Spartans pull away from Kats
COLUMBIA FALLS - It happened fast.
How long did it take to go from right in the midst of things, only six points down and making a run, to a 17-point deficit?
For the Columbia Falls Wildkats it took just over three minutes.
Columbia Falls (0-4) was outscored 18-8 in the third period by Missoula Sentinel on Saturday and wound up falling 66-39 to the Spartans in a nonconference girls basketball matchup.
Still Columbia Falls coach Dan Fairbank had a smile on his face afterward.
"I'm pretty happy with it all," Fairbank said.
"The only two things I wanted to do was outhustle and outrebound (the Spartans) because those are the things that were missing in the first three games," Fairbank said.
"We got pounded on the boards against Flathead, lost the rebound battle against Hamilton and, in my estimation, lost the rebound battle with Stevensville," he said.
"If we take that third quarter out of the mix, we were right in it. But we had seven or eight straight turnovers and Sentinel is known for its pressure. (The Spartans) are very good at that," he said.
"That's what happens when you play a pretty good AA team. We lost our heads a little bit because of the pressure - and that's something we have Christmas break to work on," Fairbank said.
"I was not disappointed at all, because the things we wanted to see we got done ... with the exception of the turnovers," he added.
Saturday's game was reasonably close through the first half. Sentinel led by eight late in the second quarter and was up 29-18 at half.
"It was much, much better than the last three games. As a team we played better defense," he said.
Many of the Spartans points came off Wildkat turnovers (unofficially they had 25).
"But on a set defense, we played pretty well," the coach said.
Kayla DeWit led all scorers with 16 points and Danielle Gilley added nine points to the Columbia Falls effort.
"I was very happy with Kayla DeWit's rebounding. Against Flathead, she had zero in the first quarter and one offensive rebound in the game. She did a much better job," the coach said.
As for Gilley, "it was nice to see her step up. I was happy with Dani Gilley being more aggressive to the ball offensively and shooting the ball."
Sentinel's offense was well-spread - four players in double figures. Freshman Olivia Roberts led with 15 points followed by McCall Hasquet with 12, Kennedy Fulbright with 11 and Liz Harper with 10.
Sentinel 13 16 18 19 - 66
Columbia Falls 7 11 8 13 - 39
MISSOULA Sentinel - Kennedy Fulbright 4 0-0 11, McCall Hasquet 4 3-3 12, Kate Focher 3 1-2 7, Liz Harper 5 0-0 10, Megan Beach 1 0-0 2, Keli Grover 3 0-0 6, Kate Patenaude 0 3-4 3, Olivia Roberts 6 3-4 15, Amanda Davis 0 0-2 0. Totals 26 10-20 66.
Columbia Falls - Kayla Stratton 0 1-2 1, Cedar Jordt 1 0-0 2, Danielle Gilley 4 1-2 9, Kayla DeWit 6 4-4 16, Madi Sandefer 1 0-0 2, Hope Burlage 0 4-4 4, Jonna Werner 2 1-4 5. Totals 14 11-16 39.
3-point goals: Sentinel 4 (Fulbright 3, Hasquet 1), Columbia Falls 0; Total fouls: Sentinel 13, Columbia Falls 14. Fouled out: None.