Cats post wins over Eureka, Glacier; girls top Eureka, fall to GHS

By CHRIS PETERSON / Hungry Horse News

The Columbia Falls boys basketball team dispatched two non-conference teams last week, downing Eureka on Thursday 84-33 and Glacier 71-56 on Friday.

The Wildcats are now 8-4 overall and face Big Sky Thursday (today) on the road before rounding out the regular season with a string of conference games, starting with a home game against Bigfork on Friday at 7:30 p.m.

The Cats played aggressive defense and offense against both teams last week. Against the Lions, Chase Grilley and Chase Fairbank had 15 points apiece and had five players total in double figures.

Grant Getts had 12, Cody Bowman 11, Mackey Nolan 10, Zane Ridings nine, Michael Williams nine, Mitchell Wassam two and Austin Robbins one.

The Lions, who were Class A last year, dropped back down to Class B this year. They also graduated nine of last year's starters and the young squad had a rough night as the Cats played everyone.

Against Glacier, the Cats thrived in a new school and a new gym, playing against an old Columbia Falls coach in Mark Harkins. Harkins was the Columbia Falls head football coach for several years before he took a job at Flathead High. When Flathead split into two schools, Harkins was named the head coach at Glacier.

Glacier has no seniors, but the game was still fun to watch as the Cats played a pressure defense and forced 25 Glacier turnovers. Grilley led the scoring with 22, followed by Nolan and Ridings who had 15 apiece.

Grilley also had eight rebounds, four steals and five assists. Fairbank also tallied four steals. Against Eureka, Grilley had 10 steals and 11 assists in just 19 minutes of play for a triple double.

"He's as complete a player that I've ever had," coach Cary Finberg said. "He's playing tremendous right now. Hopefully he can continue that."

Grilley has also been stellar from the charity stripe in the past few games. He went 9-for-10 from the line against Glacier.

His play has also elevated the play of those around him.

"The chemistry is getting better. Kids are understanding their roles better," Finberg said.

They get a taste of tournament-type play this week — traveling to Big Sky one night then turning around to play Bigfork on Friday. Finberg said it would have been nice to have a day between the games, but come Divisional time, they can learn from this week. Big Sky is no slouch. They played Sentinel tough and beat Flathead already this year.

Bigfork is 3-9 overall and has yet to win a conference game.

COLUMBIA FALLS (4-1, 7-4)

Chase Fairbank 15, Cody Bowman 11, Chase Grilley 15, Mackey Nolan 10, Zane Ridings 9, Austin Robbins 1, Mitchell Wassam 2, Grant Getts 12, Michael Williams 9.

EUREKA

Josiah Begay 6, Tanner Newell 4, Donald Marque 6, Luke Truman 6, Marcus Pluid 11.

Columbia Falls 24 25 25 10 — 84

Eureka 4 11 6 12 — 33

COLUMBIA FALLS (4-1, 8-4)

Fairbank 3 0-0 6, Bowman 1 2-2 4, Ridings 3 0-0 8, Nolan 5 3-4 15, Robbins 1 0-0 2, Grilley 5 9-10 22, Wassam 3 4-7 10, Johnson 1 0-0 2, Getts 1 2-2 4. Totals 23 20-25 71.

GLACIER

Josh Doty 1 0-0 2, Connor Fuller 1 0-0 2, Shay Smithwick-Hann 3 5-6 12, Mike Rasmussen 4 6-8 14, Ben Cutler 7 3-4 20, Ben Sansaver 1 0-0 2, Logan Quay 2 0-0 4. Totals 19 14-18 56.

Columbia Falls 19 19 13 20 — 71

Glacier 10 14 12 20 — 56

3-point goals: CF 5-16 (Ridings 2, Mackey 2, Grilley), Glacier 4-13 (Cutler 3, Smithwick-Hann). Rebounds — CF 42 (Grilley 7), Glacier 43 (Smithwick-Hann 10). Team fouls — CF 18, Glacier 23. Fouled out — Getts; Smithwick-Hann.

Wildkats rally for win over Eureka

By JOE SOVA

Hungry Horse News

Outscoring Class B Eureka 30-16 in the second half, Columbia Falls rallied for a 48-37 victory over the former conference foes last Thursday at CFHS.

The Wildkats managed to score just 11 points through the first three quarters Friday at Class AA Glacier, and the Wolfpack earned their first-ever varsity win, a 52-34 decision.

With the split, the Kats are 3-9 overall. They host Class AA Big Sky (Missoula) on Thursday, then take a 1-4 Northwestern A Conference record to Bigfork on Friday. The Valkyries lead the league. The Kats are in fourth place.

Eureka got off to a quick start, leading the Kats 17-9 after one period. CFHS made up some ground in the second stanza and trailed 21-18 at halftime.

The Kats crept ahead in the third period as Cortney Westgard scored, followed by a pair of baseline drives by Sam Ladenburg for a 28-23 lead.

Sophomore Kelsey DeWit took over in the fourth quarter, scoring four field goals in the first four minutes, propelling the Kats to a 47-35 advantage. DeWit, who went scoreless in the first half, netted 14 points after the break.

Alyssa Ladenburg also had 14 points for the Kats. All seven of Sam Ladenburg's points came in the second half.

"We had a good second half against Eureka," Kats coach Dan Fairbank said. "The first half we didn't play with a lot of intensity. We weren't patient enough to move the ball and look inside."

The Kats shot well from the foul line, converting 11 of 15 charities.

Melanie Finch led the Lady Lions with 15 points.

The first three quarters at Glacier were a collective nightmare for the Kats. They faced a 27-11 deficit at halftime, then went scoreless in the third period — where CFHS took only three shots.

The Kats had 39 turnovers and shot only 26 percent from the field. Glacier had 35 turnovers, but the Kats couldn't capitalize.

"It was the poorest game we've played," Fairbank admitted. "We had more turnovers than shots in the first half. The key was that their (Glacier's) intensity level was really, really high."

DeWit led the Kats with 11 points, five rebounds, four steals and two assists.

Sydney Sharaf had 11 points to lead Glacier, and Emilee Hashley added 10.

Fairbank said the keys Friday against Bigfork, which has won 10 straight games, are to play with intensity and be patient in offensive sets.

EUREKA (4-6)

Hammond 2 2-2 6, Finch 6 3-3 15, West 2 0-0 4, Lawler 2 0-0 4, Vogelman 1 0-0 2, Newell 3 0-7 6. Totals 16 5-12 37.

COLUMBIA FALLS (1-4, 3-8)

Fields 0 1-4 1, A. Ladenburg 6 2-5 14, Smith 1 0-0 2, Marcille 4 0-1 8, Westgard 1 0-2 2, S. Ladenburg 3 1-2 7, Hislop 0 0-0 0, DeWit 7 0-0 14. Totals 22 4-14 48.

Eureka 17 4 8 8 — 37

Columbia Falls 9 9 14 16 — 48

3-point goals: None. Team fouls: Eureka 17, CF 7. Fouled out: None.

COLUMBIA FALLS (1-4, 3-9)

A. Ladenburg 2 0-0 5, Smith 3 0-0 6, Marcille 1 0-0 2, Westgard 1 0-0 2, S. Ladenburg 1 3-4 5, Kelsey DeWit 2 7-8 11, Kayla DeWit 1 1-3 3, Fairbank 0 0-0 0, Grilley 0 0-0 0, Milliard 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 11-15 34.

GLACIER (1-9)

Smart 3 2-3 8, Kampf 1 3-4 5, K. Latimer 1 0-0 3, Vaudt 1 1-2 3, Hashley 3 4-6 10, Sharaf 5 0-0 11, Waggener 3 2-2 8, P. Latimer 2 0-0 4. Totals 19 12-17 52.

Columbia Falls 6 5 0 23 - 34

Glacier 12 15 14 11 - 52

3-point goals: A. Ladenburg; K. Latimer, Sharaf. Team fouls: CF 17, Glacier 19. Fouled out: None.