Kats keep rolling, even on the road
<p>Photo by Matt Naber - Wildkat Haley Belgarde looks to take a shot while surrounded by Bigfork defenders.</p>
The Columbia Falls girls basketball team nabbed a couple more wins on the road last week. The Wildkats dropped Class B Bigfork 58-46 on Jan. 31 and then hammered conference foe Polson 51-32.
The Kats had three players in double figures against the Valkyries, as Winter Kempainnen scored 19, Haley Belgarde 17 and Ciera Finberg 15. The Kats poured it on in the second half, scoring 38 points.
“The girls are starting to buy in on what we want and the results are showing,” coach Cary Finberg said.
Aside from the scoring leaders, Finberg said the team got nice performances from Tori Price, who had five assists and no turnovers, Ellie Johnson came off the bench with three assists and Ciera also had five assists.
“The guards are doing a good job of taking care of the ball and making good passes,” he said.
Against Polson, the Kats were led by Kempainnen and Belgarde again, with 10 and 12 respectively. The girls shot out to a 13-4 lead in the first stanza, gave up 17 in the second quarter, but then held Polson to just 11 points in the second half.
The Kats outrebounded the Pirates 35-18 and shot 49 percent from the field to Polson’s 22 percent.
Shannon Hay came off the bench and had four points, three rebounds and took two charges to spark the team. She’s been working hard in practice and it’s paying off on the court, Finberg noted.
The girls are now 12-3 overall and 6-0 in conference play.
The girls are home this week against Ronan on Friday and Whitefish on Saturday. Both games have a 6 p.m. start.
Col. Falls 15 5 19 19 – 58
Bigfork 5 9 12 20 – 46
Columbia Falls – Ciera Finberg 15, Hope Burlage 4, Winter Kemppainen 18, Ellie Johnson 2, Haley Belgarde 17, Shannon Hay 2.
Bigfork – Matti McAnally 3, Marissa Hiza 2, Riley Coleman 6, Shelby Scoggins 12, Lana Berg 2, Josie Spoklie 13, Tessa Robertson 5, Miranda Campbell 3.
Columbia Falls — 13 12 12 14 — 51
Polson — 4 17 4 7 — 32
Columbia Falls — Ciera Finberg, 5, Miranda Livingston, 2, Tori Price, 2, Kathrin Jetty, 2, Hope Burlage, 8, Andrea Getts, 6, Winter Kempainnen, 10, Haley Belgarde, 12, Shannon Hay, 4
Polson — Mackenszie Banner, 5, Tegan Ballard, 2, Jaylin Kenney, 2, Anna DiGiallonardo, 9, Jessica Bagnell, 4, Hallie Hovenkotter, 4, Heidi Rausch, 6.