Wildcats shock Flathead, 67-49

Playing opponents from a higher classification will usually make a basketball team better, and getting a dominating win can really be a confidence booster.

After letting an early 11-point lead slip away, the Wildcats outscored Flathead High School 28-13 in the third period and pulled away for a 67-49 win Friday night in Kalispell.

The Cats were unable to make it a sweep of Class AA team last weekend, though, as they fell to Sentinel 57-41 Saturday in Missoula — going scoreless in the third period. The Cats take a 2-2 record into the holiday break.

“I thought for about 28 minutes we played pretty good basketball, other than that four minutes in the second quarter,” Wildcats head coach Cary Finberg said.

Two free throws by Grant Getts gave the Cats a 19-8 lead early in the second period against Flathead, but the Braves went on a 14-4 run to close the first half. The CFHS lead was just one, 23-22, at intermission.

“When we get somebody down we have to keep pressing and we can’t let up,” Finberg said.

A 3-pointer by Kyle Howell and a Howell bucket on the break on a pass from Mackey Nolan pushed the Cats lead back to 10, 32-22 — a nine-point run. During that span, the half-court trapping defense kept the Braves out of their offense at times.

“We try to cause havoc,” Finberg said. “They hit some shots on us. We kind of got out of it and got back into it.”

A three-point play by Mitchell Wassam gave the Cats an 11-point lead, but back-to-back treys by Tyler Hawkins kept CFHS from pulling away. But two field goals by Nolan, a Tanner Barth free throw and steal and layup by Nolan made it a 45-30 lead late in the third period.

CFHS had a season-low 10 turnovers.

The Cats dominated the boards, outrebounding Flathead, 40-23. CFHS worked for 17 offensive rebounds to just five by the Braves.

Finberg said he got solid contributions from his bench.

“We had some kids step up. That’s going to be our motto all year long,” he said.

Nolan had another solid game. The senior scored 12 points, and had seven rebounds, five assists and two steals. Howell had 11 points, and Howell and Wassam each had five rebounds.

Karl Ingram led Flathead with 14 points.

THE CATS trailed Sentinel by one, 23-22, at halftime Saturday, but were outscored 16-0 in the third period. During that span, the Cats missed 15 straight shots.

“We had all sorts of different looks,” Finberg said. “Inability to get the ball to the post right now is killing us. Right now we’re a jump-shooting team. That’s why we’re not getting to the (free throw) line.”

The Cats were perfect from the line, going 8-for-8, but Sentinel shot 27 free throws, converting 15 of them.

“Defensively we played very well,” Finberg said. “We rebounded well. They’re a big, physical team.”

Each team had 35 rebounds. Getts led the Cats with 10, and Wassam added eight.

“The best way to stop a bad streak of not scoring is to get to the free throw line. We have to get more aggressive getting the ball inside,” Finberg said.

CFHS suffered 22 turnovers in the loss, and was 3-for-17 from behind the 3-point arc.

Michael Williams led the Cats with nine points. Nolan had eight points and six assists. Josiah

Begay had seven points.

Kendal Maier led Sentinel with 21 points.

COLUMBIA FALLS (67)

Kyle Howell 4 1-2 11, Tanner Barth 1 1-4 3, Nathan Trueblood 3 0-0 7, Nick Emerson 2 0-0 5, Mackey Nolan 5 2-2 12, Austin Robbins 3 0-0 6, Austin Barth 1 0-0 2, Mitchell Wassam 4 2-2 10, Grant Getts 0 2-2 2, Michael Williams 3 2-2 9. Totals 26 10-14 67.

FLATHEAD (49)

Danny Salois 3 0-0 7, Tanner Salois 1 2-2 5, Ian Gillespie 2 1-2 5, Karl Ingram 4 6-8 14, George Sherwood 3 0-0 7, Mike Van Arendonk 1 0-0 2, Tyler Hawkins 4 2-3 9. Totals 15 12-14 49.

Columbia Falls     14     9     28     16 — 67

Flathead     8     14     13     14 — 49

3-point goals: Columbia Falls 5 (Howell 2, Trueblood, Emerson), Flathead 5 (D. Salois, T. Salois, Sherwood, Hawkins 2). Total fouls: Columbia Falls 15, Flathead 16. Fouled out: None.

COLUMBIA FALLS (41)

T. Barth 1 0-0 2, Josiah Begay 2 2-2 7, Nolan 3 2-2 8, Robbins 0 2-2 2, Wassam 2 0-0 4, Kaleb Johnson 1 0-0 2, Jacob Calderwood 0 2-2 2, Getts 2 0-0 5, Williams 4 0-0 9. Totals 15 8-8 41.

MISSOULA SENTINEL (57)

Connor Woodill 2 0-1 4, Zack Wagenmann 2 1-3 5, Kendal Maier 5 9-13 21, Ben Roberts 4 6-8 14, Trevor Olson 2 0-0 4, Taylor McGreevey 1 2-5 4, Riley King 2 0-0 5. Totals 21 18-30 57.

Columbia Falls    14    8     0     19    —    41

Missoula Sentinel     15     8     16     18     —     57

 3-point goals: Columbia Falls 3 (Begay, Getts, Williams), Sentinel 3 (Maier 2, King). Total fouls: Columbia Falls 22, Sentinel 13. Fouled out: None.