Boys hit rough patch
The Whitefish boys basketball team fell
to 2-2 overall last week when they lost 62-47 to Class AA Glacier
High School and then 76-54 to conference foe Polson. After a
positive start at the Tip-off tourney one week earlier, the
Bulldogs now head into Christmas break reeling as they look to
rediscover the high-powered offense that escaped them in
consecutive games.
Whitefish faced Glacier High on
Thursday at home. With the Dawg House rocking, the Bulldogs came
out and grabbed an early lead in the opening quarter by dominating
the post. Senior Alex Duroche controlled the boards and scored on a
number of put-back opportunities, while Gage Vasquez and Mac Roche
converted on their open looks.
Whitefish was in the thick of an upset
chance as they rode the wave of scoring into the locker room down
by only two at the half. But Glacier came out of the break on fire
and out scored the Bulldogs 19-7 in the third quarter. They also
locked down on defense and took Vasquez out of his game.
“Glacier came out in the second half
with defensive pressure that caused us to make a lot of mistakes,”
Whitefish coach Mark Casazza said. “We panicked a little bit.”
The game was out of reach midway
through the fourth when both coaches unloaded their benches. Roche
finished the game with 16 points to lead the ‘Dogs. Vasquez had 13,
and Duroche tallied 10.
Whitefish traveled to Polson on
Saturday to face the top-rated Pirates in their first conference
game of the season. The Pirates were every bit as impressive as the
scouting report predicted. They scored 33 points in the first half,
led by seniors Kyle Bagnell and Louis Mohr — both top-10 in scoring
in the league.
More importantly, the Pirates defense
held Whitefish’s big three post players in check. The ‘Dogs tallied
only 13 total points in the half.
“I’ve got to give Polson some credit,”
Casazza said. “We came out extremely flat, we got in a hole, they
smelled blood and sealed the deal against us.
“Mohr is a flat-out player. Polson
doesn’t have a weak link in their starting five, and when
everything was falling for them, we didn’t respond.”
The Bulldogs regrouped in the third and
fourth periods but couldn’t overcome the early deficit. Vasquez led
the team with 13 points, followed by 10 from Chris Forrest. Vasquez
is now third in the league in scoring, averaging 16.5 points a
game.
Casazza says the team needs to regroup
over Christmas break and find a better balance on offense. He noted
that teams will be looking to shut down Vasquez, so there needs to
be alternative offensive outlets.
“We can’t have it so other teams can
just key in on one player,” he said. “I see Mac Roche stepping up
after the break and giving some needed leadership and making his
mark.”
Whitefish plays Frenchtown and Flathead
on Jan. 7-8.