Wildcats drop pair of road games to Pirates, Loggers
The Wildcats basketball team dropped to 3-13 with a pair of road losses last week as they fell at Polson Tuesday, 57-45, and at Libby Friday, 50-32.
The boys saw a close one slip away against Polson Tuesday. Columbia Falls trailed by just four with five minutes to play, but a shooting foul coupled with a pair of technical fouls gave the Pirates six free throws. The Pirates knocked down all six free shots to go up by 10 and the Cats were unable to recover as they lost by 12.
“We weren’t playing badly. I just don’t think we played very smart,” head coach Chris Finberg said. “We got called for a lot of fouls and Polson was making their free throws.”
Drew Morgan led the Wildcat effort with 11 points, 14 rebounds and three steals against the Pirates while Sam Hovde added 10 points and 8 boards.
The Cats kept the game close for most of the first half in Libby Friday, but the Loggers pulled away late in the half and in the third quarter to pick up an 18-point win.
Finberg, who missed the game with the flu, said it was a tough night for the Cats.
“We just could not put the ball in the hoop against Libby. We also had some defensive breakdowns that cost us. It was just a tough game,” he said.
The Cats trailed just 10-7 after one quarter and 29-16 at the half.
Danny Henjum was the leading scorer for Columbia Falls with seven points in the loss while Morgan added six and Logan Bechtel scored five.
The Cats will face another pair of tough opponents this week as they honor seniors Bechtel, Hovde, Morgan and Dillon Wanner against Whitefish Thursday before traveling to Browning Saturday.
“Playing the top two teams in the conference at the end of the season is probably a good thing. It should be able to help us get ready for the district tournament,” Finberg said. “I am not worried about our win/loss record right now, I just want us to be playing our best basketball at the end of the season.”
Thursday’s game against Whitefish is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. with tip-off for Saturday’s game against Browning at 4 p.m.
For full stats on the Polson and Libby games, see this story online at www.hungryhorsenews.com.
Columbia Falls 16 5 13 11 - 45
Polson 12 19 8 18 - 57
SCORING – C-FALLS: Drew Morgan 11, Sam Hovde 10, William Dyon 9, Dillon Wanner 5, Logan Bechtel 4, Brad Nieves 4, Dillon Shipp 2. POLSON: Ryker Wenderoth 12, Robin Erickson 10, Micah Askan 10, Trevor Shultz 9, Parker Toth 4, Trevor Lake 4, Colton Graham 3, Bo Kelley 3, Keyan Dalby 2. REBOUNDS – C-FALLS: (35) Morgan 14, Hovde 8, Bechtel 5, Danny Henjum 3, Shipp 2, Dyon 1, Nieves 1, Wanner 1. POLSON: NA. STEALS – C-FALLS: (6) Morgan 3, Bechtel 2, Wanner 1. POLSON: NA. ASSISTS – C-FALLS: (11) Bechtel 3, Shipp 3, Dyon 2, Wanner 2, Henjum 1. POLSON: NA. BLOCKS – C-FALLS: none. POLSON: NA. TURNOVERS – C-FALLS: (15) Shipp 4, Wanner 3, Bechtel 2, Dyon 2, Hovde 2, Henjum 1, Morgan 1. POLSON: NA. SHOOTING – C-FALLS: 15-51 (29%) FG, 9-15 (60%) FT, 6-22 (27%) 3PT. POLSON: NA.
Columbia Falls 7 9 4 12 - 32
Libby 10 18 12 10 - 50
SCORING – C-FALLS: Danny Henjum 7, Drew Morgan 6, Logan Bechtel 5, Sam Hovde 4, William Dyon 3, Zack Pletcher 3, Brad Nieves 2, Dillon Wanner 2. LIBBY: Keith Johnson 22, Ryggs Johnston 12, JJ Davis 7, Caden Williams 3, Ryan Goodman 2, Tim Goodman 2, Kevin Barnes 2. REBOUNDS – C-FALLS: (27) Pletcher 5, Bechtel 4, Hovde 4, Henjum 3, Morgan 3, Dillon Shipp 3, Dyon 2, Jake Bulawsky 1, Mikey Tamburelli 1, Wanner 1. LIBBY: NA. ASSISTS – C-FALLS: (8) Bechtel 2, Dyon 2, Morgan 2, Jack Price 1, Shipp 1. LIBBY: NA. BLOCKS – C-FALLS: none. LIBBY: NA. TURNOVERS – C-FALLS: (13) Morgan 4, Bechtel 2, Pletcher 2, Shipp 2, Dyon 1, Henjum 1, Tamburelli 1. LIBBY: NA. SHOOTING – C-FALLS: 13-49 (27%) FG, 3-3 (100%) FT, 3-21 (14%) 3PT. LIBBY: NA.