Cats finding the groove, beat Big Sky, Bigfork

By CHRIS PETERSON / Hungry Horse News

They just might have found their groove. After beating AA Big Sky 72-69 in double overtime last Thursday (Jan. 24), you'd think the Columbia Falls boys basketball team would have been a little slow out of the gates against Bigfork on Friday (Jan. 25).

No dice.

The Cats hammered the Vikings 79-42 for another conference win in a game that was pretty much over by halftime as they had a 30 point lead.

Chase Grilley led all scorers with 21, followed by Cody Bowman and Zane Ridings. Bowman had 12, Ridings, who started out the scoring barrage with a trey from two feet beyond the arc, had 10.

Against Big Sky, Grilley had another monster game, scoring 20, followed by Grant Getts with 16, Mackey Nolan 11 and Chase Fairbank 10. Grilley knocked in a 15-footer to force the second overtime and the Cats built a nine-point lead in the second OT. The Eagles trimmed that to three and had two chances to tie with 10 seconds left, but the buckets didn't drop.

"I don't know if we played great basketball," coach Cary Finberg said of last week's wins. "But we shot the ball well."

The Cats were 59 percent from the field and 78 percent from the line against Big Sky. Meanwhile, the Eagles had 17 more possessions than the Cats, and the Cats turned the ball over 31 times. Even so, good shooting makes up for mistakes in a hurry. Getts, for example, was 7-for-9 from the field, with eight rebounds. Nolan was 5-for-7 from the field with four boards and four assists.

Against Bigfork the Cats turned the ball over a worrisome 21 times. But 12 players scored and Bowman went 4-for-4 from the field and had five rebounds. In that game, 14 players saw action. Twelve of them scored.

The team is now 10-4 overall and 5-1 in conference play as they head down the stretch of the season. The Cats travel to Libby to play against a dangerous Logger squad that includes Jim Mee, who averages about 21 points a game — second in the conference.

They've got to slow Mee down a at least a little bit, Finberg noted. Libby is always a tough place to play.

Still, Finberg said the team is gaining more confidence each week and he's "cautiously optimistic" at this point about their future. They haven't really accomplished anything until they get a state tournament berth and there are still some important conference games in the next couple of weeks.

Columbia Falls and Ronan are currently tied for first in the conference, but Ronan holds the tie break because they beat the Cats earlier this season. The top two teams get a bye in the first round of the Divisional playoffs.

COLUMBIA FALLS (4-1, 9-4)

Chase Fairbank 4 2-2 10, Cody Bowman 2 1-2 5, Zane Ridings 4 0-0 8, Mackey Nolan 5 1-1 11, Chase Grilley 8 3-4 20, Austin Robbins 0 0-0 0, Mitchell Wassam 1 0-0 2, Grant Getts 7 0-0 16. Totals 31 7-9 72.

BIG SKY

Mike Devlin 2 3-6 8, Spencer Powell 4 1-2 9, Mike LaValley 5 1-2 11, Justin Montelius 2 2-6 6, Beau Donaldson 5 5-7 15, Heath Eustance 7 1-1 16, Brooks Nuanez 0 0-0 0, Jake Peterson 2 0-0 4, Evan Klaudt 0 0-0 0. Totals 27 13-24 69.

Columbia Falls 12 11 12 14 9 14 — 72

Big Sky 12 6 17 14 9 11 — 69

3-point goals: Getts 2, Grilley; Devlin, Eustance. Team fouls: CF 17, Big Sky 11.

BIGFORK

Ben Sandry 1 1-2 4, Scott Taylor 0 2-2 2, Roland Benedict 5 6-9 16, Garrett Pewe 2 1-4 5, Brock Boll 2 2-2 6, Jake Milner 2 0-0 4, Levi Dockstader 0 2-4 2, Keenan Evans 1 1-4 3. Totals 13 15-27 42.

COLUMBIA FALLS (5-1, 10-4)

Fairbank 2 2-2 7, Tanner Perry 0 1-3 1, Bowman 5 2-3 12, Ridings 3 2-2 10, Nolan 3 0-0 6, Matt Triplett 1 0-0 2, Robbins 0 3-4 3, Grilley 7 6-6 21, Wassam 2 0-1 4, Kaleb Johnson 2 0-1 4, Getts 2 2-2 7, Michael Williams 0 2-2 2. Totals 27 20-26 79.

Bigfork 6 12 11 13 — 42

Columbia Falls 21 27 19 12 — 79

3-point goals: Sandry; Ridings 2, Fairbank, Grilley, Getts. Team fouls: Bigfork 19, CF 20; Fouled out: Wassam.