Northwest A District Libby boys, girls move to semis

WHITEFISH — Ryggs Johnston scored 32 points to help Libby prevail over Ronan 60-52 in the first round of the Northwest A District boys basketball tournament on Thursday at Whitefish High School.

Johnston easily led all scorers for the Loggers (12-7 overall), but it was the Libby’s collective effort in a 22-point fourth quarter that helped it pull away from the Chiefs (5-14) in the closing minutes.

Down early in the quarter, Jay Beagle nailed a 3-pointer to give the Loggers a 43-42 lead. The Chiefs stayed within a basket until Beagle tipped the ball away from the point-guard at half-court and made an uncontested layup to put Libby ahead 51-46 with 4:11 to go.

“Ryggs is our guy. He always shows up to play,” Libby coach Josh Bean said.

“But Jay made some really timely plays tonight. And he’s coming off of like walking pneumonia ... so for him to be out there and gut it out, I’m really happy with the way he did things.”

The Loggers had a five-point lead with just under two minutes to go, but Johnston buried a triple from the corner to give Libby a 56-48 cushion and put Ronan away.

It was one of Johnston’s five 3-pointers, three of which came in the fast-paced first quarter. But Keith Johnson, who finished with 12 points, was the only other Logger to find the basket in the frame as the teams went into the second tied at 12.

“I thought early on we were kind of rushing things on the offensive end and taking some jump shots early,” Bean said. “We only shot three free throws in the first half, we weren’t getting to the basket,”

Ronan found easy looks in the paint and outrebounded Libby to give it a 18-15 lead in the second quarter. Then the Loggers relaxed on offense and finished the half on an 11-3 run, with seven straight points from Johnston including a deep trey from well beyond the arc.

The Loggers held the Chief’s leading scorer, Anthony Camel, to just three points in the first half. But Camel showed off his jumper and physical inside play in the third quarter, getting six points to help Ronan outscore the Loggers 19-12 in the quarter and reclaim the lead.

Overall, Bean was happy with the job his team did containing Ronan’s big man.

“They put Anthony [Camel] in a lot of ball-screen situations and we weren’t going to leave him ... we didn’t want to let him get the ball in space and be able to do his thing,” Bean said.

“He can score and he can score in bunches.”

Camel finished with 13 points. Leading the Chiefs was Dallas Durheim with 16, and Jacob Gatch added 13.

Durheim opened the fourth quarter with a basket to give the Chiefs a four-point edge, but that’s when the Loggers stormed back to seize control of the game.

Libby will take on No. 1 seed Browning (17-1) in the semifinals tonight at 5. The Indians squeaked by the Loggers 56-54 on Jan. 26 in Libby.

“We’re going to have to take care of the ball, beat the press ... And what will be really important — which we didn’t do a good job of tonight — is on the offensive end, relaxing and getting a good shot,” Bean said.

Ronan will meet the loser of the Polson/Whitefish semifinal on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. to try and reach the consolation game.

Libby 12 14 12 22 — 60

Ronan 12 9 19 12 — 52

LIBBY — JJ Davis 3, Ryggs Johnston 32, Jay Beagle 5, Caden Williams 8, Keith Johnson 12.

RONAN — Terrell Stump 3, Randy Finley 2, Dallas Durheim 16, Leonard Burke 2, Jacob Gatch 13, Bubba Bush 3, Anthony Camel 13.

Girls

Libby 35, Whitefish 22

WHITEFISH – Points were at a premium as Libby took on Whitefish in the first round of the Northwest A District basketball tournament at Whitefish High School.

The Loggers got the best of the defensive battle, taking down the Bulldogs to advance to tonight’s semifinal.

Libby jumped out to a 4-0 lead off two steals by Emma Gruber that led to a basket and two free throws. That was all the points the Loggers could muster in the frame, and Gracie Smyley and Mikenna Ells each scored for Whitefish to make it 4-4 after the first quarter.

After that, the Loggers clamped down on defense even more, playing a tight man that forced turnover after turnover. Whitefish’s only basket was an open layup in transition with 1:15 left in the half.

“We were very gritty on defense,” Libby coach Wally Winslow said.

“We got them off their spots ... Ball pressure and challenging the passing lanes made defense easier. When the ball can’t get near the basket it’s harder to score.”

He called Gruber’s defensive effort “outstanding.”

“She’s a dynamo, her ball pressure was great,” he said.

Libby did not manage a field goal in the quarter until there were two minutes left, on Samantha Miller’s 3-pointer, but free throws gave the Loggers a modest 11-6 halftime lead.

The Loggers found some offensive rhythm in the second half while continuing to stifle the Bulldogs’ offense. But it was at the free-throw line where Libby gave itself a massive edge — the team went 12 of 16 in the half and 18 of 24 for the game.

“If we can do that every day, I’d be a happy man. That’s outstanding,” Winslow said.

That performance at the charity stripe helped keep Whitefish from cutting into the deficit. Libby outscored the Bulldogs 13-11 in the final frame, with nine of its points coming from the line.

Jayden Winslow had a game-high 11 points for the Loggers, and went 7 of 8 from the line. Gruber added eight and McKenzie Proffitt had seven.

“I thought she [Proffitt] defended well on the inside. She did some good stuff against their pick-and-roll offense ... she got up and challenged perimeter players on ball screens,” Winslow said.

“That’s sometimes unnerving for a big girl to get 20 feet from the basket and have to move your feet on a guard. So she did a nice job with that.”

Smyley paced Whitefish with eight points, while no other Bulldogs scored more than four.

Libby has a semifinal date with Browning (14-4) today at 3:30 p.m. The Indians took care of the Loggers 48-23 on Jan. 26.

Whitefish will play in loser-out action on Saturday at 11 a.m. against the loser of tonight’s Columbia Falls/Ronan semifinal.

Libby 4 7 11 13 — 35

Whitefish 4 2 5 11 — 22

LIBBY — Emma Gruber 8, Alli Collins 1, Linsey Walker 2, Samantha Miller 3, Jayden Winslow 11, Sammee Bradeen 3, McKenzie Proffitt 7.

WHITEFISH — Kaiah Moore 4, Gracie Smyley 8, Payton Kastella 4, Jadi Walburn 2, Mikenna Ells 4.