Girls spend a lot of time on the road, get the sweep

Hungry Horse News

The Columbia Falls girls got a sweep in basketball last week, playing three games in three days with hundreds of bus miles in between.

On Thursday the Wildkats dropped Libby on the road, 69-22, then faced Shelby at home Friday and beat them, 46-37. They then traveled to Shelby on Saturday and beat them again, 48-38.

The tripleheader came about because the original home game against Shelby was postponed due to bad weather.

The Wildkats had a balanced attack against Shelby in the home game, with Lexi Oberholtzer leading the squad with three treys and 9 points total.

Freshman Emalee Alton had 9 boards and 6 points as she’s seen more playing time off the bench as the regular season winds down and the Kats ready for the postseason. Alexis Green had a nice game against Shelby on the road, with seven rebounds; Hope McAtee had 9 and Maddie Stutsman had seven as well.

Coach Cary Finberg said the goal last week was to get a lot of different players time on the hardwood as the postseason approaches.

“I thought defensively we played well,” he said. But the offense could have shot better, he noted. They missed too many open looks and that could be the difference come tournament time.

The girls face Ronan Thursday night at home and then Whitefish on the road Saturday. Ronan is a tough out and dangerous offensively.

Looking ahead to the Western A divisional tourney, Dillon and Hamilton are the teams to beat from the Southwest. Dillon is undefeated in conference play and 15-1 overall.

Finberg said he would have preferred the Northwest A was having a conference tourney, as Southwest A is, rather than having two weeks of no basketball before the divisional tournament, which is Feb. 24-25 in Hamilton.

This year the state tourney is in Missoula March 10-12, which means another two week break between action.

The Kats are now 12-4 overall and 7-1 in conference play.