Wildcats drill Blue Devils

The Daily Inter Lake

GREAT FALLS - Once Columbia Falls settled in, it was smooth sailing.

Michael Williams and Tanner Barth hit back-to-back treys to put Columbia Falls in front for the first time, 16-14, and the Wildcats rolled from there, whipping Corvallis 61-44 in opening-round action at the Class A state boys basketball tournament Thursday at Four Seasons Arena.

Columbia Falls, 14-7, held a big edge at the half, 39-20, and was never seriously challenged from that point on.

"The first half, we played extremely good basketball," Columbia Falls coach Cary Finberg said.

"They played very solid offensively, defensively. I didn't expect to be up 19 points at halftime."

Corvallis, 13-7, managed to trim the Columbia Falls lead to 14 points at one point in the fourth quarter, but the Blue Devils never got any closer.

"We got a little passive at times (in the second half)," Finberg said, "but we still ended up winning by 17 points."

Mackey Nolan paced the Columbia Falls attack with 19 points. Mitchell Wassam was next with 14.

Matt Smith tossed in 19 for Corvallis. Rodee Anderson followed with 10 points.

Columbia Falls, 6-2 in tournament openers under Finberg, advances to semifinal play tonight at 6:30 versus Browning, 16-5. Browning rolled past Laurel 82-64 on Thursday.

"Typical Browning," Finberg said of what he can expect from the Indians tonight.

"They will get up and down, push the ball, scramble on defense. They have some kids who can put it in the hole. They are talented."

Finberg said the Wildcats, who also favor an uptempo game, can't get caught up in a strictly run-and-gun affair. Laurel lost that battle on Thursday.

"We just have to play our game, take care of the basketball," he said.

"They press and push it more than we do. We have to make sure we don't let them get going. We have to be smart offensively."

Corvallis 14 6 12 12 - 44

Columbia Falls 16 23 10 12 - 61

Corvallis - Drew Zeller 1-9 1-2 3, Matt Smith 6-12 5-6 19, Rodee Anderson 3-12 2-3 10, Riley Bradshaw 0-10 1-2 1, Jordan Waldo 0-1 2-2 2, Dalton Sybrant 4-6 1-4 9. Totals: 14-51 12-19 44.

Columbia Falls - Kyle Howell 1-4 0-0 2, Tanner Barth 2-2 1-2 6, Mackey Nolan 5-10 9-10 19, Austin Robbins 2-3 0-0 4, Austin Barth 1-3 3-4 5, Mitchell Wassam 7-13 0-0 14, Kaleb Johnson 1-1 0-0 2, Grant Getts 2-3 2-2 6, Michael Williams 1-3 0-0 3. Totals: 22-42 15-18 61.

Total Fouls: Corvallis 19, Columbia Falls 17. Fouled Out: Sybrant, Getts. 3-pointers: Corvallis 4-21 Smith 2-4, Anderson 2-9, Columbia Falls 2-6 T. Barth 1-1, Williams 1-3.

Browning 82, Laurel 64

Browning, 16-5, outscored Laurel 50-28 in the second half en route to an 18-point victory.

Lyle St. Goddard led Browning, and all scorers, with 23 points. Daniel Calf Boss Ribs added 22.

Laurel, 14-7, led 36-32 at the half. Sean Condon scored 16 points for the Locomotives.

Laurel 16 20 9 19 - 64

Browning 14 18 17 33 - 82

Laurel - Sean Condon 6-9 4-4 16, Jarred Hergett 4-5 1-2 10, Luke Lohof 1-1 2-2 4, Matthew Scheie 3-8 0-0 6, Tim Simonich 3-7 1-2 9, Jake Mogan 5-17 1-4 13, Zale Kaupish 3-3 0-1 6. Totals: 25-58 9-15 64.

Browning - Ryan Running Wolf 2-4 0-0 4, Lyle St. Goddard 7-13 8-10 23, Jaden Baker 0-0 1-2 1, Derek Desrosier 2-5 2-2 6, A.J. St. Goddard 3-5 4-4 10, Sonny Deroche 3-4 7-8 14, Cody Edwards 1-7 0-0 2, Daniel Calf Boss Ribs 8-19 2-2 22. Totals: 26-60 24-28 82.

Total Fouls: Laurel 22, Browning 17. Fouled Out: Kaupish. 3-pointers: Laurel 5-20 Hergett 1-1, Simonich 2-3, Mogan 2-8, Browning 6-17 L. St. Goddard 1-2, Deroche 1-1, Calf Boss Ribs 4-10.