Boys head to divisionals on a high note
Cooper Ross with a shot against the Pirates.
The Columbia Falls boys basketball team capped off a great regular season with a 52-39 pounding of Polson at home last Tuesday.
The Wildcats were led by senior Grady Hutton, who was hot from beyond the arc with 20.
Bjorn Pedersen added 15 points and Reggie Sapa 10 for the Wildcats (15-3 overall, 10-2 in Northwest A games); Hutton hit two of the Wildcats five 3-pointers in the second quarter, in which he scored eight points.
He also grabbed 11 rebounds.
All told, eight players were in the scoring column for the Wildcats.
They now head into the Western A Divisional tournament on Whitefish this week, with an opening game against Butte Central, a team they’ve seen before. The Cats beat the Maroons in the second game of the year, 74-65.
Central comes in with a 9-9 overall record and a 6-4 conference mark.
They won’t be taken lightly, coach Chris Finberg said.
“They’re more than capable,” he said of the Maroons. “They can flat out shoot the ball.”
If the Cats can get past them, they’ll likely face top-seeded Dillon.
The Beavers haven’t lost a game to a Class A opponent all season. Still, the sports rivalry between the two is unmatched in Class A and the game should be a barnburner if it comes to fruition.
Dillon is led by Kyler Ellegant, who averages just under 20 points a game. The Cats are more balanced, with Bjorn Pedersen leading with just under 12 points a game, but a host of other players who are just shy of 10 points a game and quite a few more who are more than capable of hitting a clutch shot when need be.
The Cats hang their hat on defense, which opens up their transition game. They had 171 steals on the year. Dillon had 180.
Columbia Falls will have to shoot well, play good defense and limit turnovers, which is the basic recipe for winning in basketball.
The goal for the Cats is to gain a berth to the state A tourney in Billings, of course, whether it’s through the front or back door. The top four go to state.
“Doesn’t matter how you get there,” Finberg noted. “Just get there.”