High School Hoops: Columbia Falls boys clobber Big Sky

The Daily Inter Lake

COLUMBIA FALLS - Four players in double figure scoring and domination on the boards carried Columbia Falls to a 68-44 nonconference boys basketball victory Saturday night over Class AA Missoula Big Sky.

Class A Columbia Falls (3-2) was led by Grant Getts' double-double - 16 points and 12 rebounds.

Mackey Nolan tallied 13 points, Mitchell Wassam and Michael Williams both followed with 12.

Columbia Falls led 34-21 at the break and put the game away with a 22-point third quarter.

"Good shot selection and everybody was sharing the ball," Columbia Falls coach Cary Finberg said.

"We played together very well tonight."

Columbia Falls outrebounded Big Sky 37-20.

Wassam also had a strong game on the boards with eight rebounds.

Columbia Falls is back in action Thursday hosting Libby.

Missoula Big Sky 15 6 14 9 - 44

Columbia Falls 19 15 22 12 - 68

Missoula Big Sky - Mike LaValley 5 3-5 14, Kevin Mchugh 3 0-0 6, Brandon Montelius 3 0-1 6, Ryan Devlin 3 0-0 6, Drew Owen 0 2-2 2, Ed Apostol 4 2-6 10. Totals: 18 7-14 44.

Columbia Falls - Kyle Howell 1 0-0 3, Tanner Barth 1 1-2 4, Mackey Nolan 5 2-3 13, Austin Robbins 0 1-2 1, Austin Barth 1 0-0 2, Mitchell Wassam 6 0-0 12, Jacob Calderwood 2 1-1 5, Grant Getts 7 1-2 16, Michael Williams 4 2-4 12. Totals: 27 8-14 68.

3-point goals: LaValley, Williams (2), Getts, Nolan, T. Barth, Howell; Team fouls: Big Sky 14, Columbia Falls 15; Fouled out: none.

Stevensville 56,

Polson 39

STEVENSVILLE - A fast start allowed Stevensville to roll to an easy victory over Polson in a nonconference matchup.

Stevensville led 23-11 at the half and 45-24 after three periods.

Ethan Pateman tallied 22 points for Stevensville.

Craig Bagnell was the high-point man for Polson with nine.

Polson 4 7 13 15 - 39

Stevensville 11 12 22 11 - 56

POLSON - Craig Bagnell 9, Kyle Bagnell 7, Waylon Michel 8, Tim Rausch 6, Ryan Kelly 2, Louis Mohr 4, Joe Andrews 3.

STEVENSVILLE - Boone Chambers 7, Austin Kelling 3, Caleb Vance 1, Tyler Gavlak 6, Ethan Pateman 22, Jeremy Rusnell 12, Josh Schultz 3, Mike Thorstad 2.

Eureka 67, Mission 31

EUREKA - A big first half carried Eureka to a convincing District 7B victory over Mission.

The Lions led 43-14 at the break.

Ryan Holder and Ben Dechart shared team-high scoring honors for Eureka with 15 points each.

Eureka 19 24 16 8 - 67

Mission 9 5 7 10 - 31

Eureka - Cade Davis 4, Jesse Thompson 7, Dylan Day 2, Andrew Sanders 4, Ryan Holder 15, Ben Dechart 15, Marcus Pluid 9, Mark Good 2, Caleb Curtis 9.

Mission - Wyatt McCollum 2,, Austin Durglo 1, Spencer Hoborn 1, Jorren Gies 9, Lynn Serf 2, Jordan Rohrich 4, Terry Suka 3, Lakota Matt 8, Josh Durglo 2.

Libby 46, Whitefish 45

LIBBY - Whitefish lost by one point for the second night in a row.

The Libby Loggers went 4-for-6 from the free throw line down the stretch to take a four-point lead before Whitefish hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Connor Benson led the Loggers with 13 points and Colton Cannon and Joel Fuller added 10 apiece.

For Whitefish, Colt Idol led the way with 20 points, Aaron Tkaychk scored 10 and David FauntLeRoy and Marc Hotzfield chipped in five apiece.

Whitefish 8 15 13 9 - 45

Libby 6 17 10 13 - 46

Whitefish - Matt Whitehead 0, Aaron Tkaychk 10, Willie Roche 3, Marc Hotzfield 5, Connor Silliker 2, Colt Idol 20, David FauntLeRoy 5

Libby - TJ Benson 4, Connor Benson 13, Kelly May 1, Joel Fuller 8, Colton Cannon 10, Adam Stapley 2, Alex Cislo 8

Girls

Libby 55, Whitefish 46

LIBBY - Jackie Mee scored 18 points and Brittany Martin added 14 as the Libby Loggers downed visiting Whitefish in a Northwestern A matchup.

Libby led the Bulldogs 27-19 at the half.

Kate Klundt paced Whitefish with 18 points.

Whitefish 8 11 18 9 - 46

Libby 19 8 13 15 - 55

Whitefish -Jessi Slaybaugh 8, Torrie Powell 8, Kate Klundt 18, Olivia Nagler 2, Beth Donovan 2, McCara Cullen 2, Adele FauntLeroy 2, Paula Olivera 4. Totals 21 2-3 46.

Libby - Evi Cernick 5, LaRona Luscher 2, Brittany Martin 14, Jaime Gilden 12, Logan Best 4, Jackie Mee 18. Totals 19 15-26 55.

3-point goals: Whitefish 2 (Slaybaugh 2), Libby 2 (Martin, Mee). Total fouls: Whitefish 23, Libby 9. Fouled out: Powell, Donovan.

C.M. Russell 67,

Flathead 17

GREAT FALLS - C.M. Russell put the game out of reach in the opening quarter, rolling to a 24-5 advantage.

Flathead was held to five second-half points.

Danika Johnson and Tess Brenneman both tallied five points to lead winless Flathead.

Kate Strepe and Natalie Beard paced CMR with 12 points each.

Flathead 5 7 3 2 - 17

CMR 24 16 19 8 - 67

Flathead - Kelsey Hildel 1-5 0-1 2, Ariel Johnson 0-2 0-0 0, Jaimee Zorn 1-3 0-0 2, Danika Johnson 2-3 1-4 5, Sammie Thompson 0-0 1-2 1, Tess Brenneman 1-4 3-4 5, Brittany Earnest 0-1 0-1 0, Emily Obermiller 1-4 0-1 2. Totals 6-22 5-13.

CMR - Haley Vining 1-3 0-0 2, Lindsey Brendgord 2-6 2-2 6, Jordan Bagley 4-6 0-0 8, Katie Klick 3-7 1-2 9, Kate Strepe 6-8 0-2 12, Jamye Hill 0-1 0- 0, Jordan Quick 3-6 2-2 11, Jessie Morin 3-5 1-1 7, Natalie Beard 5-9 2-3 12. Totals 27-56 8-12.

Total fouls - Flathead 12 (Fouled out - none), CMR 17 (Fouled out - none). Three-point goals - Flathead 0-4, CMR 5-15 (Klick 2-2, Quick 3-6). Rebounds - Flathead 13 (Breeneman 3), CMR 39 (Bagley 7, Striepe 7). Turnovers - Flathead 30, CMR 16.

Polson 59,

Stevensville 45

POLSON - Nicole Davey recorded her first double-double of the season - 13 points and 11 rebounds - to guide Polson (2-3) past Stevensville in a nonconference outing.

Stevensville jumped in front 7-0, but it was all Polson after that.

"A lot better effort than last night," Polson coach Randy Kelley said.

"Last night we struggled with our shooting (20 percent at Hamilton). Tonight we shot 50 percent (21 for 42).

Breanne Kelley also reached double-figure scoring for Polson with 11 points.

Polson entertains Ronan on Friday and travels to Columbia Falls on Saturday.

Stevensville 11 13 8 13 - 45

Polson 17 13 12 17 - 59

Stevensville - Sherry Walters 3, Mackenzie Sebastian 3, Brekka Johnson 2, Lindsey Thorstad 2, Alexa Omlid 11, Maddie Jones 3, Blaire Brookshire 21.

Polson - Amanda James 7, Staci Benson 3, Sierra Pete 6, Breanne Kelley 11, Rochel Woods 9, Riley Kenney 1, Nicole Davey 13, Sarah Newton 9.

Big Sky 70,

Columbia Falls 49

MISSOULA - Joslyn Tinkle scored 30 points as Big Sky posted an easy victory pitting Class AA versus Class A.

Big Sky led 20-6 and 43-14 after the first two quarter stops.

Kelsey DeWit tossed in 14 points and Kayla DeWit had 13 points for Columbia Falls.

Columbia Falls' 6 8 15 20 - 49

Big Sky 20 23 13 14 - 70

COLUMBIA FALLS - Mackenzie Reeve 1 0-0 2, Kayla Stratton 1 0-0 2, Kayla DeWit 6 1-2 13, Alyssa Ladenburg 2 5-5 11, Kelsey DeWit 7 0-0 14, Shay Grilley 1 0-0 3, Shiloh Kundsen 1 2-2 4. Totals 19 8-9 49.

BIG SKY - Brittany Sept 4 0-1 10, Joslyn Tinkle 15 0-1 30, Katie Showers 3 1-3 7, Elleson Tinkle 2 0-0 4, Kori Thornock 1 0-2 2, Brittany Bird Rattler 3 0-0 7, Amy McLaughlin 2 0-1 4, Kelsey LaVaute 1 0-0 2, Stephanie Carl 2 0-0 4. Totals 33 1-8 70.

3-point goals - Columbia Falls 3 (Ladenburg 2), Big Sky 3 (Sept 2). Total fouls - Columbia Falls 11, Big Sky 15. Fouled out - none.

Eureka 47, Mission 41

EUREKA - Steph Vogelman scored a game-high 18 points and took a key charge down the stretch in helping Eureka move to 2-0 in District 7B play, 2-3 overall.

Mariah Newell added 10 points and pulled down a team-high eight rebounds for the Lions. Auna Lawler also tallied 10 points.

Eureka hosts Whitefish on Friday in a nonconference contest.

Mission 10 6 14 11 - 41

Eureka 8 14 13 12 - 47

Mission - Kelsey Cable 2, Kyla Mitchell 9, Jonna Grant 4, Rachel Jensen 2, Lisa Larsson 2, Mattea Grant 7, Katie McDonald 5, Jordan Adams 10.

Eureka - Tayler Holder 5, Kayci West 4, Auna Lawler 10, Steph Vogelman 18, Mariah Newell 10.