Boys falter against Indians on the road, but bounce back against Polson

The Columbia Falls boys basketball team was bested by Browning on the road Friday, 69-58.

The Indians built a 10-point lead the first quarter and were up by 13 at the half.

The Wildcats would rally in the fourth, but it wasn’t enough to close the gap.

Cooper Ross led the Wildcats off the bench with 24.

But the Cats shot just 15% from beyond the arc, and 37% from the field. They also had 18 turnovers.

Coach Chris Finberg said eight of those turnovers happened in the first quarter and at one point they were down 15-2.

Still, they managed to get within four, in the second half, but Browning held off the rally.

The Cats were out-rebounded 45-24, Finberg noted and Browning was 17 of 22 from the charity stripe, while the Cats were 8 of 15.

But they bounced back Tuesday to drop Polson handily, 59-32. Grady Hutton had the hot hand with 20, Bjorn Pedersen had 15 and Reggie Sapa had 10.

The Cats wrapped up the regular season at 10-2 in conference play and 15-3 overall heading into the Western A divisional tourney next week, where they're the second seed from the Northwest.

Polson    7    4    11    10    -    32 

C-Falls    10    22    12    15    -    59 

POLSON — Brayson DuMont 2, Maddox Bird 9, Malakai Curley 14, Cody Haggard 4, Cason Graham 2, Darrin Hewankorn 1. 

COLUMBIA FALLS — Stanley Stremick 3, Jory Hill 3, Bjorn Pedersen 15, Reggie Sapa 10, Nico Young 2, Cooper Ross 4, Grady Hutton 20, Silas Ypma 2.