Cats drop a pair at tip-off tourney

The Columbia Falls boys basketball team had a tough time at the Northwest-Southwest A Tip-Off tournament over the weekend, as they were walloped 82-45 by Hamilton Friday and edged by Anaconda 67-57 Saturday.

Coach John Anderson said he wasn’t pleased with the losses, but he said the team is beginning to progress.

“The boys learned a lot,” he said. “I’m proud of how they developed some toughness.”

While the Hamilton game went poorly, the Cats had just one bad quarter against Class B Anaconda, as the Copperheads took a 19-10 lead in the first quarter and were able to hold it the rest of the game.

Other than that, the Wildcats played pretty well. Nathan Riley scored 20 and Tyler Murphy had 11 in the loss. They’re beginning to find some chemistry as a team, Anderson noted.

But they still have plenty of work to do. They’re giving up way too many rebounds to the opposition and against Hamilton, they only shot about 22 percent.

They’ll need plenty of chemistry this week, as they face AA Glacier away Friday at 8 p.m. and Frenchtown Saturday at home at 5:30 p.m. and Bigfork on the road at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday.