Bad quarter dooms Cats in Corvallis opener

The Columbia Falls boys basketball team had a rough opener to their season Saturday, losing to Corvallis on the road 62-41. The Wildcats had 19 turnovers, were out-rebounded 48-38 and shot just 26 percent from the floor in the loss.

Corvallis didn’t shoot much better — just 32 percent, but had nearly 20 more possessions. The Blue Devils broke the game open in the second quarter, as they outscored the Cats 20-6. That proved to be the difference in the game.

Coach John Anderson said the team simply didn’t execute on defense and they didn’t always run the offense as planned.

“We just didn’t execute on defense,” he said. “It’s all correctable, which is the good news.”

Tyler Murphy was a bright spot for Columbia Falls. He had 14 points and 11 rebounds. Glenn Morden had 10 points.

Anderson noted this was the first game the boys had played together on the varsity squad and with a new system.

The Cats travel to the Northwest-Southwest A tip-off tourney on Friday and Saturday, where they’ll look to improve. The Cats face Hamilton Friday and Anaconda Saturday. The Hamilton game starts at 8 p.m., Anaconda’s at 3 p.m.

C. Falls 7 6 13 16 — 41

Corvallis 9 20 14 19 — 62

COLUMBIA FALLS — Nathan Riley 7, Logan Stephens 3, Austin Green 1, Glenn Morden 10, Tyler Murphy 14, Dakota Bridwell 6.

CORVALLIS — Danner Miller 2, Caleb Powell 4, Jacob Geary 4, Ridge Albright 2, Spencer Jessop 2, Tylor Nixon 14, Justin Catanach 5, Chase Jessop 19, Tannon Allred 10.