Laurel runs away from Bulldogs
BILLINGS - The momentum swing was palpable and sudden, and it brought the Bulldogs' season to an unsatisfying close.
The Whitefish High School boys' basketball team was outscored 20-3 in the third quarter Friday afternoon during a 55-37 defeat to Laurel in loser-out action at the Class A state tournament.
The Bulldogs (13-11) used a 10-2 burst to close the first quarter with a 17-12 lead, and remained in front the rest of the half, including 24-22 at the break. But once Laurel (15-9) climbed back in front, there was no stopping the runaway Locomotives.
The Eastern A divisional
"They were playing really tight man on us," Idol said. "We couldn't swing the ball very well, therefore we couldn't run our offense. And so all the shots we took pretty much were forced - they were out of rhythm - and that killed us."
Idol finished with 17 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals, but Laurel allowed almost no easy buckets after the opening eight minutes while creating plenty of its own.
"We just did a poor job of defensive rebounding," Whitefish coach Eric Stang said. "That allowed them to close the gap.
"Second quarter, we put them in the bonus and we didn't need to. We just weren't being smart defensively. That allowed them to kind of close the gap from the free-throw line going into halftime, and in the third quarter, we ran some stuff to try to break the shell on the basket, but it just didn't fall. And then defensively, we allowed way too much penetration and didn't do a good job of boxing out."
Sophomore Sean Condon led the Locomotives with 12 points and eight rebounds, and Laurel shot 50 percent from the field while out-rebounding Whitefish 32-22. The Locomotives went 6-for-6 from the foul line in the second quarter.
Seven Locomotives scored at least five points, including junior Tim Simonich with eight and junior Matthew Scheie with seven.
Whitefish shot just 27.8 percent in the second half after firing 42.9 percent in the first. Idol went 7-for-15 from the field against a Laurel defense that was determined to shut - or at least slow - Northwestern A's leading scorer down.
"We did a good job of stopping penetration on the perimeter, which helped us get through screens underneath, and any time Colt Idol came off a screen, we wanted to definitely locate him," Laurel coach Patrick Hansen said. "We wanted to close out on that left shoulder and make it difficult for him to shoot.
"We knew that if they were going to make a run, they'd have to do it through Colt Idol. He scored some points today. It was hard for him to score, but he's just a good player."
The Locomotives advance to today's 9:30 a.m. loser-out contest against Billings Central (9-14).
"They were probably going to play as many guys as they could on him, and if they had guys foul out, they had guys foul out," Stang said.
"We ran stuff to try to get him good looks, but they were just standing there with him, holding him and stuff. We need other guys to step up in that case, and usually we do, but we didn't have it today."
Watterud had seven points and three rebounds in his last game as a Bulldog, while fellow senior Jake Smith grabbed four boards. Smith and Watterud are the only players Whitefish will lose to graduation.
Junior guard Matt Whitehead capped his strong postseason with four points, three rebounds, three steals and two assists, while Backer finished with five points and a pair of boards. Whitehead and Backer are part of a strong potential returning cast that includes David FauntLeRoy and Willie Roche, who played extensively at state.
"This next year should be our first year that we don't have a new coach," Idol said. "I've had three new coaches in three years on varsity.
"We're going to play a lot over the summer so we know how to play as a team with each other. All the players need to do more in the offseason so we can play as a team, and people need to learn their roles."
"We definitely want to return (to state), but how hard we work in the offseason and how much better guys get and we get as a program - we won't know that until next season," Stang said. "Our goal is to get back here, and we definitely have the players to do it, but we're going to have to work for it. It's not going to be easy."
Laurel 12 10 20 13 - 55
Whitefish 17 7 3 10 - 37
LAUREL (15-9) - Josh Barta 3-5 0-1 6, Tim Simonich 3-9 2-2 8, Jake Mogan 2-3 0-0 5, Zale Kaupish 1-2 2-2 5, Sean Condon 5-10 2-2 12, Jake Miller 0-0 1-2 1, Jordan Giles 2-4 0-0 4, Matthew Scheie 3-5 1-3 7, David Swecker 1-2 0-0 2, Jarred Hergett 1-2 3-4 5. Totals 21-42 11-16 55.
WHITEFISH (13-11) - Matt Whitehead 1-4 2-2 4, Shawn Watterud 2-7 2-4 7, Colt Idol 7-15 2-3 17, Jake Smith 0-2 0-0 0, David FauntLeRoy 1-2 0-1 2, Willie Roche 0-2 0-0 0, Josh Backer 2-5 1-4 5, Marc Hotzfield 1-2 0-0 2.
Totals 14-39 7-14 37.
3-point goals - Lau. 2-9 (Mogan 1-1, Kaupish 1-2, Simonich 0-4, Barta 0-1, Swecker 0-1), WF 2-8 (Watterud 1-2, Idol 1-5, Roche 0-1). Rebounds - Lau. 32 (Condon 8, Barta 5, Hergett 5, Mogan 3, Simonich 2, Kaupish, Miller, Scheie, team 6), WF 22 (Idol 5, Smith 4, Whitehead 3, Watterud 3, Backer 2, FauntLeRoy, Hotzfield, team 3). Assists - Lau. 11 (Barta 3, Kaupish 3, Condon 2, Mogan Scheie, Craig Canape), WF 8 (Idol 3, Whitefish 2, Watterud, Smith, Austin Green). Blocks - Lau. 1 (Hergett), WF 2 (Watterud, FauntLeRoy). Steals - Lau. 7 (Kaupish 3, Barta 2, Simonich, Scheie), WF 6 (Whitehead 3, Idol 2, Watterud). Turnovers - Lau. 15, WF 15. Total fouls - Lau. 18, WF 17. Fouled out - Mogan.