The Whitefish boys basketball enters the Northwest A divisional tournament as the No. 3 seed after a tough 52-41 loss at Polson on Saturday.

The two evenly-matched teams split the regular season series and will square off again on Friday at 4:30 p.m. in Whitefish to open tournament play. Both teams are 4-4 in the league and 8-10 overall.

A close game Saturday was blown open when the Pirates outscored the Dogs 16-6 in the third period. Matt Rensvold powered Polson’s offense with 17 points on 6 for 8 shooting from the field.

Whitefish junior Luke May posted 10 points, six rebounds and two assists for an all-around strong effort. He was 2 for 3 on 3-pointers. Senior Jack Streibich contributed eight points and five rebounds in 17 minutes.

The Dogs topped Polson 40-37 in their first meeting in January. They’ll look to bring back that same offensive and defensive output in the rematch.

“We played a strong defensive game and were patient on the offensive end the first time around,” Whitefish coach Curtis Green said. “Saturday, we were very lackadaisical and both ends of the floor.”

Green said the Dogs will need to play their best basketball this weekend to make a run in the tournament.

“We feel we have improved little by little all season and need to put all those pieces together,” he said.

No one player can carry the load, he added.

“We are not a team with one or two players that do everything for us,” Green said. “We are a team with our scoring spread out between all of our players. And it will take us stepping our defensive team effort up a notch.”

Hosting the tournament should be an advantage for the Dogs as they look to punch their ticket to the State A tournament for the first time in six years.

“Playing at home will play a big part,” Green said. “We are comfortable playing at home and will have the support of our community to give us that extra edge,” Green said.

Columbia Falls is the No. 1 seed in the tourney and has a first-round bye.

Frenchtown and Libby square off in the Nos. 4-5 game.

Whitefish 9 11 6 15 – 41

Polson 9 13 16 14 – 52

WHITEFISH – Derek Kastella 4, Brian FauntLeRoy 2, AJ Wetsch 8, Cody Olson 7, Luke May 10, Jack Streibich 8, Chaffin Ross 2.

POLSON – Wyatt Ducharme 6, Chris McDonald 1, Peyton Lefthand 14, Derek Peel 6, Tanner Wilson 5, Andrew Curley 3, Matthew Rensvold 17.