Cats dominate Libby, edged by Polson

Columbia Falls split its Northwest A Conference boys basketball openers last weekend, rolling to an easy 57-34 win over Libby on Thursday before a 62-60 loss at Polson on Saturday.

The Wildcats are 1-1 in the league and 4-3 overall. They are on the road twice this week, facing Ronan on Friday and Whitefish on Saturday.

CFHS held Libby to just six points in the second and third quarters combined, and the Loggers did not have a field goal in the second period — scoring just two points on free throws.

“We played extremely well against Libby,” Cats head coach Cary Finberg said. “Defensively it was our best game.”

Libby went scoreless the first 4:30 of the game, and CFHS built a 14-4 lead. The Cats capped the first half with an 8-0 run. Michael Williams hit his second straight 3-pointer, Austin Robbins scored on a pass from Josiah Begay, and Begay canned a 3-pointer for a 29-13 halftime bulge.

“If we can have two, three runs throughout the game, that’s what we want,” Finberg said, and solid defense carried over to the offense. CFHS forced 26 Logger turnovers in the game.

The CFHS lead grew to 42-17 after three periods.

Six players had six or more points for the Cats, as they continued to play unselfishly.

Grant Getts led the Cats with 11 points. He had six steals, four rebounds and four assists. Mackey Nolan contributed nine points, five assists and three steals. Mitchell Wassam grabbed five rebounds.

Finberg knew Polson would be hard to beat on the Pirates’ home court. However, the Cats were in a position to win.

“We had a two-point lead with 10 seconds to go,” the coach said, his team ahead, 60-58, on a Nolan jumper. The Cats rebounded a missed Polson shot, but a held ball gave the Pirates possession. Then Kyle Bagnell hit a 3-pointer three seconds later for a 61-60 Pirate lead.

CFHS then had a violation on the throw-in. Tim Rausch was fouled and sank the first free throw. After the rebound, a 27-footer by Nolan at the buzzer was off the mark and Polson held on for the win.

“We kind of got what we deserved in that one,” Finberg said, seeing the Cats let a five-point lead with 1:30 to go slip away.

Finberg said his team was outscored 42-24 on 3-pointers and free throws combined.

Polson shot 25 free throws to 15 by CFHS. The Cats had 15 turnovers and the Pirates had 11.

The Cats were solid from the foul line in the weekend games, making 19 of 22 free throws.

CFHS won the boards, 34-23.

Getts paced the Cats with 15 points and eight rebounds. Nolan had 14 points, seven assists and six boards. Kyle Howell supplied 10 points and had three assists. Robbins played very well, taking eight rebounds.

Bagnell and Ryan Kelley had 14 points each for Polson.

There are times changes for Friday’s games at Ronan. The C squad/freshman game tips off at 4 p.m., followed by the JV game at 5:30 p.m. and the varsity contest around 7 p.m.

LIBBY (34)

Cree Mahoney 0 0-0 0, Conner Benson 4 2-3 10, Joel Fuller 2 1-4 5, Colton Cannon 1 0-0 3, Nate Broden 0 1-2 1, Alex Cislo 2 2-4 6. Totals 12 9-17 34.

COLUMBIA FALLS (57)

Kyle Howell 1 0-0 2, Tanner Barth 1 3-4 6, Matt Triplett 0 0-0 0, Josiah Begay 2 0-0 6, Nick Emerson 1 0-0 2, Mackey Nolan 3 2-2 9, Austin Robbins 2 1-1 5, Austin Barth 1 0-0 2, Mitchell Wassam 3 0-0 6, Kaleb Johnson 0 0-0 0, Grant Getts 5 1-1 11, Michael Williams 3 0-0 8. Totals 22 7-8 57.

Libby    11    2    4    17 — 34

Columbia Falls    16    13    13    15 — 57

3-point goals: Cannon; T. Barth, Begay 2, Nolan, Williams 2. Total fouls: Libby 11, Columbia Falls 19. Fouled out: none.

COLUMBIA FALLS (60)

Howell 4 0-1 10, Nolan 5 3-4 14, Robbins 3 2-2 8, Wassam 3 0-0 6, Getts 5 5-5 15, Williams 2 2-2 7. Totals 22 12-14 60.

POLSON (62)

Ryan Kelley 4 7-9 15, Kyle Bagnell 4 2-2 13, Stephen Fisher 3 1-2 10, Tim Rausch 2 5-8 9, Waylon Michel 2 0-0 6, Louis Mohr 2 0-0 4, Craig Bagnell 1 1-2 3, Dan Rathe 0 2-2 2. Totals 18 18-25 62.

Columbia Falls    17    9    13    15 — 60

Polson    12    17    13    20 — 62

3-point goals: Howell 2, Nolan, Williams; K. Bagnell 3, Fisher 3, Michel 2. Total fouls: Columbia Falls 20, Polson 16. Fouled out: Wassam.