Cats split the bill last week
<p>Wildcat Ty Morgan, on floor, fights for the loose ball against a Flathead High School defender on Jan. 15.</p>
The Columbia Falls boys basketball team went .500 last week. They were thumped by the Flathead High School Braves on Jan. 15 away, 68-53, then bounced back to beat Frenchtown on Jan. 19 away, 58-47.
The boys are now 3-1 in conference play, tied with Whitefish and 7-4 overall. The Wildcats looked like the teams of old in the first half against Flathead, flying around the court, forcing turnovers and playing with intensity as they took a 15-8 lead.
But the Braves turned on the jets themselves in the second quarter, outscoring the Cats 21-8. In the second half, it was all Braves, who outsized the Cats.
“I thought we competed better and played hard,” said coach Cary Finberg. “(But) We weren’t able to hang with them.”
The boys came back against Frenchtown, as Luke Kazlauskas found a groove and dropped 21 points against the Broncs. Frenchtown was down by just a point at the break, but the Cats outscored the Broncs in the third quarter 16-6, which was the difference in the game. Jared Trinastich dropped 15 in the win and had 11 rebounds. Alex Presnell had 11, including key free throws down the stretch. Kazlauskas also had six rebounds, two assists and no turnovers.
Finberg noted the team had a slow first half, but played much better in the second half. They were 21 of 25 from the free throw line.
The boys are on the road against Eureka on Friday night then off to Libby on Saturday.
Col. Falls 15 8 13 17 – 53
Flathead 8 21 22 17 – 68
COLUMBIA FALLS – Luke Kazlauskas 5-10 6-9 17, Jared Trinastich 4-7 4-6 12, Alex Presnell 3-10 3-4 10, Austin Martin 1-3 2-2 4, Austin Kimmet 2-2 0-0 4, Colin King 1-2 0-1 3, Nakia Alexander 1-3 0-0 3, Ty Morgan 0-2 0-0 0. Totals:
FLATHEAD – Garth West 8-17 3-4 19, Shea Schroeder 5-10 4-6 14, Matthew Tokarz 3-7 2-2 10, Will Cronk 3-4 2-3 9, Adam Bradley 3-3 2-3 8, Blaine Newman 2-8 0-0 5, Chandler Escalante 1-8 0-0 3, Matt Quist 0-1 0-0 0.
Columbia Falls 11 13 16 18 — 58
Frenchtown 11 12 6 18 — 47
COLUMBIA FALLS – Alex Presnell 11, Grant Stenger 2, Austin Martin 4, Luke Kazlauskas 21, Ty Morgan 5, Jared Trinastich 15.
FRENCHTOWN – John Chapman 24, Levi Shephard 10, Daniel Lebsock 1, Andrew Honken 2, Bridger Truett 8, Kyle Cyr 2.