Cats are 2-for-2 at home
<p>Wildcat Trevor Houston lays it up against Whitefish on Feb. 9.</p>
The shots are dropping and life is good. The Columbia Falls boys basketball team hammered Ronan on Feb. 7 at home 84-52 and then returned the favor to Whitefish a couple of days later, slamming the Bulldogs 78-59.
The Wildcats came out the gate strong in both games, putting up 32 against the Chiefs in the first quarter and 21 against the Bulldogs. Whitefish hung with the Cats in the first half but faded in the second, as Columbia Falls outscored them 18-9 in the third quarter to put their lead in double digits.
The Cats shot 62 percent from the field — a big turnaround from a game earlier this year when they shot 27 percent and lost by 15 to the Bulldogs, 50-35.
“We played more aggressively,” coach Cary Finberg said. “We weren’t hesitating.”
Alex Presnell had 23 and Luke Kazlauskas had 24 to lead the Cats. Presnell was eight-for-eight from the line and three-for-four shooting treys. The Cats had just 11 turnovers to the Bulldogs’ 24.
“There were a lot of good things in that game,” Finberg said.
The Cats are spreading the ball around and trusting their teammates.
“They rose to the occasion,” Finberg said. “They knew what was at stake.”
The teams could very well face each other again at the divisional tournament in a couple weeks.
Against Ronan, Austin Martin had his best game of the year with 19 points, 15 of those in the first quarter. Twelve players scored in the contest.
The Cats are now 12-5 overall and 6-1 in conference play. A win against Polson on Thursday at home will secure the regular season conference title. The game starts at 7:30 p.m.
Ronan 6 19 15 12 — 52
Columbia Falls 32 12 21 19 — 84
RONAN — Jalen Bell 10, Carster Baertsch 3, Dallas Jore 4, Jared Dupuis 2, Tim Woll 6, Alex Juejusch 5, Colter McCrea 5, Zach Wagner 16, Daniel Aylesworth 1.
COLUMBIA FALLS — Alex Presnell 1, Trevor Houston 2, Jayce Fagerland 4, Austin Martin 19, Colin King 10, Luke Kazlauskas 19, Nakia Alexander 2, Ty Morgan 7, Mason Gedlaman 5, Jared Trinastich 11, Austin Kimmet 4.
Whitefish 18 17 9 15 — 59
Columbia Falls 21 18 15 24 — 78
WHITEFISH — Keaton Nicholson 9, EJ Havens 8, Logan Harwood 12, Jace Kalbfleisch 6, Art Doorn 10, Cooper Olson 14.
COLUMBIA FALLS – Alex Presnell 23, Trevor Houston 4, Austin Martin 4, Colin King 6, Luke Kazlauskas 24, Ty Morgan 11, Jared Trinastich 6