My 2007 year in review

Part II

In the spirit of year-end festivities, I've compiled a Top 10 list of games I covered for the Daily Inter Lake in 2007. The list was broken down between two weeks. My bottom five ran last Monday.

No. 5

Braves beat

Sentinel, 68-62, in OT

Trailing 40-39 entering the fourth quarter on Feb. 16, the Flathead High School boys' basketball team used a 12-3 run that ended with 1 minute, 25 seconds left in regulation and a 55-49 lead. But the Spartans capped the fourth on a 6-0 run - where the Braves missed two front ends of bonus trips to the free-throw line - to force overtime. Junior forward Andy Garland's 3-pointer with 11.6 seconds left tied it.

Sophomore Brock Osweiler capped a 57-point weekend with a 27-point, 16-rebound, three-steal performance. He scored eight points in overtime. Senior Luke Cutler added 14 points, including a 3-pointer that gave the Braves their first multiple-possession lead in the fourth and then four free throws in overtime.

No. 4

Delgado brings title back to Whitefish

Lured out of retirement after five years because the community was in need, Whitefish's 20th-year boys' basketball coach Julio Delgado brought a championship back to the Bulldogs on Feb. 24.

Whitefish sophomore Colt Idol had 15 points, including the game's final four points, and eight rebounds - including the game's final one - to help lead the Bulldogs to a 36-33 Northwestern A championship game victory over Libby in the WHS gym.

The championship was a game that each team tried to impose its defensive will on the other. The Bulldogs played mostly man-to-man and ran a slow-tempo offense. The Loggers played mostly a 2-3 zone and made only 23 percent (12-for-52) of their shots.

In the second half alone, there were six lead changes and five ties.

No. 3

Mission Valley Mariners win first state

Polson's Class A American Legion baseball team rolled through the regular season with a 55-7 record before losing to Vauxhall, Alberta, in the second round of the State A Tournament Aug. 2 in Libby.

Led by 19-year-old Brandon "Moose" Thompson and the Rausch brothers, the Mariners clawed their way out of the losers' bracket. They beat Vauxhall in the consolation and then 10-runned Sidney-based Richland County for the championship.

Playing under smoky skies in a packed, tense and beautiful Lee Gehring Memorial Field, Thompson pitched 17 innings with 25 strikeouts. He went 11-for-25 (.440) in the tourney with three homers and nine RBIs. The Mariners went to regionals in Anchorage, Alaska, and finished the season with 61 victories.

No. 2

Lakers stun Mavs with 5-run 9th

The Missoula Mavs Class AA American Legion baseball team had beaten Kalispell three times by a combined scored of 40-3 coming into this game.

Then on June 20, with the bases loaded and two out in the bottom of the ninth, Kalispell coach Ryan Malmin went to his bench and selected 19-year-old pinch hitter Sam Freudenberg for his first plate appearance of the season.

Freudenberg, a University of North Dakota freshman who is hoping to make the NCAA Division I baseball team next year, stepped up and - with a 2-2 count - delivered the game-winning, two-run line drive over first base.

The hit scored Austin Zapata, who knocked in the third run of the inning with a ground ball up the middle, from second base with the walk-off run. It capped a five-run ninth and the Lakers won, 8-7.

Adam Olson walked to start the inning and John White followed with a ground ball single between first and second. With one out, Jacob Scott hit an RBI line drive over second base. Zach Ford followed with a sacrifice fly to right field that Missoula's Chris Bartenhagen made an awesome diving catch to record the second out. Tony Lawrence and Zapata kept the inning going with singles. Then Kalispell hit a little luck when Derek Keller reached on an error by the Mavs' 18-year-old shortstop, which set up Freudenberg's game winner.

The improbable bottom of the ninth ruined a complete-game victory for Missoula's Brian Fowler.

No. 1

Griz 24, Eastern Washington 23

EWU came into Washington-Grizzly Stadium on Oct. 6 and attacked top-ranked Montana's weakness at cornerback to come back from a 14-0 deficit. Then the Eagles and Grizzlies exchanged leads four times in the second half. Finally, UM All-American kicker Dan Carpenter booted a game-winning 34-yard field goal with 26 seconds left.

The Eagles dominated most of the game. They rushed for more yards than the Griz. They passed for a lot more yards than the Griz. They held the ball on offense for six more minutes and finished with a whopping 451-181 total yards advantage. They even held the Griz offense to 2-for-14 on third-down conversions.

EWU sophomore quarterback Matt Nichols threw the ball 59 times for 451 yards (the most against the Griz in Washington-Grizzly Stadium since 1996) and two blown-coverage touchdowns. Sophomore wide receiver Aaron Boyce caught a WGS-record 17 passes for 232 yards. But it wasn't enough as the Grizzlies rallied from a 23-21 deficit with 2 minutes, 20 seconds remaining with a nine-play, 45-yard game-winning drive.

UM senior receiver Ryan Bagley of Great Falls made the play of the game on that drive with a 27-yard catch on fourth down-and-10 from Montana's 38-yard line with 1:57 left to play. UM quarterback Cole Bergquist nearly overthrew Bagley on the wide-open fade route up the visiting sideline.

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Carl Hennell is a sports reporter for the Daily Inter Lake. He can be reached my e-mail at chennell@dailyinterlake.com or by calling 758-4446.