Tkachyk sparks 'Dogs to 5th straight win

The Daily Inter Lake

POLSON - Aaron Tkachyk scored nine of his 15 points in the second period, helping Whitefish break away from Polson for a 66-55 Northwestern A boys basketball victory on Saturday.

Whitefish, 7-4 overall and 3-2 league, outscored Polson 20-12 in the second frame to lead 33-28 at the half.

Whitefish's Colt Idol led all scorers with 19 points. He also led the Bulldogs in rebounding with seven.

Matt Whitehead had six assists.

Polson, 6-5 and 3-2, had five players score with four in double figures - Craig Bagnell 13, Tim Rausch 13, Kyle Bagnell 10 and Waylon Michel 10.

Whitefish has won five straight.

"The kids really came out and played another solid game," Whitefish coach Eric Stang said.

"They put together four solid quaters.

"We played great team basketball and did an excellent job executing our offense," he added.

Whitefish 13 20 12 21 - 66

Polson 16 12 12 15 - 55

Whitefish - Matt Whitehead 5, Aaron Tkachyk 15, Willie Roche 3, Josh Backer 9, Conner Silliker 6, Colt Idol 19, David FauntLeRoy 9.

Polson - Craig Bagnell 13, Kyle Bagnell 10, Waylon Michel 10, Tim Rausch 13, Louis Mohr 9.

Thompson Falls 69, Eureka 65

EUREKA - Thompson Falls finally wrestled the lead away from Eureka with four minutes to play and then used free throws to maintain the advantage for a District 7B victory.

Thompson Falls was 7-for-8 at the charity stripe in the final period.

Ben Dechart tossed in 32 points to pace Eureka, 3-9 overall, 2-3 conference. Dechart's big quarter was the second when he scored 14 points, which included three 3s.

Thompson Falls 12 21 12 24 - 69

Eureka 12 24 13 16 - 65

Thompson Falls - Dillon Gersteberger 5, Chuck Clark 18, Nate Nigh 9, Jon Buckingham 21, Jesse Mosher 2, Chris Molzhon 4, Will Dalby 2, Mike Wood 8.

Eureka - Kade Davis 2, Andrew Sanders 2, Tanner Peterson 2, Ryan Holder 12, Ben Dechart 32, Marcus Pluid 15.

Libby 49, Bigfork 40

LIBBY - Bigfork's bid for its second straight victory fell short in a Northwestern A contest with Libby.

Bigfork, 1-8 and 0-3, jumped in front 13-9, but Libby, 8-3 and 4-1, regrouped and pulled out a nine-point victory.

Libby's Conner Benson led all scorers with 21 points. Ten of those came in the second period.

Teammate Alex Cislo added 12.

Bigfork's Brock Boll totaled 10 points.

Bigfork 13 8 11 9 - 40

Libby 9 16 13 11 - 49

BIGFORK - Brock Boll 10, Jake Milner 6, Scott Taylor 7, Garrett Pewe 5, Leo Daigle 2, Keenan Evans 2, Lael Richmond 7.

LIBBY - Conner Benson 21, Joel Fuller 5, Colton Cannon 2, Alex Cislo 6 0-3 12, Kelly May 7, Nate Broden 2.

Stillwater splits games in Helena

HELENA - Logan Ward hit a trey at the buzzer, lifting Stillwater Christian over Helena Christian in MCAA play on Friday.

Helena took a 60-58 lead with 10 seconds remaining on two free throws by Kyle Cleasby, who led all scorers with 18 points.

Stillwater's Logan Ward hit a 3 earlier to tie the game at 58.

Ben Harrel's 12 points paced SCS.

On Saturday, SCS lost to Helena Home School 50-45.

Josh LeGassey led SCS with 11 points.

Stillwater moves to 7-8 overall, 3-2 in league on the season.

Stillwater 11 14 14 22 - 61

Helena Christian 7 20 13 20 - 60

STILLWATER - Jeremy Curtis 4, Trevor Holladay 6, Jake Meerkatz 7, Logan Ward 8, Daniel Jentz 3, Josh Top 4, Tim Butterfield 4, Ben Harrel 12, Josh LeGassey 9, Trent Buton 4.

HELENA CHRISTIAN - Seth Batson 8, Trevor Larson 3, Matt Olson 24, Sam White 2, Kyle Cleasby 18, Colton Williams 5.

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Stillwater 11 12 13 9 - 45

Helena Home 15 7 11 17 - 50

STILLWATER - Trevor Holladay 2, Jake Meerkatz 6, Logan Ward 7, Daniel Jentz 1, Josh Topp 2, Tim Butterfield 7, Ben Harrel 6, Josh LeGassey 11, Trent Burton 3.

HELENA HOME - Jesse Smith 3, Levi Howell 7, Shad Geisser 2, Mike Tappe 14, Mason Ward 2, Andrew Nistler 13, James Nistler 7, Micah Olsen 2..

Girls

Eureka 44,

Thompson Falls 32

EUREKA - Auna Lawler had seven steals, seven rebounds and sank three 3-pointers en route to 11 points and the first-place Lions beat Thompson Falls to remain undefeated in District 7B.

The senior guard set the tone for Eureka's suffocating defense, which had a total of 17 steals in the game and kept Thompson Falls in single digits the first three quarters.

Steph Vogelman had a game-high 15 points for Eureka, 6-6 overall and 5-0 conference. Mariah Newell had 12 points and eight boards.

Rheanna Padden led Thompson Falls with 10 points and Kyla Mochon pitched in nine. The Bluehawks sit in third place at 5-6 overall and 2-3 in conference.

Thompson Falls 9 5 7 11 - 32

Eureka 13 7 13 11 - 44

Thompson Falls - Makayla Becker 2, Rheanna Padden 10, Hannah Peters 2, Karli Cavill 5, Kyla Mochon 9, Catelyn Jedlicka 3

Eureka - Cami Stacy 2, Carly Hammond 2, Kayci West 2, Auna Lawler 11, Steph Vogelman 15, Mariah Newell 12.

Polson 68, Whitefish 46

POLSON - Polson clamped down on Whitefish, holding the visiting Bulldogs to single-digit scoring in the first three periods in claiming a Northwestern A victory.

Polson, 6-5 and 3-2, led 18-4 and 34-12 after the first two periods.

"We got after them," Polson coach Randy Kelley said.

"We were up 11-0 at one point and stayed after them. We also shot well the first half."

Rochelle Woods had 11 points for Polson and Nicole Davey led the Pirates in rebounding with nine.

Kate Klundt had 14 points for Whitefish.

Whitefish 4 8 6 28 - 46

Polson 18 16 17 17 - 68

Whitefish - Jessie Slaybaugh 4, Tori Powell 4, Kate Klundt 14, Skeltson 3, Heather Melcer 3, Olivia Nagler 1, Beth Donovan 9, McCara Cullen 2, Adele FauntLeRoy 3, Paula Oliviera 3.

Polson - Kodi Woods 2, Amanda James 5, Staci Benson 4, Sierra Pete 8, Breanne Kelley 5, Rochelle Woods 11, Riley Kenney 4, Kayla Duford 3, Nicole Davey 7, Marlee Berry 2, Sarah Newton 7, Cali Hislop 8, Loni Havlovick 2.

Missoula Big Sky 80, Ronan 27

RONAN - Joslyn Tinkle scored 32 points as Class AA Missoula Big Sky rolled to an easy nonconference victory over Class A Ronan.

Missoula Big Sky 28 21 16 15 - 80

Ronan 6 12 3 6 - 27

MISSOULA - Joslyn Tinkle 32, Brittany Sept 10, Brittany Bird Rattler 4, Sarah Lidstrom 6, Amy McLaughlin 6, Katie Showers 9, Elleson Tinkle 9, Steph Carl 4.

RONAN - Kaylee Larson 2, Jordan Strozzi 7, Carli Starkel 9, Nina Orozo 2, Morgan Belgrade 7.

Libby 61, Bigfork 46

LIBBY - Jackie Mee tallied 26 points and Brittany Martin added 17 as Libby defeated Bigfork in Northwestern A play.

Libby led 24-22 at the half, but outscored the Valkyries 37-24 in the final half.

Kailey Fierro had 14 points for Bigfork. Taylor Peck was next with 11.

Bigfork 4 18 17 7 - 46

Libby 13 11 19 18 - 61

BIGFORK - Mallery Knoll 7, Quinci Paine 1, Ariana Shults 2, Quindee Averill 4, Taylor Peck 11, Roxy Thurman 3, Kailey Fierro 14, Signa McLeod 4.

LIBBY - Evi Cernick 2, LaRona Lusher 2, Alysha Martin 8, Brittany Martin 17, Jaime Gilden 3, Logan Best 3, Jackie Mee 26.