Whitefish, Libby fall in Class A state loser-out action

| March 10, 2007 1:00 AM

The Daily Inter Lake

BELGRADE - Matt Ritter scored 16 of his game-high 28 points in the fourth quarter to help Butte Central (13-9) hold off Whitefish Friday in loser-out action.

Ritter hit two free throws to give Butte Central a six-point advantage, 43-37, and then connected on two more with 26 remainings to put the Maroons in front by seven, 47-40.

Luke Fennelly hit a trey to get Whitefish within three, 43-40, but that was as close as the Bulldogs would get.

David FauntLeRoy led Whitefish in scoring with 10 points.

Whitefish led 12-7 and 20-15 after the first two quarter stops. Butte Central outscored Whitefish (11-12) in the final quarter, 22-11.

Butte Central plays a loser-out game today at 11 a.m.

Whitefish 12 8 10 11 - 41

Butte Central 7 8 11 22 - 48

WHITEFISH (11-12)

Aaron Tkachyk 0-5 4-6 4, Luke Fennelly 4-11 0-3 9, Colt Idol 3-9 2-4 8, Janie Clogg 1-1 4-6 6, David FauntLeRoy 4-5 2-3 10, Kenny Overcast 0-1 0-0 0, Shawn Watterud 1-1 0-0 2, Brad Nielsen 0-0 0-0 0, Byron Witcomb 0-1 0-0 0, Marc Hotzfield 0-0 0-0 0, Jake Smith 1-1 0-0 2, Dane Sjoden 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-35 12-22 41.

BUTTE CENTRAL (13-9)

Clay McQueary 2-3 1-3 5, Matt Boyle 1-6 2-2 5, Matt Ritter 6-14 12-14 28, Tanner Neumann 1-9 7-11 9, Dan Markovich 0-0 0-0 0, Zach Bair 0-1 1-2 1, Matt Gould 0-1 0-0 0, Sean Ferriter 0-0 0-0 0, Brett Kamrud 0-1 0-0 0, Casey Norbeck 0-2 0-0 0, Colin O'Neill 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 10-37 23-32 48.

3-point goals-Whitefish 1-5 (Fennelly 1-2, Idol 0-1, Tkachyk 0-2), Central 5-24 (Ritter 4-10, Boyle 1-5, Bair 0-1, Gould 0-1, Norbeck 0-1, Neumann 0-6). Fouled out-Clogg, McQueary. Total fouls-Whitefish 26, Central 21. Technicals-B. Witcomb, M. Ritter. Rebounds-Whitefish 32 (Idol 11), Central 23 (Neumann 11).

Stevensville 55, Libby 48

BELGRADE - The Yellowjackets used a 16-9 fourth quarter to break a 39-all tie and end the Loggers' season in loser-out action.

Libby's Jim Mee scored 13 points while Joel Fuller had 11 points and eight rebounds. Kyle Baker and Zach Rowan combined to score 17 points for the Northwestern A No. 2 seed Loggers, who finish 12-11.

The Loggers led 11-9 after one quarter and trailed 22-21 at halftime. They were narrowly out-rebounded, 33-32.

Ethan Pateman led Southwestern A No. 2 seed Stevensville with 17 points, and Bridger Chambers had 16 points and nine boards.

The Yellowjackets improve to 14-11 and play a loser-out contest today at 9:30 a.m.

Libby 11 10 18 9 - 48

Stevensville 9 13 17 16 - 55

LIBBY (12-11) - Kyle Baker 4-6 0-1 9, Jim Mee 5-15 0-0 13, Joel Fuller 4-10 2-2 11, Charley May 2-4 1-3 5, Nick Broden 0-3 1-2 1, Zach Rowan 4-6 0-1 8, Rob Carney 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 19-49 5-10 48.

STEVENSVILLE (14-11) - Drew Zieler 1-3 1-2 3, Boone Chambers 0-3 2-2 2, Ethan Pateman 8-12 1-2 17, Ryan Grove 2-5 2-9 6, Bridger Chambers 5-17 6-6 16, Nick Dahlquist 1-4 0-0 2, Richie Brushia 0-1 0-0 0, Logan Creech 3-5 0-2 9. Totals 20-50 12-23 55.

3-point goals - Libby 5-19 (Mee 3-9, Fuller 1-3, Baker 1-4, May 0-1, Rowan 0-2), Stevensville 3-13 (Creech 3-5, Zieler 0-1, Boone Chambers 0-3, Bridger Chambers 0-4). Rebounds - Libby 32 (Fuller 8), Stevensville 33 (Bridger Chambers 9). Total fouls - Libby 22, Stevensville 15. Fouled out - Boone Chambers.