Whitefish basketball players earn postseason honors
Whitefish Senior Bodie Smith attempts a layup against Eureka on Jan. 27. (Whitney England/Whitefish Pilot)
Whitefish senior Talon Holmquist hooks a shot up over a Columbia Falls defender in a game on Saturday afternoon. (Whitney England/Whitefish Pilot)
Whitefish senior Erin Wilde drives to the hoop against Polson during a play-in game on Friday at WHS. (Whitney England/Whitefish Pilot)
A handful of Whitefish High School basketball players were recently honored with Northwest All-conference selections for the 2021-22 season.
From the Bulldog boys basketball team, both Bodie Smith and Talon Holmquist were selected as All-conference second team.
Smith and Holmquist were both seniors and leaders on the team for the Bulldogs all season. Smith’s strengths included driving to the hoop for close-range baskets where he often also drew a foul on his opponent. He also excelled on the defensive end with the ability to keep players in front of him. In almost every game this season, Smith scored in double figures and he exceeded the 20-point mark more than once.
Holmquist was an essential part of the Whitefish team as he was their go-to guy in the paint. The 6-foot-6 senior worked hard to get good positioning on his opponents and would often be fed the ball inside for an easy score. Holmquist kept other teams from driving to the basket on defense too, often forcing them to kick it back out for an outside shot.
The Bulldogs ended up with an overall record of 7-11 and narrowly missed qualifying for the divisional tournament.
For the girls, senior Erin Wilde was selected for the Northwest All-conference second team. Wilde often led the Lady Bulldogs in scoring and as the starting point guard, she ran many plays and fed her teammates the ball. Wilde showed her skill of driving to the hoop as well as having a good outside shot.
Also making the list is Whitefish sophomore Bailey Smith. Although she was injured for the second half of the season, Smith showed her skill early on. She was a leading scorer for the team to start until she was unable to play over the last month of the season.
The Whitefish girls basketball team also ended up with a 7-11 overall record and lost in the divisional play-in game to Polson which ended the season.
