Kats fall short at state tourney
Hope McAtee had 28 in the loss to Miles City. (JP Edge photo)
By CHRIS PETERSON
Hungry Horse News
The Columbia Falls girls basketball team went 0-2 at the state A tournament in Missoula, though the second game came down to the wire.
The Wildkats lost to top-ranked Billings Central in the opener 65-30 Wednesday; then they lost to Miles City in the consolation bracket Thursday night, 51-50 in a game that came down to free throws with a second left.
Against Central, the girls held with the Rams for the first quarter, with the score just 5-4 Rams after the first stanza.
But Central hit a trey at the end of the first and then a barrage in the second.
It was all Central after that, as they outscored the Kats 27-9 in the second quarter and never looked back.
Coach Cary Finberg said defensively, the Wildkats were ready to go and played well in the first, but they just couldn’t answer Central’s shooting.
“I was happy with the fact that they were ready to play (in the first),” he said, but they would have had to play almost flawless defense to hang with the Rams the whole game.
Maddie Robison led the team with 12 points in the loss. The girls had 20 turnovers and Central shot 11 for 23 in treys.
Against Miles City, the game came down to the wire. It was tied 21-21 at the half and with seven seconds left in the fourth, it came down to free throws. Hope McAtee got to the line and put the Kats up 50-49, but Miles City got the ball to Lainey Smith, who drove the length of the court and drew a foul. Her two free throws with 1 second left won it.
Finberg said the foul was a 50-50 ball. It could have been a charge or a foul. The officials called foul.
McAtee, a sophomore, had a stellar game with 28 points and 7 rebounds.
McAtee scored 24 of her 28 in the second half and had 11 straight points at one point.
She hit a three to draw the Wildkats to 45-44 with 1:45 left, and scored with 25 seconds remaining to cut Miles City’s lead to 49-48.
Alexis Green, one of the team’s top defenders, went out with a concussion late in the first, which didn’t help the Kats’ defensively. Green had 3 points and 4 steals before she went out.
The Kats ended the season at 16-7 overall. They won the Northwest A conference title and took fourth at the Western A divisional.