Columbia Falls girls, boys capture Divisional Tournament titles

Columbia Falls boys and girls basketball teams captured Northwestern A Divisional Tournament titles and state tournament berths Saturday night (Feb. 28) at Glacier High School

The Wildcat boys built a 21-12 first-quarter lead and rolled to a 64-45 victory over Polson in the first championship game of the evening. Nine of the Wildcats' first 10 field goals were scored from close range as they went inside early and often. Mackey Nolan led the Wildcats with 17 points. Mitchell Wassam had 13, and Grant Getts 12. Columbia Falls faces Corvallis, the runner-up in the Southwestern A Divisional, at 12:30 p.m. March 12 in the first round at state tournament at Expo Park in Great Falls. Whitefish was pitted against Polson in a challenge game at 6 p.m. Monday (March 2) at Glacier High School for a state berth. Whitefish topped Libby 56-48 to take third place at the Divisional Tournament.

The Columbia Falls girls had to work overtime before they prevailed over Bigfork 55-53, thanks to two free throws by Kelsey DeWit with 3.6 seconds left in the extra period. DeWit was fouled after catching a perfect lob pass from Alyssa Ladenburg, the only senior on the team. Columbia Falls took a quick 11-1 lead, but Bigfork made a game of it behind solid scoring from Mallery Knoll and Roxy Thurman. DeWit had a double double for the Wildkats, scoring 23 points and pulling down 17 rebounds. Sister Kayla DeWit added 14 points.

Columbia Falls' girls team faces the No. 2 team from the Southwestern A Divisional, either Hamilton or Frenchtown, in the first round of the state tournament Thursday (March 5) at 12:30 p.m. at the Butte Civic Center. Defending state champion Anaconda beat Hamilton in the title game Saturday night, and Hamilton was to face Frenchtown in a Monday night challenge game with the winner advancing to state. Bigfork was to play Polson in a challenge game Monday night (March 2) for a state berth. The winner takes on Anaconda at 8 p.m. Thursday (March 5) at the state tourney. Polson defeated Whitefish 39-34 to claim third place in the Divisional Tournament.

Both Columbia Falls teams earned berths in Divisional championship games Saturday with Friday victories over Whitefish.

The Columbia Falls boys advanced to the title game, rallying past top-seeded Whitefish, 58-53. That snapped a 12-game win streak for the Bulldogs. After missing a plethora of free throws, the Wildcats sank six in a row for the win. Columbia Falls led 52-49 on a three-point play by Grant Getts, but the Bulldogs tied it on an Aaron Tkaychk 3-pointer, his fifth trey of the game. Two free throws by Mackey Nolan gave the Wildcats a 54-52 lead with 2:13 remaining. After Whitefish missed the front end of a one-and-one, Columbia Falls ran the clock down and Kyle Howell was fouled with 29 seconds to go. Howell converted both free throws for a 56-52 Wildcat lead. David FauntLeRoy made one of two foul shots for the Bulldogs. Whitefish got the ball back but missed a shot and Nolan found Howell alone on a breakaway to seal the win with 4 seconds remaining.

Ladenburg was the catalyst in a 54-33 win over Whitefish. She played a key role in a 17-2 run by the Wildkats that turned a 25-23 lead into a 42-25 bulge with 5:44 to go in the game. Ladenburg was 9-for-10 from the free throw line in the second half and led the Wildkats with 18 points. Junior Shay Grilley was also huge for Columbia Falls, scoring a career-high 14 points. For the game, the Wildkats went 22-for-29 from the foul line. Whitefish was just 5-for-8.

Refer to the Divisional pairings story on this Web page for tournament scores.