'Cats come out quick, beat Bigfork
12 players score in win
COLUMBIA FALLS - The two-time Class A defending state champions made it look easy Thursday night.
Columbia Falls senior forward Karsten Peterson scored eight of his nine points in the first quarter against Bigfork as the Wildcats took a quick 25-8 opening-quarter lead en route to a 65-40 Northwestern A victory.
"Nothing is easy with this group but we came out in the first quarter and played extremely well and extremely hard," Columbia Falls coach Cary Finberg said. "Our focus all week was turnovers and we had zero in the first quarter. That was huge."
Junior guard Chase Grilley scored eight of his game-high 15 points in the opening quarter as well. But those weren't the only two doing the damage. Sophomore guard Mackey Nolan scored five of his seven points and senior forward Michael Taylor added four of his 12 points in the first frame.
It was the home and conference opener for the Wildcats, giving a raucous crowd its first glimpse of the defending state champs. They improved to 3-2 on the year as Bigfork remained winless.
"Our crowd is loud and we get pumped up and that is how we play," Taylor said. "It's been that way here for as long as I can remember."
Taylor wowed the crowd in the final quarter by scoring eight points on jump shots from around the key.
"I just found little gashes and drove into the lanes and squirted up some shots," Taylor said. "I was just finding open spots and getting there."
But it was Grilley, again, who led the Wildcat charge. He had two steals, two rebounds and an assist in the opening barrage to go with a 3-pointer. He continued in the second quarter with another 3-pointer, another steal and another assist in scoring 13 of his points in the opening half.
But the most impressive feat in the victory was 12 Wildcats scored as Finberg used five-man line changes the majority of the game. They made 47 percent of their shots (25-for-55).
"Our bench came in and played great," Finberg said. "That's a huge difference when you don't have a letdown from the bench. We got a lot of contributions from a lot of kids and we competed for all four quarters. Sometimes it's hard to compete with a lead like we had. Our kids handled it well. "
The Wildcats out-rebounded the Vikings, 37-29, and gathered 14 steals while forcing 22 turnovers. They also tallied 13 assists.
The Vikings (0-3 in Northwestern A, 0-6 overall) were led by 5-foot-7 junior guard Andrew Whittacker. He had 12 points, with six of those coming off free throws, and four rebounds. Sophomore Brock Boll had eight points, five rebounds and two blocks. Roland Benedict and Kainoa Lake each added six points.
But the Vikings made just 34 percent of their shots (14-for-41).
"We just didn't handle their trapping defense," Bigfork coach Jim Epperly said. "If you can't handle the defense they're throwing at you, you don't have a prayer to win. We had a game on Tuesday and it takes more than one day to prepare for a team like Columbia Falls.
"The second game of the week has been really tough on our guards because we don't have a lot of depth. We have really had trouble this season with our second games of the week. We've been playing well. We just looked tired. We didn't improve from our last game."
Columbia Falls hosts Ronan on Saturday. Bigfork doesn't play again until Jan. 5 at Thompson Falls.
Bigfork 8 11 6 15 - 40
C. Falls 25 18 10 12 - 65
BIGFORK (0-3, 0-6) - Justin Goode 1-6 0-0 2, Andrew Whittacker 3-8 6-6 12, Trey Lehrman 0-0 0-0 0, Roland Benedict 3-12 0-0 6, Brock Boll 2-3 4-6 8, Dustin Haines 0-1 0- 0, Jon White 1-5 0-2 2, Tyler Butts 0-0 0-1 0, Levi Dockstader 0-1 0-0 0, Kainoa Lake 3-4 0-0 6, Garrett Pewe 1-1 1-4 4. Totals 14-41 11-21 40.
COLUMBIA FALLS (1-0, 3-2) - Chase Fairbank 2-4 0-0 4, Jared Jimmerson 2-3 0-0 5, Cody Bowman 0-0 0-0 0, Kyle Jangula 1-3 0-0 2, Dustin Gibson 1-3 1-2 3, Karsten Peterson 4-10 1-2 9, Bobby Pearce 0-4 1-2 1, Mackey Nolan 1-3 4-4 7, Michael Taylor 6-12 0-0 12, Chase Grilley 6-8 1-3 15, Mitchell Wassam 1-2 0-0 2, Grant Getts 1-1 1-2 3. Totals 26-55 9-15 65.
3-point goals - Big. 1-4 (Pewe 1-1), CF 4-14 (Grilley 2-5, Nolan 1-1, Jimmerson 1-1). Rebounds - Big. 29 (Lake 5, Boll 5, Whittacker 4, Benedict 3, team 3, Pewe 2, two tied with 1), CF 37 (team 7, Getts 5, Nolan 4, Jangula 4, Gibson 3, Wassam 3, Ridings 2, Peterson 2, Taylor 2, Grilley 2, Jimmerson 2, Bowman 2, Fairbank). Assists - Big. 5 (Benedict 2, three tied with 1), CF 13 (Jangula 3, Fairbank 2, Grilley 2, six tied with 1). Steals - Big. 8 (Benedict 5, three tied with 1), CF 14 (Grilley 4, Fairbank 2, Jangula 2, Pearce 2, Taylor 2, two tied with 1). Blocks - Big. 4 (Boll 2, Benedict, Lake), CF 0. Turnovers - Big. 22, CF 14. Total fouls - Big. 16, CF 21. Fouled out - none.