Cats find their groove, thump Bulldogs

Defense. Defense. Defense. The Columbia Falls boys basketball team made it a priority last week, and it paid off big as they beat Glacier High School 65-57 in a Jan. 16 away game and Whitefish 56-36 on Jan. 18 at home — the latter in convincing fashion.

The Wildcats finally looked like the boys teams of past seasons as they scrambled for loose balls and used their quick hands and feet to harangue their opponents into turnovers.

Against Glacier High, the Cats built a 15-point lead at the break to go up 33-18. The Wolfpack chipped away at the advantage, out scoring the Cats 18-11 in the third.

But the Cats answered with 21 in the fourth. They were led by Jared Trinastich with 18 for the game. Jayce Fagerland came off the bench and hit some clutch treys to score 12.

Against Whitefish, the Bulldogs shot out to a 5-0 lead but the Cats battled back to make it 10-5 at the end of the first stanza. Then in the closing seconds of the second quarter, Alex Presnell dropped a basket and immediately stole the ball and dropped in another as time expired.

Those quick four points were easily the play of the game and seemed to deflate the Bulldogs as they headed into the locker room, down 23-14 at the break.

The Cats kept the pressure on in the second half and ended up with an easy victory. Trinastich led the scoring with 15. Presnell finished the night with 13. Sophomore Grant Wallace also had an excellent game with eight points.

“Jared and Alex stepped up huge,” coach Cary Finberg said. “Grant had a great weekend.”

The Cats face Flathead High School away on Friday and Frenchtown at home on Saturday at 6 and 5 p.m. respectively.

The boys need to beat the Broncs to have a shot at the regular season conference title and hopes for the No. 1 seed in the divisional playoffs.

“It’s a must win,” Finberg noted. “It’s a tournament type of game.”

Frenchtown beat the Cats earlier this year, 62-59. In that matchup, the Cats blew a 16-point lead.

Whitefish 5 9 14 8 – 36

Col. Falls 10 13 15 18 – 56

WHITEFISH – AJ Wetsch 4, EJ Havens 13, Art Doorn 16, Luke May 2, Garrett Anderson 1.

COLUMBIA FALLS – Alex Presnell 13, Trevor Houston 5, Jayce Fagerland 5, Nakia Alexander 6, Ty Morgan 4, Jared Trinastich 15, Grant Wallace 8.

Columbia Falls 10 23 11 21 — 65

Glacier 13 5 18 21 — 57

COLUMBIA FALLS — Alex Presnell 4-8 2-2 10, Nakia Alexander 0-1 2-4 2, Ty Morgan 2-12 7-9 11, Mason Gedlaman 0-1 2-2 2, Jared Trinastich 7-11 4-4 18, Trevor Houston 2-3 1-3 5, Jayce Fagerland 4-7 2-2 12, Grant Wallace 2-3 1-3 5. Totals: 21-47 21-29 65.

GLACIER — Evan Epperly 8-15 0-2 21, Bryan Michaels 3-12 1-2 7, Kyler Harkins 4-6 0-1 12, Tanner Olsen 3-8 2-2 9, Cain Boschee 1-2 2-2 5, Sam McCamley 1-3 0-0 3. Totals: 20-50 5-9 57.