Bulldogs win two on the road

By CHRIS TUCKER

Whitefish Pilot

Whitefish racked up two conference wins while on the road this week, defeating Bigfork (0-9, 0-6) on Thursday 48-37 and Ronan (3-6, 1-4) on Friday 63-45.

“We’re extra pleased that we finally got into that win column,” coach Julio Delgado.

The back-to-back victories put an end to the eight-game losing streak the team had been on. The Bulldogs now stand at 2-8 (2-4).

“This is going to be huge for our confidence. This is a young team that needed a little bit of success,” Delgado said. “I thought that we had a team effort the last two games, and our defense is getting better and out rebounding our opponents, and that can only spell success.”

Delgado credited balanced scoring as the key to the team’s wins, noting the double-digit scoring by Colt Idol, Aaron Tkachyk and Jamie Clogg.

“Luke Fennelly had a break-out game against Ronan and scored nine and did a good job,” Delgado said.

During the game against Bigfork, Tkachyk scored 14 points and Idol made 18 and went 4-6 at the free-throw line. Whitefish made 81 percent of their free-throws. Bigfork made 72 percent.

Delgado said Whitefish faces a real challenge in its upcoming game against the Class AA Flathead Braves away on Thursday.

Earlier in the season, Kalispell muzzled the Bulldogs with a 62-30 win.

Whitefish plays at home against Polson (5-4, 4-1) on Friday, Jan. 19, and against Libby (6-3, 3-3) next Friday, Jan. 26.

Whitefish played both those teams earlier this year, and both games were close — Whitefish lost to Polson 49-43 and to Libby 69-59.

Whitefish 14 12 14 8 - 48

Bigfork 12 11 2 12 — 37

WHITEFISH - (2-8, 2-4) — Aaron Tkachyk 6 0-0 14, Luke Fennelly 0 4-4 4, Byron Whitcomb 1 0-0 3, Colt Idol 6 4-6 18, Jamie Clogg 1 2-2 4, Dane Sjoden 0 1-2 1, David FauntLeRoy 1 2-2 4. Totals 15 13-16 48.

BIGFORK (0-9, 0-6) — John White 1 1-2 3, Kainoa Lake 3 6-6 12, Roland Benedict 2 3-4 7, Justin Goode 1 0-2 2, Andrew Whittaker 1 1-2 4, Brock Boll 2 2-2 7, Garrett Pewe 1 0-0 2. Totals 11 13-18 37.

3-point goals — WF 5 (Tkachyk 2, Idol 2, Whitcomb), BF 2 (Whittaker, Boll).

Delgado gave notice at last week’s School District 44 board meeting that he plans to retire. Delgado said he didn’t wish to comment on his future retirement until the season was over.

He said he gave the board notice so that they would have plenty of time to find a future replacement who would be as enthusiastic about basketball as he has been.