C-Falls boys pull out a wild victory

The Daily Inter Lake

COLUMBIA FALLS - Montana high school basketball fans from across the state will look into today's paper and see the two-time defending state champion Columbia Falls boys basketball team beat Ronan 69-46 Saturday and have no idea how amazing the Northwestern A game was.

The Chiefs and Wildcats exchanged the lead nine times in the first three quarters before Columbia Falls seemed to be graced with a supernatural touch in the end of the third quarter and entire fourth quarter to outscore Ronan in the second half 44-15.

Ronan held a 39-38 lead with 40 seconds left in the third quarter. But Columbia Falls ended up winning by 23.

"I have no idea what happened," Ronan coach John Hollow said. "I was just talking to my assistants and I don't know what to say. That was crazy."

Columbia Falls junior guard Chase Grilley scored eight of his 16 points in the fourth quarter and tallied five assists and four steals in that same time frame.

"I've never been a part of anything like what just happened," Grilley said. "That was wild. What a comeback."

Held to just three points and one rebound in the first half, Grilley finished with 16 points, six steals, five assists and three rebounds.

But, of course, it wasn't just Grilley. Eleven Wildcats scored points.

Junior point guard Chase Fairbank scored all nine of his points in the second half and had six in the fourth quarter.

Senior guard Bobby Pearce hit three 3-pointers in the middle stanzas en route to 13 points. Senior wing Michael Taylor scored six of his seven points in the second half. And junior forward Zane Ridings scored all six of his points in the final minute.

After exchanging five-lead changes in the final three minutes of the third quarter, Pearce gave the Wildcats the lead for good with a 3-pointer just before the buzzer.

Then Ronan's Moss Tanner got the ensuing inbounds pass and hit a three-quarters court shot at the buzzer to seemingly put the game at 43-42 Columbia Falls going into the final frame. But the basket was waved off because senior Cameron Barber was hanging from the rim and called for goal tending.

At 43-39, the Wildcats started the fourth quarter with a 14-0 run where Ronan couldn't even get a shot off. The game went from Ronan holding a 39-38 lead to Columbia Falls holding a 57-39 lead in four minutes of game time.

And the game went from Ronan running Columbia Falls' uptempo full-court press, fast-break offense blueprint to perfection to, somehow, the Wildcats using the same thing against the Chiefs.

"The were running our game better than we were," Columbia Falls coach Cary Finberg said. "Then we switch up from a full-court man press to a full-court trap and I think our depth got to them and we wore them out."

But Hollow didn't agree.

"Teams have been running that (full-court trap) on us all year and we've had no troubles with it," he said. "I don't know. I'm baffled.

"Our depth is one of our strengths. We usually play 10 or 11 guys and we like uptempo basketball. But we got into a span there where I don't think we got the ball past the free-throw line for four minutes. You can't do that against good teams."

Obviously, the Chiefs were just as impressive for three quarters.

Tanner registered a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. He also added four assists and two steals while playing in foul trouble.

The Chiefs leading scorer and rebounder Cameron Barber sat out much of the game because he was in foul trouble as well. He ended up with four points and three rebounds.

Senior guard Gene Adams was instrumental in the Chiefs' quick start. He scored seven of his nine points in the first half. Sophomore guard Mike Fisher III added seven points and two steals while in foul trouble in the loss.

Ronan was whistled for 22 fouls compared to Columbia Falls' 13. As a result, the Wildcats went 17-for-25 from the free-throw line while Ronan was 6-for-12. But most of those C-Falls' free throws came in the first half, when they were 10-for-14.

The teams combined for 46 turnovers with Ronan committing 16 of their 26 in the second half.

The Wildcats ended up making 42 percent of their shots (23-for-55) after going 2-for-11 in the second quarter.

Ronan finished with a 40 percent (18-for-47) shooting clip after making 50 percent from inside the 3-point line in the first half.

Columbia Falls improved to 2-0 in Northwestern A play and 4-2 overall. Ronan fell to 1-1 in conference and 3-3 overall.

Ronan 14 17 8 7 - 46

C. Falls 14 11 18 26 - 69

RONAN (1-1, 3-3) - Moss Tanner 5-11 2-3 12, Mike Fisher II 2-5 2-3 7, Ryon Hesselgesser 2-2 1-2 5, Makenzy Kelch 0-1 0-0 0, Jordan St. Clair 0-4 0-0 0, Kyle Orr 1-3 0-0 2, Gene Adams 4-9 1-2 9, Nolan Harris 2-6 0-0 4, Eddie Ness 1-1 0-0 3, Cameron Barber 2-5 0-0 4, Mike Crawford 0-0 0-2 0. Totals 19-47 6-12 46.

COLUMBIA FALLS (2-0, 4-2) - Chase Fairbank 4-6 1-3 9, Jared Jimmerson 1-3 0-0 2, Tanner Perry 0-0 0-0 0, Cody Bowman 0-0 0-0 0, Kyle Jangula 1-3 3-6 5, Dustin Gibson 0-3 0-0 0, Zane Ridings 1-1 3-3 6, Karsten Peterson 1-7 1-2 3, Bobby Pearce 4-7 2-2 13, Mackey Nolan 1-1 0-0 2, Michael Taylor 3-8 1-2 7, Chase Grilley 6-15 2-3 16, Mitchell Wassam 1-1 0-0 2, Grant Getts 0-0 4-4 4. Totals 23-55 17-25 69.

3-point goals - Ron. 2-13 (Ness 1-1, Fisher 1-4), CF 6-17 (Pearce 3-4, Ridings 1-1, Grilley 2-7). Rebounds - Ron. 32 (Tanner 10, Harris 4, Kelch 3, Barber 3, Crawford 3, Fisher 2, Adams 2, team 2 (three tied with 1), CF 37 (Gibson 10, Getts 6, team 5, Jangula 4, Peterson 3, Grilley 3, Fairbank 2, two tied with 1). Assists - Ron. 12 (Tanner 5, St. Clair 3, four tied with 1), CF 12 (Grilley 5, Jimmerson 3, Pearce 2, two tied with 1). Steals - Ron. 7 (Tanner 2, Fisher 2, three tied with 1), CF 15 (Grilley 6, Jimmerson 2, Jangula 2, Getts 2, three tied with 1). Blocks - Ron. 2 (Harris, Barber), CF 1 (Fairbank). Turnovers - Ron. 26, CF 20. Total fouls - Ron. 22, CF 13. Fouled out - none.