Dogs repeat as Schwab champs
Flathead High School junior Karl Ingram shoots free throws during the 8th Annual Les Schwab Shootout at Flathead on Wednesday. Players from six Valley schools were given one minute each to make as many free throws as possible. Nate Chute photo/Daily Inter Lake
Colt Idol had one last slam dunk left in his high school career and it helped win Whitefish $2,000.
The Whitefish High School senior basketball standout planted a two-handed slam to win the dunk contest after taking the 3-point title earlier at this year's 8th Annual Les Schwab Shootout at Flathead High on Wednesday.
"It was just really more fun than a competitive thing, to see the guys from the other teams and from the conference," said Idol, who will graduate as the Bulldogs' all-time leading basketball scorer.
As a team, Whitefish won the event for the second-straight year and for the third time in four years. This year's group consisted of Idol and senior David FauntLeRoy on the boys side, and Kate Klundt and Jessie Slaybaugh on the girls side.
The Glacier team, consisting of Ben Cutler, Shay Smithwick-Hann, Emilee Hashley and Brooke Watkins, finished second and earned $1,500 for their school. Linnea Hashley, Dana Topp, Jake Meerkatz and Trent Burton of Stillwater Christian took third place and won $1,250.
Six high schools from the Flathead Valley competed in the shootout, which included a free throw and 3-point shooting contest and a slam dunk contest finale. Each school that competes earns a donation from Les Schwab Tires.
Watkins, a junior at Glacier, won the 3-point contest on the girls side after netting 15 3-pointers in one minute to outdo Whitefish's Jessie Slaybaugh, who made 10.
Idol won on the boys side with 19 shots made. Flathead junior Tanner Salois followed with 14 and Columbia Falls senior Mackey Nolan hit 13.
Flathead junior Karl Ingram gave the home crowd something to cheer about in the free throw contest. With less than 20 seconds left, Ingram hit one shot after another and passed FauntLeRoy's 22 for a winning total of 25.
In the girls competition, Glacier's Hashley hit 26 free throws in a minute to edge Stillwater's Hashley and Whitefish's Kate Klundt, each of whom had 23.
Columbia Falls freshman Austin Barth threw down a one-handed slam in the dunk contest along with Smithwick-Hann. Later, Barth barely missed a dunk off an assist from Nolan off the backboard.
8th Annual Les Schwab Shootout
Wednesday
At Flathead High School
1st place ? Whitefish (Kate Klundt, Jessie Slaybaugh, Colt Idol, David FauntLeRoy)
2nd place ? Glacier (Emilee Hashley, Brooke Watkins, Ben Cutler, Shay Smithwick-Hann)
3rd place ? Stillwater Christian (Linnea Hashley, Dana Topp, Jake Meerkatz, Trent Burton)
Other teams ? Bigfork (Roxy Thurman, Mallery Knoll, Zac Hansen, Garrett Pewe); Columbia Falls (Alyssa Ladenburg, Shay Grilley, Mackey Nolan, Grant Getts, Austin Barth); Flathead (Tess Brenneman, Ariel Johnson, Tanner Salois, Karl Ingram)