Wildkats suffer first conference loss

Columbia Falls held off Libby on Thursday, but suffered its first Northwestern A Conference loss of the season to Polson on Saturday in girls basketball.

The Wildkats built a 15-point lead over Libby at home, then held on for a 52-45 league win. Polson packed its defense in the lane against the taller Wildkats and emerged with a 37-33 victory in Polson.

With the split, the Wildkats go to 6-1 in the Northwestern A and 8-6 overall. They have the last four games of the regular season at home, hosting Frenchtown from the Southwestern A on Thursday and rival Whitefish on Friday.

CFHS remains alone in first place in the conference. Libby is second with a 6-2 league mark. Bigfork and Polson both have three conference losses.

Two field goals by Shay Grilley gave the Wildkats a 14-7 lead over Libby early in the second period. The lead was 23-16 at intermission.

CFHS went on a 14-2 run, capped by McKenzie Reeve’s second 3-pointer of the quarter, and the Wildkats led 39-24.

Two free throws by Kayla DeWit gave CFHS a 49-40 lead with 1:12 remaining. Alyssa Ladenburg sank two more charities with 13 seconds left to seal the win.

“We played well enough to win,” Kats head coach Dan Fairbank said. “I’m real happy with the girls. They worked really hard.”

Kayla DeWit led the Kats with 18 points and had nine rebounds. Kelsey DeWit collected 13 rebounds and had four steals. Ladenburg had 11 points and seven assists. Grilley added nine points.

Jackie Mee paced Libby with 17 points, and Martin had 16.

CFHS MISSED its first seven shots against Polson, trailing 9-2 after one period — going just 1-for-12 from the field. Polson led 19-16 at halftime. The Kats were within one, 27-26, after three periods.

The Kats led by one, 31-30, with about 1:20 remaining, but Sierra Pete was open for a 10-footer for a Polson lead after a CFHS turnover.

“We were in the driver’s seat,” Fairbank said, who wanted his team to pull the ball out and run the clock with the one-point lead.

Polson was just 5-for-13 from the foul line until Pete and Cali Hislop both converted one-and-one opportunities in the final minute.

“They (Polson) had a game plan of being extremely physical with the DeWit sisters inside,” Fairbank explained. “They sat four kids inside, to try to get us out of our game.”

Despite the physical nature of the game, Kayla DeWit did not shoot a free throw and Kelsey DeWit shot only two. CFHS shot only six free throws — none in the fourth quarter.

Fairbank said the loss was a good learning experience for the Kats, knowing how an opponent can “pack it in” defensively.

CFHS won the board battle by eight. The DeWits combined for 20 rebounds — 11 by Kelsey and nine from Kayla.

“WE FACE a very difficult team to play Thursday,” Fairbank said of the Frenchtown game, “but we need to focus on Whitefish. We need to work on retooling our offense a bit to make sure we’ve aggressive on the outside so we get the shots we need.”

LIBBY (45)

Evi Cernick 1 0-0 2, LaRona Luscher 1 0-0 3, Brittany Martin 6 2-6 16, Jaime Gilden 3 1-3 7, Jackie Mee 5 5-7 17. Totals 16 8-16 45.

COLUMBIA FALLS (52)

McKenzie Reeve 2 0-0 6, Danielle Gilley 1 0-0 2, Brooke Cady 0 0-2 0, Kayla DeWit 8 2-3 18, Alyssa Ladenburg 4 3-4 11, Shay Grilley 4 0-0 9, Kelsey DeWit 3 0-0 6. Totals 22 5-9 52.

Libby    7      9    10    16 — 45

Columbia Falls    8    15    16    13 — 52

3-point goals: Luscher, Martin 2, Mee 2; Reeve 2, Grilley. Total fouls: Libby 10, Columbia Falls 12. Fouled out: none.

COLUMBIA FALLS (33)

Gilley 0 1-2 1, Kayla 5 0-0 10, Ladenburg 4 1-2 9, Grilley 2 0-0 4, Kelsey 4 1-2 9. Totals 15 3-6 33.

POLSON (37)

Staci Benson 1 0-0 2, Sierra Pete 2 2-2 6, Breanne Kelley 4 0-0 8, Rochelle Woods 2 2-6 6, Nicole Davey 3 0-1 6, Sarah Newton 2 1-5 5, Cali Hislop 0 4-4 4. Totals 14 9-17

Columbia Falls    2    14    10      7 — 33

Polson    9    10    8    10 — 37

3-point goals: none.