Cats cruise to 68-44 win over Big Sky

Share the wealth. That was the theme for Columbia Falls in Saturday’s home-court basketball game against Class AA Missoula Big Sky.

And share the wealth the Wildcats did as they finished with 22 team assists while routing the Eagles, 68-44.

The win gives the Cats a 3-2 record heading into their Northwestern A Conference opener Thursday at home against Libby. The Cats play Saturday at Polson in another league encounter.

“We had a good weekend. It was out best overall game from start to finish,” Cats head coach Cary Finberg said of the 24-point victory.

Three early putbacks, two by Mitchell Wassam, 3-pointers by Grant Getts and Michael Williams, and a move in the lane by Getts gave the Cats a 19-13 lead.

With a 23-17 lead, the Cats reeled off nine unanswered points early in the second period to build a 32-17 cushion. During the run, Tanner Barth and Williams hit treys. Mackey Nolan canned a 3-pointer and he fed Austin Barth with a great pass for another bucket. At halftime, the Cats led Big Sky, 34-21.

“The key for us was that we weren’t settling for threes (3-pointers),” Finberg said, “but we shot the ball when we had it (a 3-point shot). We weren’t settling for that first shot. We were making sure everybody was getting touches.”

With four different Cats hitting 3-pointers in the first half, that brought the Eagles out of their zone and forced them to play man-to-man defense.

The Cats carried the momentum right into the second half as Williams scored twice, on passes from Nolan and Wassam. Then Getts converted a three-point play after a pinpoint pass from Tanner Barth. That allowed the CFHS lead to balloon to 54-31 late in the third period.

“Our main focus was that we needed to get the ball inside better,” Finberg said. “The kids bought into it and did a great job with it. They did a good job of finding the open man. We made very good decisions and took good shots.”

CFHS was a very solid 6-for-11 from behind the 3-point arc. Overall, the Cats shot 53 percent from the field.

“We rebounded the ball very well,” Finberg said, seeing the Cats outboard the Eagles, 39-18.

“That’s been a strength for us the first five games.”

CFHS had 12 offensive rebounds to Big Sky’s seven.

The Cats had only nine turnovers through the first three quarters and finished with 16 for the game.

CFHS got contributions from everyone who played, and nine Cats scored in the contest.

“We look for our depth to get stronger and stronger as the year goes on,” Finberg said.

Getts and Wassam had their best game of the season. Getts was 7-for-10 from the field with 16 points and the senior collected nine rebounds. Wassam, a junior, had 12 points, eight rebounds and three assists.

Senior Mackey Nolan led the scoring with 13 points. He also had nine assists and three steals. Williams had 12 points.

THURSDAY’S OPPONENT, Libby, opened league play Saturday with a 46-45 win over Whitefish.

“It’s huge for us,” Finberg said. “We have to get off on the right foot in conference play. They’re (the Loggers) always very competitive and they are a good defensive team.”

Saturday’s foe, Polson, is coming off a 56-39 loss to Stevensville, but Polson is a very difficult venue to play.

“Going to Polson has not been very kind to us,” Finberg said. “They’re very deliberate. We have to come out and play with patience.”

BIG SKY (44)

Mike LaValley 5 3-5 14, Kevin McHugh 3 0-0 6, Brandt Montelius 3 0-1 6, Ryan Devlin 3 0-0 6, Drew Owens 0 2-2 2, Ed Apostol 4 2-6 10. Totals 18 7-14 44.

COLUMBIA FALLS (68)

Kyle Howell 1 0-0 3, Tanner Barth 1 1-2 4, Matt Triplett 0 0-0 0, Josiah Begay 0 0-0 0, Mackey Nolan 5 2-3 13, Austin Robbins 0 1-2 1, Austin Barth 1 0-0 2, Mitchell Wassam 6 0-0 12, Kaleb Johnson 0 0-0 0, Jacob Calderwood 2 1-1 5, Grant Getts 7 1-2 16, Michael Williams 4 2-4 12. Totals 27 8-14 68.

Big Sky    15      6    14      9 — 44

Columbia Falls    19    15    22    12 — 68

3-point goals: LaValley; Howell, T. Barth, Nolan, Getts, Williams 2. Total fouls: Big Sky 14, C-Falls 14. Fouled out: none.