Boys streak an even dozen
Nick Emerson goes up for a shot against Big Sky last Saturday.
The Columbia Falls boys basketball team continued its winning ways last week, downing Class B Thompson Falls 78-29 Thursday and Class AA Missoula Big Sky 74-49 Saturday.
“The kids played well and continue to get better,” coach Cary Finberg said.
Parker Johnson led the scoring blitz against Thompson Falls, knocking down four treys in the first quarter alone. He finished the game with 15 points, four assists and no turnovers.
He also had a solid game against Big Sky, going three-for-three beyond the arc. Johnson broke up a lot of the Eagles’ plays and he snared four rebounds.
Finberg named Johnson the player of the week.
“He did a lot of good things,” Finberg said. Nick Emerson led the team in both games, scoring 16 and 19 points respectively as he continues to improve his point guard play.
Thompson Falls tried to run the box-and-one against Emerson, without much success, Finberg noted.
Against Big Sky the Cats shot 52 percent from the floor and out-rebounded the Eagles 41-35. Kaleb Johnson had 14 boards and six assists. Austin Barth had eight boards and six assists.
The Cats face Libby at home Friday and then travel to Polson Saturday in what could be the Cats’ toughest conference game of the season to date.
The Pirates are an excellent shooting team, particularly from the perimeter.
“We have to make it difficult on their shooters,” Finberg said. “We’re not going to shut them down.”
The Libby game has a 7:30 p.m. start.
Columbia Falls 27 26 16 9 - 78
Thompson Falls 10 7 6 6 - 29
COLUMBIA FALLS - Devyn Rocker 5, Jared Trinastitch 2, Nick Emerson 16, Chris King 7, Anthony Correa 10, Cale Vukonich 4, Parker Johnson 15, Austin Barth 6, Luke Kuzlauskas 5, Kaleb Johnson 8.
THOMPSON FALLS - Jaron Laws 9, Josh Hojem 4, Garrett Reinschmidt 7, Chalis Wilson 9.
Missoula Big Sky — 8 4 25 12 — 49
Columbia Falls — 13 21 17 21 — 74
BIG SKY — RJ LaValley, 3, Cole Baker, 15, Jason Neibergs, 3, Jay Owens, 6, Nico Graham, 1, Aaron Koster, 15, Matt Ethridge, 6.
COLUMBIA FALLS — Devyn Rocker, 2, Alex Presnell, 2, Jared Trinastich, 2, Nick Emerson, 19, Chris King, 11, Anthony Correa, 3, Cale Vukonich, 2, Parker Johnson, 12, Austin Barth, 9, Kaleb Johnson, s9, Jacob Calderwood, 3.