Strong second half leads Wildcats to win

It was a little sluggish at the start, but once the second half came around Columbia Falls performed like Wildcat teams usually do in December - nearly flawless.

Nick Emerson had 21 points and six rebounds, Austin Barth scored 15 points and the visiting Wildcats came away with a 58-40 nonconference boys basketball victory over Flathead on Thursday night. Columbia Falls improved to 3-0 overall while Flathead dropped to 0-2.

"We played a very good basketball team. You can see why they're one of the best teams, not only in Class A, but in the state," Flathead head coach Fred Febach said of the Wildcats. "They have great size, great balance, and they do some awfully good things out there. I felt that's as good of competition as you can find."

In front of a spirited crowd of both Flathead and Columbia Falls fans, the Wildcats put 10 first-half turnovers behind them and outscored the Braves 29-16 in the second half.

That familiar full-court trap that the Wildcats can turn on in a flash was too good for the Braves to solve. Neither was there wasn't an answer to Columbia Falls' size and quickness. Not on Thursday.

"We're big and athletic. That's always nice," Emerson, a senior, said.

In the final three minutes, the Wildcats allowed only three points while scoring nine. The energized celebration for the travelers unofficially kicked off with 1:57 left when 6-foot-6 Barth made it an 11-point game after throwing down a two-handed slam dunk between a pair of defenders. After grabbing holding of the rim, the foul whistle sounded and turned into an echo of exclamation by Barth and Co.

"It was definitely a fun game and a big win," Emerson said. "It was a big crowd and a pretty intense rivalry. We definitely like to come in here and have a big win over them."

George Sherwood paced the Braves with 12 points, Ian Gillespie had nine and Joe Pistorese had six. Parker Johnson had seven points and Kaleb Johnson chipped in six for the visitors.

"Obviously turnovers in the first half cost us but it's early in the year and those are things that we can get better at and will get better at," Columbia Falls coach Cary Finberg said. "To be where we're at after three games, I'm pretty happy. Potentially, like I said all along, this group has a chance to be very good. We just have to start cleaning some things up, believing in each other, finding out what each and every guy's role is and continue to play like we are, and good things are going to happen."

Columbia Falls faces another AA opponent on Saturday when the Wildcats play at Missoula Sentinel at 4 p.m. Flathead takes on Libby on the road Saturday at 6 p.m.

Columbia Falls 10 15 14 19 - 58

Flathead 11 13 5 11 - 40

COLUMBIA FALLS - Nick Emerson 10 1-1 21, Chris King 3 0-3 6, Anthony Correa 0 1-2 1, Parker Johnson 2 1-2 7, Austin Barth 7 1-3 15, Kaleb Johnson 2 2-5 6, Jacob Calderwood 1 0-0 2. Totals 25 6-16 58

FLATHEAD - Mike VanArendonk 1 1-2 3, Matt McLean 1 2-2 5, Ian Gillespie 4 1-2 9, Cameron Robertson 0 1-2 1, Joe Pistorese 3 0-0 6, George Sherwood 2 8-12 12, Scotty Keller 2 0-0 4.

3-pointers - CF 2 (P. Johnson 2), FH (McLean); Team fouls - CF 18, FH 19; Fouled out - None.