Prep Notebook: Northwestern A teams prepare for hoops finale

History has shown that Northwestern A is usually good for a nail-biting finish to the boys and girls basketball seasons. Well, get ready to add this season to the history books.

Of the 12 boys and girls teams preparing for the Feb. 26 division tournament at Glacier High School, there isn't a single one that hasn't lost at least once to a conference foe. Currently, there are five teams within one game of winning the top-two seeds, which earn first-round byes at divisionals.

"It's a cliche that coaches use, 'You can't look past anyone,'" Libby boys coach Wally Winslow said. "But it really is the case … It's any given night in this league."

On the boys side, the Libby Loggers (6-2) hold a thin advantage over the piping hot Whitefish Bulldogs (5-2), who have won nine straight games and are ranked No. 5 in the state in the latest Montana Prep Poll. Libby has picked up victories in four of the last five games, including a three-point win over conference-foe Columbia Falls (3-3) last week. Seniors Conner Benson (16.3 points-per-game) and Joel Fuller (10.9 ppg) have provided the one-two punch for Winslow's squad.

"We like to play pretty aggresive," Winslow said. "The last couple games have been better, we weren't having the mental breakdowns like before."

But, Winslow added, everything can change before you know it.

"A lot can happen in the final part of season," he said.

Libby finishes the season against Class B Troy (12-4 overall), Polson (4-3) and Ronan (2-4).

Meanwhile, Whitefish is about as hot as you can get finishing a season.

Colt Idol has kept up his status as one of the state's best this season (23 points in Whitefish's 58-36 trouncing of Libby on Jan. 31). But as of late, his teammates have come together to provide solid backup as opposing teams focus on Idol. Senior Aaron Tkachyk has stepped up as a legitimate offensive threat, averaging 11.7 ppg. It's no coincidence that the team-driven Bulldogs are looking like the group to beat in the Northwest conference right now.

Whitefish ends up against Bigfork (0-6), Columbia Falls and Ronan.

The Polson Pirates and Columbia Falls Wildcats find themselves out of the top spots for once. The Pirates started the season 6-2 but went on to lose five of their next six and are led by Tim Rausch (11.8 ppg) and Kyle Bagnell (11.3 ppg), who will be key to Polson's goal of playing the spoiler role this time around.

"It could be pretty interesting," Polson coach Karl Tait said of the conference tournament. "Our conference is so even, maybe Whitefish is a little bit of a shoulder above everybody, and Libby has been playing very well. And you know Columbia Falls is gonna be Columbia Falls in the tournament. So it's just very, very competitive."

The Wildcats, led by coach Cary Finberg, have won three state championships since 2003 and have a solid core of players who can trade off as leading scorers. Senior Grant Getts (10.6 ppg) has been clutch from the floor all season, and others like Mackey Nolan and Mitchell Wassam have leading-man potential.

But the Wildcats had a rare hiccup recently, dropping two games in one weekend for the first time since 2001. Finberg, in his 14th season, said the losses to Libby and Polson were tough to swallow.

"We knew going into the season it would be a very competitive conference," Finberg said. "We hope last weekend we got it out of our system and that hopefully we'll get better."

With four games left, the Wildcats will try to patch up any inconsistencies on both ends of the court, Finberg said.

"We got to come and compete, and execute and put together a couple good games," he said.

Bigfork's Brock Boll and Scott Taylor have kept the offense alive for the struggling Vikings. Boll is third in the conference in scoring with 12.9 ppg, and Taylor leads in rebounding with 10.1 rpg.

The situation is similar on the girls side, where Libby (6-2) has a slim lead for the time being over Columbia Falls (6-1), who has been the front-runner for the entire season thanks to the towering presences of the DeWit sisters, Kayla and Kelsey, who average a combined 25.1 ppg and 19.4 rebounds-per-game.

"This divisional tournament could really be up in the air," Columbia Falls coach Dan Fairbank said. "They're all scary teams."

The last time the Wildkats won the divisional tournament was in the mid-90s under Fairbank, who left after three years before coming back last season. This time around, in his second coaching stint, Fairbank is hoping to find similar magic, "knock on wood," he said.

Senior guard Alyssa Ladenburg (9.1 ppg) provides the leadership and reliable scoring up front for Columbia Falls, who were picked to finish No. 2 in conference behind Polson in a preseason coaches polls. They finish the season at Whitefish (1-6) and at home against Ronan.

Returning all-stater Jackie Mee (17.8 ppg) leads the Logger attack. Libby has won four of its last fives games, with the loss coming to the Wildkats, 52-45. Brittany Martin (11.9 ppg) is the team's only senior and gives the Loggers a solid second option behind Mee, a junior. Libby finishes the regular season against Troy (6-7 overall) and conference-foes Polson (5-3 in conference) and Ronan (0-5).

Preseason favorite Polson is heating up along with forward Breanne Kelley. The 5-foot-9 sophomore scored 32 points in Polson's 52-46 victory over Ronan (0-5) and led her team with eight points in a 37-33 upset over Columbia Falls the following night. Rochelle Woods and Nicole Davey are just as likely to run the show for the up-tempo Pirates, who have no players on the roster over 6-0. Polson finishes the season at home against Libby.

Roxy Thurman and the Bigfork girls (3-3) have played a memorable final season in Class A, beating both of Kalispell's AA schools on the road - the Glacier Wolfpack 49-47 on Jan. 9, and the Flathead Bravettes 53-41 on Jan 22. The Valkyries, who move to Class B next fall, had a five-game winning streak midway through the season, but dropped two games to conference-foes Libby and Polson. Thurman averages 14.0 ppg while Kailey Fierro averages 8.6 rpg.

"Bigfork is very capable of beating anybody in our league," Fairbank said.

Whitefish has the conference's leading scorer and rebounder, Kate Klundt, and a string of close losses this season, but has the potential to play with anyone. Klundt, a senior averaging 20.1 ppg and 11.1 rpg, will be the x-factor for the Bulldogs come tournament time.

You could say the Eureka girls basketball schedule has hurt so good.

The Lions, sitting atop the Class 7B standings with a near perfect 6-1 league record, have stepped up their game thanks to a grueling list of Class A games. Eureka has played seven Class A schools this season, which explains the 8-8 overall record, but fifth-year coach John Hammond thinks pairing up with bigger schools helps the program in the long run.

"I think the (Class' A schedule we have has strengthened us," Hammond said. "It's a good thing for our program, it makes us compete night in and night out."

"By the same token, if you play well and get beat in one of those games, they've done a great job of keeping their heads up," Hammond added. "They understand, yeah we got a loss in the column, but if we did some things right then we feel pretty good about. We try to always take something from it."

Returning all-stater Mariah Newell has been the go-to player for the Lions, but others like Steph Vogelman, Kayci West, Carli Hammond, Courtney Dickenson and Auna Lawler provide a well-rounded core.

"We're very versatile, and we have to be," Hammond said.

If playing up a class wasn't enough of a hill to climb, then losing a key player to an injury while others battle illness could be a back-breaker. Taylor Holder went down with a season ending knee injury just as a mix of players like Carli Hammond caught sickness. Nevertheless, the Lions kept on it, and it paid off with a hallmark win last week against Whitefish. Eureka edged out a 42-41 thriller on the road and emphasized its place among the teams to be wary of in Class B.

St. Ignatius (5-1) sits just below the Lions in the standings. Eureka finishes the season against Polson and Troy before heading into the district tournament on Feb. 20 in Libby.

Eureka is back in Class B after a short stint in A, and hopes to get back to its familiar territory among the teams heading to Hamilton for the state tournament at the start of March.

The Lions have proved they can play with top-notch talent, but the key for Eureka will be staying healthy, coach Hammond said.

"That's the biggest thing for us and to play our style of basketball and keep the speed going," he said. "Our conference, between us, St. Ignatius and Thompson Falls, is just neck and neck. I expect some very competitive games."

Reporter Dillon Tabish can be reached at 758-4463, or by e-mail at dtabish@dailyinterlake.com