Fields lifts C-Falls into semis

BUTTE - Make that 7-1 for the Columbia Falls Wildcats in basketball games decided by three points or less.

Senior point guard J.D. Fields drained two free throws with 8.9 seconds remaining in Class A state

basketball tournament opening-round action to give Columbia Falls a 50-49 victory Thursday over the Browning

Indians.

The win gives the Wildcats (18-3) an 8 p.m. semifinal appointment tonight with Sidney (20-1).

But you'd never would have guessed which team - Columbia Falls or Browning - had won by the way both squads walked off the tournament

floor afterward.

Heads drooped onto chests of both the Wildcats and the Indians.

It was the Indians who had just lost. But it was the Wildcats who had surrendered a 13-point lead and who

didn't score for eight-straight minutes in the second half.

"We let a lead slip away. We got passive. We didn't attack at all. We were playing bad defense and it caught up with us," Fields said.

"We're going to have to play a whole lot better than this," he added.

"Give Browning credit," said Columbia Falls head coach Cary Finberg. "They pulled up the intensity.

"We got passive. We had that lead and we got soft. They kind of got on us and we took a step backward,"

he said.

"We quit looking up the court. We got a little tentative. We're not very good when we try to slow it down.

"It's tough to run an offense 35 or 40 feet from the basket and that's what we were trying to do.

"But give us credit, too. The last minute or so, we kind of pulled out of it.

"It's a win … at state. We'll take it," the coach smiled. "We didn't play our best basketball and we still got a win."

The Wildcats had things going fairly well in the

first half - they were running, attacking and shooting

40 percent from the field while holding the Indians to

just 23 percent.

They were up 28-17 at half.

But the Wildcats started to unravel just a bit in the

third - and Browning whittled away at the lead.

Browning's Andrew Sellers scored 17 points of his game-high 21 in the second half.

First, the Indians were within six points, then it was five.

Two 3-pointers by Columbia Falls' Kevin Boyer held them at bay for awhile. But then the Wildcat offense went dry.

Anthony Minson's 10-footer with 1:37 marked the last field goal the Wildcats would see for a long, long time.

The score at the end of the third quarter was 41-35.

And the Indians just kept slowly hammering away. They took a 42-41 lead with 2:55 to go and pushed that to 48-45 with 39 seconds remaining.

Free throws were truly the undoing for Browning.

In addition to Fields' pair, Boyer was also 2-for-2 in the final minute and Drew Perry 1-for-2.

The Indians made one of four attempts in the final 31

seconds and were 9-for-20 on the night.

Minson and Boyer each had 14 points to lead the Wildcat offense. Drew Perry added 13 points.

Minson also gathered in 11 rebounds, had two blocked shots and two steals. Guy Smith contributed three assists.

WILDCATS 50, INDIANS 49

Browning 10 7 18 14 - 49

Columbia Falls 15 13 13 9 - 50

Browning - Scott Raining Bird 1 1-2 3,Jordan Running Wolf 5 0-0 10, Andrew Sellers 8 5-9 21, Marcus Mad Man 3 0-0 6, Ryan Augare 0 3-4 3, Fish 3 0-4 6. Totals: 20 9-20 49.

Columbia Falls - Justin Heinrichs 0 1-2 1, J.D.

Fields 1 2-3 4, Drew Perry 5 3-6 13, Kevin Boyer 5 2-2 14, Minson 5 4-7 14, Macijunas 1 2-2 4. Totals: 17 14-24 50.

3-point goals: Browning 0, Columbia Falls 2 (Boyer 2). Total fouls: Browning 20, Columbia Falls 15. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: Browning 40 (Sellers 7, Fish 7), Columbia Falls 37 (Minson 11). Steals: Browning 11 (Fish 4), Columbia Falls 5 (Minson 2). Blocks: Browning 2 (Running Wolf, Mad Man), Columbia Falls 2 (Minson 2). Assists: Browning 3 (Sellers 2), Columbia Falls 9 (Smith 3). Turnovers: Browning 16, Columbia Falls 20.