Cats outshoot Dogs in rival matchup

When a team is forced to play from

behind the three-point line, games like Saturday’s 73-49 pounding

at Columbia Falls sometimes happen.

Defensive stops were tough to find and

Whitefish’s outside shooters struggled to find consistency from

beyond the arc as the Wildcats handed the Bulldogs their first

conference loss.

Columbia Falls was paced by 21 points

from their offensive star Anthony Correa. Senior standout Austin

Barth picked up a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds.

Without a post game and no luck with

dribble penetration, Whitefish was forced to find their offense

from the outside. The three-pointer kept them close for the first

two quarters.

Junior guard Jake Slaybaugh was feeling

it early. He opened the game with a nice jumper from the baseline

and later rattled in a three-pointer from the corner in front of a

rowdy Columbia Falls student section.

Senior Gage Vasquez added a fade-away

trey from the same spot to get Whitefish within four points after

the first quarter. Vasquez and Slaybaugh accounted for all of

Whitefish’s 12 first-quarter points.

Chris Forrest, Cooper Olson and

Slaybaugh each added treys in the second quarter to make it a seven

point game, 32-25, at the half.

Coming out of the break, Whitefish’s

shooters went cold and Columbia Falls took control.

The Wildcats outscored the Dogs 41-24

in the second half.

Vasquez and Slaybaugh led Whitefish

(5-4, 1-1) with 13 points each.

The Bulldogs travel to Glacier on

Friday and host the Polson Pirates in a conference game Saturday at

6 p.m.

Whitefish 12 13 13 11 - 49

Col. Falls 16 16 21 20 - 73

WHITEFISH - Christopher Forrest 7, Jake

Slaybaugh 13, Logan Harwood 7, Gage Vasquez 13, Cooper Olson 6,

Jace Kalbfleisch 3.

COLUMBIA FALLS - Alex Presnell 9, Ronny

Gallegos 5, Austin Martin 2, Luke Kazlauskas 9, Anthony Correa 21,

Brian Marcille 10, Austin Barth 11, Jared Trinastich 4, Austin

Kimmett 2.