Boys basketball: Broncs hold off Bulldogs
WHITEFISH — Trailing Frenchtown by 19 with 11 minutes to play, the Whitefish boys (2-5 overall, 1-1 Northwestern A) nearly came all the way back, missing a 3-pointer at the buzzer to lose 44-42 to the Broncs (3-2, 2-0) in a Northwestern A conference basketball game on Saturday afternoon.
Whitefish senior forward Art Doorn hit a 3-pointer with 11.7 seconds to play to cut a once daunting deficit to two points. He couldn’t hit his last shot though, missing a final chance that would have won the game for the Bulldogs.
“You can see the heart and character of this team when they’re down 19 points in the second half,” Whitefish coach Mark Casazza said.
“There wasn’t a bit of quit in them. I told them if they keep fighting, good things will happen. They did and they fought back and we just ran out of time.”
The Bulldogs dug themselves a hole through the first three quarters. Mired in a scoring drought for more than eight minutes in the first half, they trailed by 10 in the second quarter after closing the first down one point. Whitefish trailed 21-10 at half and scored just two buckets in the first five minutes of the third quarter to fall behind 33-14 before beginning to rally.
“They’re slowly figuring it out offensively,” Casazza said. “The nice thing is, when we do figure it out offensively, we have a defense that really can put the pressure on people.”
Whitefish extended the pressure in its 2-3 zone, its guards disrupting the Broncs before they were able to get in their offense. The change forced Frenchtown into mistakes and jumpstarted the dormant Bulldog offense.
Keyed by an inside-out game, Whitefish began to heat up from deep late in the third quarter. Senior guard EJ Havens turned the game into a shootout, trading 3-pointers with Frenchtown senior John Chapman, energizing the crowd and starting momentum for the Bulldogs.
Doorn joined the party as the fourth quarter started, hitting a long two with his foot on the line before nailing a 3 from the left wing with 5:36 remaining to cut the deficit to single digits for the first time since midway through the second quarter.
The defense stayed strong, holding Frenchtown to one field goal, a falling-away jumper from 17 feet, in the final five minutes. Working the ball inside, Whitefish sophomore Luke May laid in a basket with 1:42 left to finally cut the deficit to one possession, Frenchtown holding on to a 42-39 lead.
Chances stopped falling for the Bulldogs though. A chance in the post by Garrett Anderson rolled out with a minute to play. After a pair of Chapman free throws extended the lead back to five, Doorn hit a 3 while being fouled with 11 seconds to play. He missed the ensuing free throw and his final 3-point chance after a missed Chapman free throw on the other end gave Whitefish a little more than six seconds to win the game or send it to overtime.
“Art had a big game,” Casazza said. “Art played like a man tonight. We know he can shoot the 3, I challenged him to do the dirty work inside — get the rebounds, play great defense, all those things. If you’re hitting 3s that’s a plus. He took up the challenge. He did his job.”
Doorn finished with 10 points and Havens had 12 to lead the Bulldogs. Chapman had a game-high 20 for Frenchtown.
“Just like we were a second half team tonight, these guys are going to be a second half of the season team,” Casazza said. “We’ve got a lot of new faces and I just see them coming together as a team.”
Whitefish hosts Eureka on Friday in its next contest.
Frenchtown 6 15 15 8 — 44
Whitefish 5 5 14 18 — 42
FRENCHTOWN — John Chapman 20, Quinton Mazzola 4, Chris Delaney 2, Andrew Honken 5, Bridger Truett 6, Jordan Moe 7.
WHITEFISH — Keaton Nicholson 4, A.J. Wetsch 2, Alex Wilson 3, E.J. Havens 12, Art Doorn 10, Luke May 2, Hugh Ramlow 2, Garrett Anderson 7.