Columbia Falls boys bust Belgrade in state opener

BOZEMAN - A few moments past 12:30 p.m., the Wildcats kicked off the Class A state boys basketball tournament with a slam.

Senior Nick Emerson threw down a one-handed dunk on the opening play, punctuating Columbia Falls' aspirations and bringing its well-traveled fans to their feet inside the big Brick Breeden Fieldhouse on Thursday afternoon.

What a welcome.

After the rousing start, Columbia Falls survived first-game jitters and a big blow to its lineup and eventually wore down Belgrade with an impressive defensive performance in the second half en route to a 53-36 victory in the opener. Columbia Falls (20-1) faces defending champ Laurel (18-3) Friday at 6:30 p.m. in a semifinal rematch of last year's first-round overtime game that dropped the Wildcats into loser-out play.

"Any time you come to the state tournament, that first game makes you nervous," Columbia Falls head coach Cary Finberg said.

"You just never know how kids are going to react. And obviously we had some kids that didn't react very well. But hopefully they got it out of their system. At the same time we had a lot of kids step up and react very well."

The Wildcats' debut was physical, fast-paced and impressively well-rounded, but not without a major loss. Senior Kaleb Johnson went down late in the second quarter and left the game with a knee injury. Finberg said afterward the veteran starter tore his ACL and is done.

"The kid I feel for is Kaleb. He's the one that's suffering right now," Finberg said. "We're going to be fine. Like I told (the team), we're not a one- or two-man team. Everybody just has to do their part and pick it up a little bit ... I just feel for Kaleb. He's worked so hard."

With Johnson cheering on crutches from the bench, Columbia Falls flourished as time went on with a balanced offensive attack led by two tourney veterans. Emerson and junior Austin Barth, who both have two years of state experience, scored 12 points apiece. Barth, a physical force down low all game, grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds. Overall, five players scored seven points or more for the 'Cats.

"I thought the kids did a great job and picked up the slack after Kaleb went down. We battled through and found a way to get it done," Finberg said.

"It was a good opportunity to show that we have depth," said Jacob Calderwood, who filled in nicely in Johnson's absence and scored seven points. Same can be said for Anthony Correa and Chris King, who both scored eight.

"Definitely unfortunate that we lost Kaleb, but I think we have guys that can step up," said Emerson.

Belgrade led for only a moment on Thursday, but the Panthers stayed close thanks to sharp shooting and Columbia Falls' early missteps.

In the opening minute of the second quarter, Finberg yelled from the sideline "Don't settle!" and little by little the Wildcats began regaining their identity as one of the state's best.

Columbia Falls forced 20 turnovers in the game, limited the Panthers to only nine free-throw attempts and broke Belgrade's spirits and ran away with a 13-1 run midway through the third.

"Once we eliminated their looks I thought defensively we started to exert ourselves a little bit," Finberg said.

"We had some opportunities there (in the first half) and didn't convert, but like we've done all year long we stuck with it," he added. "We made sure we made enough plays. Again, once we decided to start playing some defense we kind of tool over the game a little bit."

"It's the length of Columba Falls ... The length on their arms is crazy, they cover a whole court," Belgrade senior Andrew Elliot said. "Once you try to score, those long arms get on passes and force turnovers. They turned those turnovers into points."

Belgrade was led by senior Talon Taylor, who scored a game-high 20 points.

Columbia Falls is back in Bozeman for the first time since 2006. That was the last year the Wildcats won a state championship. Since then the program has placed third and second, but has been unable to clutch that top trophy.

Like Columbia Falls, Laurel impressed in its opening win over Corvallis, cruising to a 64-48 victory. Four Locomotives scored in double figures led by Jake McKinney's 15 points.

Corvallis standout Riley Bradshaw had a game-high 22.

"It's a great atmosphere," Emerson said of state. "You gotta love the big games."

Belgrade 8 6 12 19 - 36

Columbia Falls 9 10 17 17 - 53

BELGRADE - Andrew Elliott 2-10 0-0 5, Jay Reichert 0-0 0-2 0, Kade Page 1-1 1-2 3, Talon Taylor 7-11 1-3 20, Malachai Buti 1-9 1-2 4, Ty Diebold 1-2 0-0 3, Chris Gilbreaith 0-0 0-0 0, Kyle Hunter 0-1 0-0 0, Trevor Elliott 0-0 0-0 0, Corben Schedel 0-1 1-2 1, Michael Baumberger 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 12-35 4-11 36.

COLUMBIA FALLS - Parker Johnson 1-5 0-2 2, Kaleb Johnson 2-5 0-0 4, Austin Barth 5-10 2-5 12, Nick Emerson 4-12 3-4 12, Devyn Rocker 0-0 0-0 0, Chris King 1-5 6-6 8, Anthony Correa 2-6 4-4 8, Jacob Calderwood 3-6 0-2 7, Cale Vukonich 0-1 0-0 0, Alex Presnell 0-0 0-0 0, Ronny Gallegos 0-0 0-0 0. T"otals 18-50 15-23 53.

3-point goals - Belgrade 8-24 (Taylor 5-9, A.Elliott 1-5, Buti 1-7, Diebold 1-2, Schedel 0-1), C.Falls 2-11 (Emerson 1-3, Calderwood 1-1, Correa 0-1, King 0-2, Barth 0-1, P.Johnson 0-3). Rebounds - Belgrade 31 (Reichert 7), C.Falls 39 (Barth 12). Fouls - Belgrade 17, C.Falls 13. Steals - Belgrade 8 (Taylor 3, Reichert 3), C.Falls 13 (Barth 3). Blocks - C.Falls 1 (Emerson). Turnovers - Belgrade 20, C.Falls 12.

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Laurel 16 12 22 14 - 64

Corvallis 11 10 17 10 - 48

LAUREL - Luke Lohof 5-6 1-1 12, Bobby Anderson 5-6 1-1 11, David Swecker 4-13 5-6 13, Jake McKinney 5-15 2-2 15, Derek Budge 1-4 3-5 5, Jay Dempster 2-5 0-0 4, Zach Cortese 1-3 2-3 4, Brandon Kellem 0-0 0-0 0, Matt Heidinger 0-0 0-0 0, Bryce Herman 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-52 14-18 64.

CORVALLIS - Logan Connors 3-5 1-2 10, Colby Henderson 0-1 0-2 0, Joel Connolly 0-1 1-2 1, Riley Bradshaw 8-19 3-7 22, Rodee Anderson 4-13 2-2 13, Stuart Landis 0-1 0-0 0, Trevor Brown 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 16-42 7-15 48.

3-point goals - Laurel 4-14 (McKinney 3-5, Lohof 1-2, Budge 0-3, Swecker 0-4), Corv. 9-24 (Connors 3-5, Bradshaw 3-8, Anderson 3-10, Brown 0-1). Rebounds - Laurel 34 (McKinney 9), Corvallis 24 (Bradshaw 5). Fouls - Laurel 14, Corvallis 19. Fouled out - Bradshaw. Technical foul - Anderson. Blocks - Laurel 1 (Lohof), Corvallis 1 (Landis). Steals - Laurel 6 (Anderson 3), Corvallis 3 (Anderson 2). Turnovers - Laurel 10, Corvallis 15.