Whitefish gets hot against Polson

Whitefish hit its stride in the second quarter and picked up its second Northwestern A Conference win with a 58-48 victory over Polson on Thursday, Feb. 6.

“The win against Polson was huge! We needed that win to raise our confidence and hopefully get on track,” Whitefish Head Coach Alex Gonzalez said. “As we enter the second half of the season, it's so important to get as many wins as possible.”

The Bulldogs led by two after the first quarter but expanded that lead to 41-27 at halftime.

“I feel like our offense is pretty good. We still need to tweak a few things here and there,” Gonzalez said. “I'm very excited about how we look defensively. We will need to really get stronger on defense and trust each other. We really need to dominate the rebounds, limit turnovers, and play tough but smart basketball.”

Polson cut into the lead by four points in the third quarter, but the fourth quarter was an even contest, and the Pirates couldn’t close the game despite Malakai Curley and Carson Graham scoring 16 points apiece for Polson. Cooper Dudley’s 20 points led Whitefish, while Will Sisson added another 16 points and three steals.

“Cooper Dudley had a monster game both on offense and defense,” Gonzalez said. “Cooper is that type of player once he gets hot, his confidence grows immensely.”

CJ Thew had seven points, 10 rebounds, and three steals, while Scotty Dalen had eight points. Dudley hit 5-of-8 three-pointers, and Sisson hit two.

The win improved Whitefish to 5-6 overall and 2-4 in conference play, while Polson fell to 4-3 in conference and 7-6 overall.

“I like the way our team's chemistry is looking,” Gonzalez said

At Polson

WHITEFISH 58, POLSON 48

Whitefish - 17 - 24 - 8 - 9 - 58

Polson - 15 - 12 - 12 - 9 - 48

WHITEFISH SCORING: Cooper Dudley 20, Will Sisson 16, , Scotty Dalen 8, CJ Thew 7, Carson Gulick 3, Aiden Rickels 2, Reyd Hobart 2