WHITEFISH - Skiing used to be Drew Galbraith's top priority.

Not anymore. At least not during basketball season.

The 6-foot-6 Whitefish senior poured in 21 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to lead the Bulldogs to their first conference win of the season, a 55-42 Northwestern A victory over Ronan on Thursday night.

"Drew Galbraith was just a man in there tonight. I think this is going to give him tons of confidence where he realizes ‘hey I can take over a game if I'm given a chance,'" Whitefish coach Mark Casazza said. "In two years he's matured into a heckuva player. He's really understanding the game now. I was really happy for Drew tonight."

Growing up in a family of skiers, Galbraith never spent much time inside the gym until Casazza recruited him his sophomore year and began mentoring the tall center.

Two years later, Galbraith is reaping the benefits. And so are the Bulldogs.

"It's a good feeling," said Galbraith, whose previous career-high was 11, which he scored in the second half on Thursday. "Ronan is a really good team, they play really hard. But we came out on top."

After trailing 23-20 at halftime, Whitefish put together an 18-4 run in the third quarter that carried over into the fourth and gave the Bulldogs a 44-33 lead with roughly six minutes left.

A strong defensive push down the stretch derailed Ronan's impressive run-and-gun offense that had fueled the Chiefs early on.

Whitefish outscored Ronan 35-19 in the second half.

"I thought it was a tale of two halves," Ronan coach Steve Woll said. "We had the tempo in the first half and they got the tempo in the second half. They took away our transition in the second half and then they got a lot of second opportunities. We just didn't respond very well."

Junior Gage Vasquez had 12 points and six rebounds and senior Mac Roche had nine points, nine rebounds and six assists for the Bulldogs (6-5 overall, 1-3 in conference). Junior Jose Sanchez added five points.

Junior Marcus Hungerford led Ronan (5-7, 0-4) with 11 points. Kevin Wroblewski had seven and Lucas Black and Jarod Tanner each chipped in six.

With the final month of the regular season right around the corner, Whitefish and Ronan are currently fourth and fifth in Northwestern A, respectively. Whitefish plays at Libby on Saturday and Ronan hosts Superior that day.

"We just need to keep building and keep improving every week and be ready to go when the divisional tournament rolls around," Casazza said.

Ronan 11 12 8 11 - 42

Whitefish 11 9 18 17 - 55

RONAN - Jarod Tanner 2 1-4 6, Gordon North Piegan III 1 2-2 4, Marcus Hungerford 4 1-2 11, Lucas Black 3 0-1 6, Justin Dustybull 3 2-4 8, Kevin Wroblewski 2 2-2 7. Totals 14 8-15 42.

WHITEFISH - Christopher Forrest 1 0-0 2, Mac Roche 4 0-0 9, Kyler Blades 1 0-0 3, Jose Sanchez 1 2-2 5, Gage Vasquez 6 0-2 12, Cooper Olson 0 2-2 2, Drew Galbraith 9 3-4 21, Alex Duroche 0 1-2 1. Totals 22 8-12 55.

3-pointers - Ronan 3 (Hungerford 2, Tanner), Whitefish 3 (Sanchez, Blades, Roche); Fouls - Ronan 14, Whitefish 14; Fouled out - None.