Wildcats split the bill at Tip-Off tourney

The Columbia Falls boys basketball team went .500 at the Northwest-Southwest Tip-Off tourney in Frenchtown over the weekend.

The Cats lost the opener to Corvallis 66-57, but bounced back and beat Livingston, 76-41. The Cats were down 35-28 at the break and had a tough time closing the gap against the Blue Devils.

Jace Hill led the Cats with 14 in the loss.

Coach Chris Finberg noted that even in the loss, the Cats had 17 more shots than the Blue Devils. But they had a woeful shooting percentage — 22 of 64 — and just 5 for 29 on treys.

Still, if they had played just little better defensively, they could have won.

Against Livingston the Cats’ offense came alive. Alihn Anderson had 22 to lead the Cats while Dayne Tu and Jace Hill had 10 apiece.

They righted the shooting ship against the Rangers and played better D, forcing 29 turnovers, while only making 12.

Anderson had 16 of his 22 in the first quarter.

The team relaxed and just got on a roll, Finberg noted.

They play Browning Friday at home at 7:15 p.m.

“They’re going to be Browning — running up and down the floor,” Finberg said.

They then face Florence at home Saturday and Bigfork at home Monday.

Corvallis 66 Columbia Falls 57 C-Falls 15 13 15 14 - 57 Corvallis 17 18 13 18 - 66 COLUMBIA FALLS — Jace Hill 14, Bryce Dunham 8, Reggie Sapa 8, Hunter Goodman 8, Cody Schweikert 7, Alihn Anderson 6, Mark Robison 5. CORVALLIS — Ryan Hutchison 14, Derek Criddle 12, Tyler Weise 12, Dillon Pther 10, Aaron Povel 6.

Columbia Falls 76, Livingston 41 Livingston 12 5 14 10 - 41 C-Falls 22 16 22 16 - 76 LIVINGSTON — William Saile 12, Calvin Capplis 7, Alec Dalby 6, Houston Dunn 5, Ryan Brown 4, Kimball Smith 3, Ryuan Miller 2, Ryan Baver 2.

COLUMBIA FALLS — Alihn Anderson 22, Dayne Tu 10, Jace Hill 10, Mark Robison 7, Cody Schweikert 6, Bryce Dunham 6, Hunter Goodman 6, Hunter Hoerner 4, Silas Ypma 1.