Divisional tourney next test for 'Dogs
Heavy is the head that wears the crown.
The Whitefish boys basketball team is finding this out as it enters today's Northwestern A divisional tournament with the regular-season title and the No. 1 seed. The Bulldogs, ranked-third in the state in Class A, are hoping to keep a 12-game win streak alive and get to the state tournament in Butte for the second year in a row.
But the Bulldogs aren't paying any attention to their accolades at this point, they've seen a No. 1 seed get taken down at the blink of an eye. At last year's division outing, No. 4 Whitefish toppled No.1 Columbia Falls.
"We're not going to get caught up in any of that stuff," Whitefish coach Eric Stang said of the team's win streak and league title. "For us, what it comes down to is getting ready to play and going out and doing what it takes to win."
At this year's tournament at Glacier High School, the Bulldogs and Wildcats have traded roles, with Columbia Falls (11-7 overall, 5-5 in conference) facing Ronan (11-7, 4-6) today at 2 p.m. The winner meets top-dog Whitefish (14-4, 8-2) Friday at 2.
Stang said a team's attitude heading into the postseason can play an important role, which is why he isn't celebrating just yet.
"You can either let yourself be affected by what happened in your regular season or you can put it aside and focus on who your next opponent is," Stang said. "We're not looking past anybody and at the same time we're not trying to psyche ourselves out."
The Bulldogs have the league's top scorer in Colt Idol, who averaged 20.3 points-per-game during the regular season and broke WHS's all-time scoring record. Whitefish has another viable scorer in senior Aaron Tkachyk, who averaged 11.7 ppg while running the point.
"We're doing a good job of playing together as a team and executing on offense. On defense, we're coming out and playing aggressive at times," Stang said.
The second tournament bye goes to Libby (13-5, 7-3), who started the season on top of the standings before hitting a few bumps in the road. The Loggers had three giant losses to conference teams this season - a 57-34 loss to Columbia Falls in January, a 58-36 loss to Whitefish later that month, and a 58-38 loss to Ronan in the second-to-last game of the season.
The Loggers are led offensively by Conner Benson (15.1 ppg). They play the 4 p.m. game on Friday against the winner of Polson (9-9, 5-5) and Bigfork (3-15, 1-9), who play today at 4.
Columbia Falls enters the tournament as a possible wild card. The big question is which Wildcats' team will take the court. There's the team that has won three state championships since 2003 and beat Western AA's piping-hot Glacier Wolfpack earlier this season. But then there's the group that lost back-to-back conference games for the first time since 2001.
The Wildcats have four seniors on the roster, most notably 6-foot-3 Grant Getts, who shot 85 percent from the free throw line during the season and has big game potential.
Ronan could stand in the way of the 'Cats, though. The Chiefs have two talented scorers in Nolan Harris (11.8 ppg) and Mike Fisher (10.4 ppg).
The Bigfork Vikings have experience on their side. Led by Brock Boll (13.6 ppg), the Vikes have seven seniors. Six-foot-five Scott Taylor has been a force down low all season and recently broke the school's single-game rebounding record with 27 boards.
The Pirates quietly enter the tournament as a possible dark horse also, with a host of fleet-footed players like Kyle Bagnell (11.0 ppg) and Tim Rausch (10.8 ppg) leading the attack.