Cats thump Braves, Broncs, to go 5-0

At the beginning of the season, coach Cary Finberg touted his team's depth.

That depth paid off this weekend, giving the boys basketball team two impressive wins despite having one of their lead scorers out.

Drew Perry didn't play because he was banged up from a car wreck that happened at the Blue Moon intersection when a vehicle turned in front of the car he was a passenger in. Teammate J.D. Fields was also in the wreck, but he was able to play.

Perry isn't seriously hurt, but his teammates filled in nicely in his absence, downing Flathead 54-33 at home Friday night and Hamilton at home 59-38.

The two wins extend the Cats record to 5-0.

Top scorer against Flathead was Kevin Boyer with 15, followed by Guy Smith with 14. Anthony Minson had seven and Jace Ladenburg had eight. J.D. Fields had five, Greg Macijunas had two and Robbie Dakin had three.

Fields had five assists, Boyer had six rebounds, and Minson had five.

The Cats broke the Flathead press early and often, scoring 22 points in the first quarter. From there, the Cats looked to be on cruise control while the Braves looked just plain old flat.

It was the first win against the AA Braves since December, 1999.

"I thought our intensity and team defense was the best its been up to this point," Finberg said.

The team depth also showed.

"It's nice to look down the bench and see some kids you feel comfortable putting in," Finberg said.

Fields was also banged up in the wreck, so he wasn't 100 percent.

"He played really well. He gutted it out and did a great job," Finberg said.

Against Hamilton, it was more of the same. The Cats jumped to a 15-7 first quarter lead, and then kept it up.

Meanwhile, Hamilton couldn't handle the Cats defense and scored only seven points each stanza until they scored 17 in the fourth. By then, the gap was too big to close.

Top scorers against Hamilton were Smith with 17 and Fields with 10. Rounding out the scoring were Boyer, with nine, Ladenburg nine, Dakin three, Minson three and Macijunas with two.

Minson and Ladenburg had 10 boards apiece and Macijunas had 11,

Finberg took note of Ladenburg's play.

"I thought Jace was tremendous in that game," he said. "That's the best he's played."

The Cats have Christmas break and then face Libby away Jan. 6. Next home game is Whitefish Jan. 7. Game time is 8 p.m.

Libby looks to be tough, especially on their home floor. They beat Bigfork in a buzzer-beater Saturday night. Libby can shoot the three, and when they're hot, they're tough to beat.

"It will be a test for us," Finberg said. "They're the defending state champs."

In other action, the freshmen beat Kalispell 62-60 and Hamilton 58-34.

The JV beat Kalispell 37-32 and beat Hamilton 76-52.

On Monday, the JV team beat Polson 64-42, and the frosh won 55-26.

Wildcats 59, Broncs, 38

Columbia Falls 15 5 14 15 59

Hamilton 7 7 7 17 38

Wildcats 54, Braves 33

Flathead 9 5 11 8 33

Columbia Falls 22 5 14 13 54