The Daily Inter Lake

COLUMBIA FALLS - Whitefish's Colt Idol was more focused on beating rival Columbia Falls than setting any school records, but he did both Friday night.

The 6-foot-3 senior scored 24 points and became the school's all-time leading career scorer by one point as the Bulldogs edged rival Columbia Falls 61-58 in a spirited Northwestern A boys basketball game.

Idol scored nine points in the fourth quarter to pass Steve Kastella's (1970-71) previous school record of 1,368 points. The Bulldogs were behind by as many as seven at one point, but fought back in the final period for their 11th straight victory.

"It was a high intensity chess game," Whitefish coach Eric Stang said.

The Bulldog seniors stepped up in their last regular season match against Columbia Falls with a 21-point fourth quarter. Josh Backer had seven of his 11 points in the final period, Aaron Tkachyk finished with eight total and Matt Whitehead hit a pair of key 3-pointers in the final minutes.

"We had five seniors come onto the floor and step up as leaders," Stang said. "And as a team, everybody contributed. You couldn't ask for more from a team as a coach."

The high-octane battle began with Columbia Falls leaning on the energy of a packed gymnasium and building an early lead.

"In the first half, through the noise and the intensity of the gym, we were getting screwed up and were a little out of place on both ends," Stang said.

The Bulldogs kept on the Wildcats' tails throughout and capitalized on a few key turnovers in the final eight minutes. Whitefish took its first lead of the game after Whitehead sank the downtown treys and Tkachyk hit a pair from the line.

"Both teams came out and played really aggressive. It was a tournament-type atmosphere and that's what you expect when two rival teams play each other," Columbia Falls coach Cary Finberg said.

"(Whitefish) were just a little more aggressive in the fourth and that's what the difference was," Finberg added. "There's a reason they've won 11 in a row."

Idol fell into foul trouble early in the game, but came out in the fourth quarter and kept a clean profile to break the 38-year scoring record.

"He wasn't ever really focused on it, he was more focused on helping his team win," Stang said of Idol's attitude towards breaking the record. "We put him in with over four minutes left and he stepped up and played smart and contributed any way he could."

The Bulldogs shot 16-of-18 from the free throw line and had only nine turnovers in the game.

The Bulldogs share first place with Libby, both with 6-2 marks. WHS has now won three straight against rival Columbia Falls dating back to last year's divisional tournament. Columbia Falls (3-5) stays in fourth place.

Whitefish 14 17 9 21 - 61

Columbia Falls 16 19 6 17 - 58

Whitefish - Matt Whitehead 6, Aaron Tkachyk 8, Willie Roche 3, Josh Backer 11, Connor Silliker 2, Colt Idol 24, David FauntLeRoy 7.

Columbia Falls - Kyle Howell 12, Tanner Barth 8, Matt Triplett 2, Mackey Nolan 11, Austin Robbins 9, Austin Barth 4, Mitchell Wassam 7, Grant Getts 5.

Ronan 71, Bigfork 61

BIGFORK - Bigfork coach Lyle Whitman felt like he was in a nightmare as he watched his hard-working team missed free throw after free throw.

The Vikings shot 11-for-37 from the line and fell to Northwestern A-foe Ronan 71-61 on Friday.

"This is the first time this has happened," Whitman said of his team's misery from the charity stripe.

"It was just one after another. It was a nightmare."

Mike Fisher led fifth-place Ronan (3-4 in conference) with 19 points and Kyle Hendrickx came through with nine.

The night wasn't a complete disaster for Bigfork (0-7), who fought back after a four-point first quarter to outscore Ronan in two of the next three periods.

Scott Taylor broke the school record (21) for rebounds in a game after pulling down 27. He had grabbed 20 boards twice before.

Brock Boll netted a game-high 22 points and had a workmanlike 14 boards himself.

Ronan 16 13 19 23 - 71

Bigfork 4 14 19 24 - 61

Ronan - Jarod Tanner 3, Mike Fisher 19, Dallas Cordier 15, Justin DustyBull 2, Gordan North Piegan 1, Eddie Ness 9, Jay Sorrell 2, Nolan Harris 11, Kyle Hendrickx 9.

Bigfork - Garrett Pewe 15, Zac Hansen 1, Leo Daigle 2, Brock Boll 22, Jake Milner 2, Scott Taylor 13, Christian Ker 6.

Polson 49, Eureka 40

EUREKA - Eureka trailed by three points with 28 seconds left, but never got any closer in falling to Polson in a nonleague matchup.

Waylon Michel went 4-for-4 at the free throw line in the final 15 seconds to keep Polson on top. Michel finished with 11 points.

Polson's Kyle Bagnell led all scorers with 26 points. Teammate Tim Rausch had 10.

Ben Dechart had 17 to pace Eureka and Marcus Pluid followed with 15, all coming in the final half.

"I'm very proud of the kids," Eureka coach Chad Dunn said.

"They played hard."

Eureka has a key 7-B battle at Troy tonight.

Polson 8 13 16 12 - 49

Eureka 7 5 10 18 - 40

POLSON - Kyle Bagnell 26, Waylon Michel 11, Tim Rausch 10, Ryan Kelley 2.

EUREKA - Kade Davis 2, Jesse Thomson 2, Andrew Sanders 2, Ryan Holder 2, Ben Dechart 17, Marcus Pluid 15.

Libby 42, Troy 37

LIBBY - Conner Benson tallied 12 points and Kelly May 11 as Libby held off Troy in a nonconference matchup.

May accounted with all of Libby's fourth-quarter points with his trey.

Libby trailed 13-8 after the opening period, but battled back to tie it at 20 at the half. The Loggers took a three-point lead into the fourth period.

Aaron Palmer led Troy with 14 points.

Libby plays a Northwestern A game today at Ronan, 4:30 p.m.

Troy 13 7 7 8 - 37

Libby 8 12 10 3 - 42

TROY - J. Day 6, S. Garrett 7, Aaron Palmer 14, B. Hammich 8.

LIBBY - Conner Benson 12, Kelly May 11, Joel Fuller 2, Colton Cannon 8, Alex Cislo 9.