Northwestern A Libby boys, girls 3rd at district tourney
WHITEFISH — Libby’s boys and girls both earned third-place finishes on Saturday at the Northwest A District basketball tournament at Whitefish High School by claiming victories in the consolation finals.
The Loggers cashed in at the free-throw line to spill Whitefish 65-59 in a boys overtime contest, while the Libby girls rolled to an easy 48-26 triumph over Ronan.
All four teams advance to the Western A Divisional, which begins Thursday in Hamilton.
Libby made 9 of 12 foul shots in overtime to claim the win. Ryggs Johnston, who finished with a game-high 34 points, was 4 of 4 at the line and drilled a 3 in the extra session for Libby. For the game, he made 10 of 12 charity shots and had five 3s.
Libby went to the free-throw line 27 times total, making 19 in contrast to Whitefish, which was 4 of 9.
JJ Davis added 11 points for Libby.
Dillon Botner paced Whitefish in scoring with 22 points.
Libby advanced with an earlier loser-out win over Columbia Falls while Whitefish tripped Ronan in overtime.
The Libby girls held Ronan to single digit in each of the four quarters to post the victory.
Jayden Winslow netted 21 points to pace Libby, and all scorers. Sammee Bradeen added 10 for the victors.
Libby topped Polson and Ronan bested Whitefish earlier in the day in loser-out action to advance.
Libby 12 10 10 18 15 — 65
Whitefish 12 13 17 8 9 — 59
LIBBY — JJ Davis 11, Ryggs Johnston 34, Jay Beagle 5, Caden Williams 9, Keith Johnson 6.
WHITEFISH — Jayce Cripe 6, Bode Smith 2, Justin Conklin 3, Sam Menicke 2, Ryan Kemm 9, Lee Walburn 15, Dillon Botner 22.
Libby 9 19 10 10 — 48
Ronan 6 7 8 5 — 26
LIBBY — Syd Gier 2, Alli Collins 5, Samantha Miller 1, Jayden Winslow 21, Sammee Bradeen 10, McKenzie Proffitt 9.
RONAN — Lareina Cordova 1, Aislyn Baker 5, Tiana Ulutoa 2, Regan Clairmont 8, Kieauna DeRoche 3, Areanna Burke 1, Jaylea Lunceford 6.
Boys
Loser-Out Games
Whitefish 72, Ronan 65, OT
WHITEFISH — Clutch free-throws in overtime helped seal the deal for the Whitefish Bulldogs against the Ronan Chiefs.
Whitefish made 10 of 13 free throws in the extra frame and outscored Ronan 16-9.
Ronan took a one-point lead at the half, but Whitefish tied it at 44 by the end of the third.
Whitefish’s Lee Walburn led all scorers with 30 points and Dillon Botner added 14.
Anthony Camel paced the Chiefs with 18 points. Dallas Durheim scored 14.
Whitefish 13 14 17 12 16 – 72
Ronan 17 11 16 12 9 – 65
WHITEFISH – Jace Cripe 2, Mark Anderson 4, Sam Menicke 9, Ryan Kemm 12, Lee Walburn 30, Dillon Botner 14.
RONAN – Randy Finley 5, Dallas Durheim 14, Leonard Burke 2, Jacob Gatch 9, Girma Detwiler 3, Zarec Couture 3, Bubba Bush 11, Anthony Camel 18.
Libby 65, Columbia Falls 61
WHITEFISH — Keith Johnson scored 20 points and the Libby Loggers took down the Columbia Falls Wildcats.
Libby led 33-22 at halftime.
Ryggs Johnston contributed to the balanced scoring by adding 15 points.
The Wildcats came up short despite outscoring Libby in the third and fourth quarters.
Sam Hovde tallied a game-high 22 points, while Drew Morgan had 16 for Columbia Falls.
Libby 11 22 16 16 – 65
Columbia Falls 6 16 17 22 – 61
LIBBY – JJ Davis 8, Ryggs Johnston 15, Jay Beagle 8, Caden Williams 12, Tim Goodman 2, Keith Johnson 20.
COLUMBIA FALLS – Dillon Wanner 2, Drew Morgan 16, Dillon Shipp 5, Danny Henjum 4, William Dyon 5, Logan Bechtel 3, Zack Pletcher 4, Sam Hovde 22.
Girls
Ronan 49, Whitefish 35
WHITEFISH — The Ronan Maidens used a balanced scoring attack to down Whitefish.
Tiana Ulutoa scored a game-high 16 points for Ronan, who outscored Whitefish 17-10 in the fourth quarter.
Ulutoa made 7 of 8 free-throw attempts in the fourth.
Regan Clairmont added 10 points for the victors.
Marlee Bender paced the Bulldogs with 10 points and Jasmine Matern scored seven.
Ronan 9 8 15 17 – 49
Whitefish 4 11 10 10 – 35
RONAN – Lexi Wirz 1, Aislyn Baker 2, Tiana Ulutoa 16, Madison Clairmont 5, Regan Clairmont 10, Kieanna DeRoche 5, Ari Burke 5, Jaylea Lunceford 5.
WHITEFISH – Kit Anderson 3, Kaiah Moore 2, Claire Carloss 2, Jasmine Matern 7, Gracie Smyley 1, Payton Kastella 1, Jenny Patten 1, Jadi Walburn 6, Mikenna Ellis 2, Marlee Bender 10.
Libby 49, Polson 34
WHITEFISH – The Libby Loggers advanced by beating Polson.
Jayden Winslow and Sammee Bradeen had big games for the Loggers, putting up 17 and 14 points, respectively.
Alex Pierre led Polson with 10 points.
Polson 7 9 8 10 – 34
Libby 16 12 14 7 – 49
POLSON – Berkley Ellis 2, Megan Rost 2, Misty Tenas 4, Mahala Buffalo 2, Alex Pierre 10, Karly Lawson 5, Olivia Perez 5, Mossy Kawley 4.
LIBBY – Emma Gruber 1, Linsey Walker 12, Jayden Winslow 17, Sammee Bradeen 14, McKenzie Proffitt 1, Taylor Holm 4.