Kats beat Lady Broncs, stay perfect in conference
<p>Wildkat Hope Burlage, left, looks to make a pass in the Jan. 15 away game at Flathead High School.</p>
The Columbia Falls girls basketball team split the bill last week, losing to Class AA Flathead 49-35 in a Jan. 15 away game and then slipping past the Lady Broncs in the closing half-minute, 53-49. The victory on Jan. 19 in Frenchtown left the Wildkats perfect in conference play.
Against the Lady Broncs, the Kats were up by as much as 12 in the fourth quarter, but Frenchtown hit a flurry of shots down the stretch to tie the game in the closing minutes.
Clinging to a three-point lead, Hope Burlage drained two free throws to make it a two-possession game with about 30 seconds left. The Kats ratcheted down on defense a bit and came away with a win.
“You’ve got to give Frenchtown credit, they hit shots down the stretch, “ said coach cary Finberg. “But it was good for us to be in a situation where we held the lead. I was real happy with the way we played.”
The last time the two teams played, it also came down to the closing seconds. Frenchtown had a chance to tie in that game but missed the first shot of a one-on-one free throw with time expired to tie it.
The Kats were led by Haley Belgarde with 19, followed by Burlage with 14. Senior Shannon Hay came off the bench and played quality minutes down the stretch, scoring five points. Andrea Getts also played well off the bench with eight points, six rebounds and six assists. Belgarde was 10-for-10 from the line and Burlage six rebounds and six assists.
Against the Bravettes, the Kats kept the game close in the first half, down by just two points at the break, despite a slew of turnovers in the first quarter, but Kalispell held the Kats to just 16 points in the second half. Belgarde had 10 points to lead the Kats in the loss.
Finberg said the girls played tenative in the first and third quarters.
The girls are on the road this week against Class B Eureka on Friday and Libby on Saturday. The girls are 8-3 overall and 4-0 in conference.
Columbia Falls 10 15 15 13 — 53
Frenchtown 10 10 10 19 — 49
COLUMBIA FALLS – Hope Burlage 14, Andrea Getts 8, Winter Kemppainnen 7, Haley Belgarde 19, Shannon Hay 5.
FRENCHTOWN – Haley Cyr 13, Vanessa Stavish 18, Holly Jacobs 12, Larissa Berg 6.
Columbia Falls 5 14 8 8 — 35
Flathead 11 10 14 14 — 49
COLUMBIA FALLS — Ciera Finberg 1-5 0-0 2, Tori Price 0-2 2-2 2, Hope Burlage 3-6 2-3 8, Winter Kemppainen 0-2 3-6 3, Haley Belgarde 3-4 4-6 10, Kathrin Jetty 1-5 2-3 4, Andrew Getts 3-5 0-3 6. Totals: 11-33 13-24 35.
FLATHEAD — Emma Andrews 10-20 5-7 25, Dani Davis 3-7 0-0 6, Emily Russell 3-10 1-2 7, Jessika Abbrescia 1-6 0-3 2, Jenessa Heine 2-9 2-7 6, Tana Fountain 0-4 2-2 2. Totals: 19-58 10-21 48.