Kats go 2-0 at Tip-Off tourney; tough stretch ahead
Hope McAtee with a shot against Corvallis. (Jeremy Weber photo)
The Columbia Falls girls basketball team started the season on a high note, dropping Corvallis 61-24 and Livingston, 50-37 in the annul Northwest-Southwest Tip-Off tourney in Frenchtown over the weekend.
Hope McAtee led the Wildkats in both games with 25 against Corvallis and 18 against Livingston.
The Kats also saw good things from Lexi Oberholtzer who had 11 and 12 points respectively. Kierra Kempainnen had 11 against the Blue Devils, as the Kats shot out to a 20-3 lead in the first stanza and never looked back.
The Kats also started out well against Livingston, up by 10 at the break. They held the Rangers to just five points in the third.
“Not a bad start,” said coach Cary Finberg. “The young kids came out and were aggressive.”
He said Livingston played a bit more physical ball, but the girls adjusted to it well.
“Overall I’m happy with the weekend,” he said. “They played hard and did a lot of good things.”
In addition to points, McAtee had seven rebounds and seven steals against Park and 10 rebounds against Corvallis. Taryn Borgen had six boards and four steals against Corvallis and Oberholtzer had six boards and four steals against the Blue Devils.
The Kats have a statetourney-like stretch coming up. They play Browning on road Thursday, then travel to Florence Friday and then turn around and travel to Bigfork Monday.
Browning is one of the best teams in Western A, Florence is tough and Bigfork is the best in Western B.
“This stretch will answer questions as far as what we’re made of and where we’re at,” Finberg said.
Columbia Falls 61, Corvallis 24 Corvallis 3 13 0 8 - 24 C-Falls 20 18 15 8 - 61 CORVALLIS — A Loren 12, O Lewis 2, F Wyche 2, T Sorenson 5, M Jessop 3.
COLUMBIA FALLS — Hope McAtee 25, Kierra Kemppainen 11, Lexi Oberholtzer 11, Addy Bowler 5, Taryn Borgen 5, Kya West 2, A Lachance 2, Emalee Alton 2.
Columbia Falls 50, Livingston 37 Livingston 8 11 5 13 - 37 C-Falls 16 13 10 11 - 50 LIVINGSTON — Veronica turk 9, Lily Weimer 8, Ellie King 6, Emily Jesson 3, Ava Malone 3, Maria Turke 3, Veronica Glenne 2, Zoey Payne 2, Kaylee Roberts 1.
COLUMBIA FALLS — Hope McAtee 18, Lexi Oberholtzer 12, Emalee Alton 8, Kierra Kemppainen 5, Jordyn Borgen 4, Kya West 2, Ellie Stutsman 1.