Kats push win streak to seven heading into district tourney
Trista Cowan goes up for two of her game-high 21 points over Browning’s Taylor Jordan Saturday. (Jeremy Weber photo)
The Wildkats basketball team pushed its winning streak to seven with victories over Whitefish and Browning last week, but the team will have to settle for the second seed in this weekend’s district tournament in Whitefish.
The Kats came into Saturday’s rematch with Browning needing to win by four to secure the top seed in the district tourney, but came away with a 57-55 victory to finish second.
“I think we are two evenly matched teams and we are probably going to see each other down the road a few more times. More so than winning or losing, we wanted to play well and we did that,” head coach Cary Finberg said after the win. “The first 18 games are just practice games. It would have been nice to win the conference championship, but in the big picture it doesn’t mean anything. Each week gets more important as we move on from here.”
Looking to avenge their only loss of the season, a 70-67 overtime battle in Browning Jan 17, the Kats made it look as if it might be a blowout in the opening minutes as Columbia Falls went up by as many 17 in the first quarter before taking a 26-11 lead into the second frame.
The Lady Indians chipped away at that led in the second quarter, outscoring the Kats 20-9 to cut the Columbia Falls lead to 35-31 at the half.
The Kats went up 37-31 early in the third quarter, but Browning used a 10-0 to grab a four-point lead before taking a 43-40 lead into the fourth quarter.
The fourth quarter saw eight lead changes and two ties as the teams locked into a back-and-forth battle. The Kats trailed 55-53 with under a minute to play before a Ryley Kehr three put Columbia Falls back on top by one with 52 seconds to play. A foul sent Madysen Hoerner to the line for Columbia Falls with 10.7 seconds to play. Hoerner made one of two to give the Kats a two-point edge and scrambling defense kept Browning from getting a shot off as time expired.
Finberg said he was happy to get the win, but would like to see his team play better in the playoffs.
“Sometimes when you get a big lead, you exhale a little bit. If you don’t match the intensity of the team that’s behind, they are going to come back on you. We are going to play them again, so we need to learn from our mistakes.”
Trista Cowan led the Kats with 21 points and 17 rebounds in the win while Kehr added 14 points.
The Kats had little trouble at home against Whitefish Thursday, jumping out to an 11-2 lead after one quarter en route to a 54-28 victory.
Cowan again led the way with 14 points and 15 rebounds while Kehr added 14 points, nine rebounds and four steals.
The Kats will have a bye in the opening round of the district tournament in Whitefish this week and will open play at 8 p.m. Friday against the winner of the first-round matchup between Ronan and Polson.