishing up regular season play last week, the Bulldogs are treating their upcoming divisional play-in game as a blank slate.

Whitefish wrapped up the season with a 7-10 overall record and in sixth place in the Northwest A conference. This sets up a play-in game in order to qualify for the Western A divisionals against Libby on Friday.

“Everybody right now has a 0-0 record going into the play-in game, that’s what I told our kids,” Whitefish coach Scott Smith said. “This is a new season and everybody has zero wins and zero losses. All we need to do is take care of one win and we’re going to divisionals.”

If Whitefish wins the game, they will head to the divisional tournament unscathed by their regular season record.

Whitefish played Libby last Thursday and were defeated on the road by the Loggers, 48-31. The Bulldogs played good defense and hung with Libby through most of the game, however a 10-2 second quarter put Whitefish in a slight deficit heading into halftime. Whitefish allowed the Loggers 17 points in the fourth quarter to seal the game.

“It was a 7-point game midway through the fourth quarter and it kind of got away from us there towards the end,” Smith recalled.

Whitefish senior big man Talon Holmquist led the Dogs in scoring with 12 points and Bodie Smith put up 8 as the team struggled to score.

On Saturday the Bulldogs took Columbia Falls to overtime in Whitefish, however were edged by 3 points as the Cats squeaked out a 51-48 win over their rivals.

There were several lead changes in the game as neither team could build much of a lead before the other would shift the momentum. In the final 4 minutes of the game, the Bulldogs went up 40-37. Columbia Falls came back to take a 1-point advantage with just 12 seconds left, but Bulldog’s Smith got to the line and was able to sink a free throw to tie and push the game to extra time.

The Cats took a 6-point lead in overtime and on Whitefish’s last second shot, the ball came up short.

“We missed a lot of open shots that we needed to have, we had some crucial mistakes at times that led to them getting some points,” Smith said. “We’re just finding a hard time keeping kids healthy and on the floor.”

Smith added that his team has played three games a week for the past three weeks and his players have also been battling some illness, which is affecting their game when they get back on the court.

Against CFalls, Holmquist led three players in double figures scoring 16 points; Fynn Ridgeway netted 14 points and Bodie Smith put up 12.

Whitefish also played Cut Bank in a non-conference game on Tuesday, Feb. 8. The Bulldogs handled the District 1-B team 71-48. Coach Smith says his team put together a fully comprehensive game, and that’s why they came out on top.

“The Cut Bank game we took care of business and did what we needed to do against them,” Smith said.

Holmquist again led with 15 points and Mason Kelch added 13 for the Dogs.

Whitefish is set to play the Loggers in Libby on Friday beginning at 6 p.m. The winner will advance to the Western A Divisional Tournament.

Cut Bank 16 5 13 14 - 48

Whitefish 15 16 16 24 - 71

CUT BANK — Tate Monroe 12, Jaydus Running Wolf 9, Robert Reagan 11, Dawson Vasbae 9, Jackson Black 3, Dayne Barbie 3, Payton St. Goddard 1.

WHITEFISH — Bodie Smith 19, Mason Kelch 13, Jaxsen Schlauch 6, Logan Conklin 8, Jack Sears 6, Lynn Ridgeway 3, Cody Berry 2, Talon Holmquist 15.

Libby 9 10 12 17 - 48

Whitefish 13 2 9 7 - 31

LIBBY — Ivan Cano 5, Ryder Davis 4, Tyler Andersen 1, Cy Stevenson 4, Ryan Collins 2, Kaleb Folk 2, Caden Williams 19, TJ Andersen 11

WHITEFISH — Talon Holmquist 12, Bodie Smith 8, Jaxsen Schlauch 2, Gabe Lund 3, Jack Sears 3, Mason Kelch 3

Whitefish 12 7 10 16 3 - 48

Col. Falls 8 12 11 14 6 - 51

WHITEFISH — Talon Holmquist 16, Fynn Ridgeway 14, Bodie Smith 12, Logan Conklin 6.

COLUMBIA FALLS — Jace Hill 22, Cade Morgan 9, Cody Schweikert 9, Alihn Anderson 7, Mark Robison 2, Hunter Goodman 2.