Girls tops in conference

The Columbia Falls girls go into the divisional tournament with momentum after they beat Polson last Thursday 52-44. With the win, the Kats took the regular season conference crown at 7-1 and finished 12-6 overall.

It was senior night and coach Dan Fairbank started all of them.

"Our seniors really stepped it up," he said.

The girls played tenacious defense and limited their first-half turnovers to take a 30-18 lead at the half. Polson had a rally in the fourth, but the Kats held them off.

"The intensity of our defense was the key," Fairbank said.

The Kats will open the divisional tourney Friday night against the winner of the Ronan-Whitefish game. Columbia Falls has beat both of those teams handily this year.

Fairbank likes the Kats' chances for a berth at the state tournament.

"If we take care of the ball, rebound and play defense like we're capable of, we'll do pretty well," he said.

He said the team was disappointed it lost to Libby a few days before. The Kats led that game, but for about four minutes, they turned the ball over repeatedly and they left Jackie Mee, the league's leading scorer, wide open.

She made them pay with 29 points for the game.

The Kats played much better defense against Polson.

Kayla and Kelsey DeWit both had 18 points, Shay Grilley had seven and Dani Gilley had five. Gilley has also improved her play at point guard and seems much more comfortable at the position than at the start of the season.

The Kats open the divisional tourney at 2 p.m. Friday against the winner of the Ronan-Whitefish game.