Indians too much for Bulldogs

Browning combines high-octane offense, athleticism to drop Whitefish, 62-47

BILLINGS -- The Indians' size, athleticism, experience and depth begs the question: How did they lose four games this season?

The Whitefish High School boys' basketball team learned firsthand Thursday night how formidable last year's state runner-up remains, losing a 62-47 first-round contest to Browning at the Class A state tournament at MetraPark.

The Indians' attack was equally bruising and precise as Central A divisional champion Browning (17-4) used a 19-8 second quarter to build a 34-20 halftime lead. Northwestern A No. 2 seed Whitefish (13-10) responded with an explosive second half, but trailed by at least 11 points the rest of the way.

Browning started four seniors compared to Whitefish's one. The Indians' shortest starter was 6-foot-1, and five of their players were at least 6-foot-3.

The Indians capitalized on their height advantage by out-rebounding the Bulldogs 45-30, and their work on the glass fueled a high-octane transition game featuring quick, pinpoint passes that led to a 48.1 percent shooting clip. They shot 57.1 percent in the first half while committing just five turnovers.

Senior Andrew Spotted Wolf neared a double-double with 17 points and eight rebounds for

Browning, while classmate Jordan Long Time Sleeping tallied 17 points, three boards and three assists. Six-foot-5 senior DJ Fish had 11 rebounds, six points, three assists and two thunderous blocks, and Brenden Weatherwax notched nine points and four rebounds.

"They're tall and they're athletic and they get after it and they all can run, so that's tough to contend with," Whitefish coach Eric Stang said. "We're in pretty good shape, I just don't think we were expecting (their tempo) to be quite that lightning quick.

"It's a thing where they've got big enough guys where they can see down the floor and they can throw it deep, and that plays to their advantage when you've got that kind of height and athleticism."

Senior guard Shawn Watterud scored a team-high 13 points for Whitefish on 5-for-10 shooting to go along with four rebounds. His first bucket gave the Bulldogs their only lead of the night, 3-2, early in the first quarter. His final field goal was a pretty underhand layup midway through the final frame.

Whitefish junior guard Colt Idol had 12 points, seven boards and two steals, but the Bulldogs struggled to mount any significant runs after closing the first quarter with an 8-4 spurt to pull within 15-12.

The Bulldogs, making their second straight state appearance, found some defensive answers in the second half, holding the Indians to 38.5 percent shooting while forcing 10 turnovers. Still, Browning's lead twice swelled to 18 points in the fourth quarter before Whitefish held the Indians to five points over the final 5 minutes, 26 seconds.

"The big thing is we needed to pick up the ballhandler right away and try to slow him down, and then everyone else needed to get back and find a man," Stang said. "It was a thing where if you had your back to the ball, you were putting yourself in a real bad situation.

"We tried some junk defense out there a little bit in the fourth quarter and we had a little momentum going. I think there were three possessions in a row we held them from scoring, we just weren't able to capitalize on it."

Whitefish heads to today's 2 p.m. loser-out contest against Laurel (14-9), while Browning battles Stevensville (13-8) in tonight's semifinals. With victories today and Saturday morning, the Bulldogs can play for third place on Saturday night.

Despite a rough second quarter, the Bulldogs continued to drive the lane without hesitation while making the Indians' looks increasingly difficult.

Whitefish junior guard Matt Whitehead had six assists, four points and two rebounds, and 6-foot-2 senior Jake Smith racked up seven points and three boards.

Smith said Browning's brawn wasn't surprising.

"Not really, not to me," he said. "I just came out and played. You've just got to be physical back with them."

Stang also recognized the Bulldogs' fearless approach against a team that look more fit for the Frontier League than Class A. Junior Josh Backer battled for four rebounds in just 12 minutes of work. Browning returned the core of last year's squad, which fell to Dillon in the state title game.

"Everybody came out and they weren't intimidated," Stang said. "But it was a physical game, and where we come from, the games usually aren't that physical.

"In the state tournament, (the officials) are going to let kids play a little bit more, and it's just something we needed to get used to, unfortunately. It took us a couple quarters to get used to it, but then we were fine."

Whitefish 12 8 15 12 - 47

Browning 15 19 14 14 - 62

WHITEFISH (13-10) - Matt Whitehead 2-6 0-0 4, Aaron Tkachyk 0-5 2-3 2, Shawn Watterud 5-10 2-4 13, Willie Roche 1-1 0-1 2, Marc Hotzfield 1-1 0-0 2, Colt Idol 4-16 2-2 12, Connor Silliker 0-1 0-2 0, Jake Smith 3-4 1-1 7, David FauntLeRoy 2-8 0-0 4, Josh Backer 0-3 1-2 1. Totals 18-55 8-15 47.

BROWNING (17-4) - Lyle St. Goddard 3-8 0-0 6, Scott Kipp 1-2 1-2 3, Shane Red Crow 0-1 0-0 0, Brenden Weatherwax 3-4 3-8 9, Jordan Long Time Sleeping 7-12 2-3 17, AJ St. Goddard 1-2 0-0 2, Andrew Spotted Wolf 8-15 0-0 17, DJ Fish 3-9 0-1 6, Dylan Desrosier 0-0 2-3 2, Derek Desrosier 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-54 8-17 62.

3-point goals - WF 3-11 (Idol 2-5, Watterud 1-4, Tkachyk 0-2), Bro. 2-10 (Long Time Sleeping 1-2, Spotted Wolf 1-4, L. St. Goddard 0-2, Fish 0-1, Kipp 0-1). Rebounds - WF 30 (Idol 7, Watterud 4, Backer 4, Smith 3, Whitehead 2, Tkachyk 2, FauntLeRoy 2, Alex Elespuru, Roche, Hotzfield, Silliker, team 2), Bro. 45 (Fish 11, Fish 8, Dy. Desrosier 6, Weatherwax 4, Kipp 4, Long Time Sleeping 3, Red Crow 2, L. St. Goddard, Running Wolf, De. Desrosier, team 4). Assists - WF 8 (Whitehead 6, Tkachyk, FauntLeRoy), Bro. 13 (Long Time Sleeping 3, Spotted Wolf 3, Fish 3, Kipp 2, L. St. Goddard, Dy. Desrosier), Blocks - WF 1 (FauntLeRoy), Bro. 5 (Fish 2, Weatherwax, Red Crow, AJ St. Goddard). Steals - WF 6 (Idol 2, Whitehead, Watterud, FauntLeRoy, Hotzfield), Bro. 4 (L. St. Goddard, Weatherwax, Long Time Sleeping, Kipp). Turnovers - WF 13, Bro. 15. Total fouls - WF 14, Bro. 18. Fouled out - none.