Columbia Falls wins 4th state championship

BOZEMAN  - Columbia Falls was 13 seconds away from capping a historic season in fitting fashion when head coach Cary Finberg called timeout.

There was one last thing that needed to be done.

Finberg turned to Kaleb Johnson and gave his injured All-State senior the nod. Johnson, suited up for the first time since injuring his knee two days ago, rose from the bench and limped onto the basketball court to join his teammates amid a standing ovation from ecstatic Wildcat fans.

The timeout ended and Johnson caught the ball and clutched it to his chest with glassy eyes as time passed. The cheering grew louder and louder and both teams' players began shaking hands and hugging on the court like familiar, respected foes.

Then the C-Town celebrating really erupted.

Three hundred miles away from the gym inside Columbia Falls High, the Wildcats won a fourth Class A state championship on Saturday night.

The Wildcats rode out a huge first half and held off the Dillon Beavers 55-43 on the final night of the season inside Brick Breeden Fieldhouse.

Columbia Falls ends its remarkable season 22-1 overall.

"No words can describe what I'm feeling right now," Johnson said. "I'm just so glad that the coach got me in that last 15 seconds or whatever. Best moment of my life."

Players rushed center court after the final buzzer sounded and emotions overflowed throughout. Within moments the gold trophy was being held high in the air for the first time since 2006, when Columbia Falls won it all on this very same court.

"We've been through so much the last few years, the whole team. Everybody," said senior Nick Emerson, who scored a game-high 26 points. "All six seniors, every junior on the team, all the sophomores - everybody put in their part. It was a great collective team effort."

After earning second and third place at state the last two seasons, the Wildcats finally found first once again, even without Johnson, a veteran starter who was injured in the first-round game on Thursday.

"Wow. Complete team effort from everybody," Finberg said. "We rallied around Kaleb's injury a little bit and we had guys step up and just do an unbelievable job. Couldn't be more proud of the guys."

Grace under pressure is one thing, but greatness under pressure - that was the Columbia Falls Wildcats on Saturday night. Especially in the first half.

The guy all season who never was without a sharing performance, Emerson saved perhaps his best game for last. He shot 8-for-10 from the floor in the opening two quarters and had 20 of the Wildcats' 32 points.

"I can't take credit for the win though, it's got to go to the team," said the 6-foot-5 guard, who still had the cut-down net around his neck an hour after the game.

Dillon trailed 32-16 at intermission, but made the game interesting in the second half thanks to hot-shooting. The Beavers (20-3) cut Columbia Falls' lead to eight in the opening minute of the fourth quarter.

But no comeback magic this time. Not with Columbia Falls playing this great.

"I thought we had some lapses there a little bit but they didn't last.

We knew Dillon was going to make a charge at us," Finberg said. "But every time they kind of chipped down to 8 to 10 points we seemed to make a play back."

The poised play from Parker Johnson and Austin Barth sealed the deal down the stretch. Barth scored six of his 11 points in the final frame. Johnson, directing the offense from the point almost all night, shot 3-for-6 from the line and finished with six points.

Anthony Correa, a junior who really flourished in the second half of the season, ended with seven points. A pair of seniors with similar key roles, Chris King had six points and four rebounds and Devyn Rocker added two points and three rebounds.

"You go down the list on everybody and everybody had to step up at some time and fill Kaleb's shoes and do their part and I thought they did that," Finberg said.

"The kids played perfect basketball. What more can I say?"

The final night of the season came down to two of the state's best programs in recent history. Dillon has won two state titles and Columbia Falls now has four from the last nine state tournaments. The two teams played in the 2009 finale with the Beavers winning 54-50.

"Dillon's a class act. I'm glad we played them," Finberg said.

"Fortunately my kids played a little better game than the Dillon guys but give their guys credit they battled back and made it tough on us."

"They certainly are one of the best teams that we've played and they deserve it," Dillon head coach Terry Thomas said.

"They're so well coached and their kids are very disciplined," he added. "It's a lot of fun because it's quite a challenge. The competition between the two schools and the sportsmanship is tremendous. The level of play is very good."

Finberg, who had his young daughter Cydney by his side on the bench all game as she has been all season, earned another lasting memory from this sight. His late brother Craig, who was a longtime coach at

Dillon and passed away from cancer shortly after the 2009 state title game, was a standout Bobcat here and is seventh on the school's scoring list with 1,473 career points.

"This place has always treated us well and treated the Finbergs well, so it's great to get a win here," he said.

"The kids, I just couldn't be more proud of them and obviously MSU has a place in our heart.

Again, a very emotional win."

Dillon 8 8 12 15 - 43

Columbia Falls 18 14 7 16 - 55

DILLON (20-3) - Austin Williams 2-5 0-0 6, Chevy Reed 1-5 2-2 5, Wes Knox 4-10 1-2 10, J.T. Linder 2-8 4-5 9, Monte Folsom 4-7 0-2 8, Ben Folsom 2-4 0-0 5, Tyson Reese 0-1 0-0 0, Cache King 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-40 7-11 43.

COLUMBIA FALLS (22-1) - Devyn Rocker 1-3 0-0 2, Nick Emerson 10-14 6-7 26, Chris King 1-4 1-1 3, Parker Johnson 1-4 4-9 6, Austin Barth 4-6 3-6 11, Anthony Correa 3-6 0-0 7, Cale Vukonich 0-0 0-0 0, Kaleb Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Jacob Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Jacob Colderwood 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-37 14-23 55.

3-point goals - Dillon 6-18 (Williams 2-4, Reed 1-3, B. Folsom 1-3, Knox 1-1, Linder 1-6, Reese 0-1), CF 107 (Correa 1-2, Rocker 0-2, P. Johnson 0-2, Barth 0-1). Rebounds - Dillon 19 (M. Folsom 8), CF 32 (King 9). Assists - Dillon 6 (Knox 3), CF 8 (Barth 3). Steals - Dillon 4 (M. Folsom 2), CF 4 (Rocker, Emerson, P. Johnson, Barth). Blocks - Dillon 2 (Knox, M. Folsom), CF 2 (Emerson 2). Turnovers - Dillon 7, CF 9. Fouls - Dillon 19, CF 12. Fouled out - none. Technicals - none.

Consolation Final

Laurel 10 8 5 33 - 56

Butte Central 14 13 15 21 - 63

LAUREL - Luke Lohof 0-3 1-2 1, Derek Budge 2-7 4-6 8, David Swecker 5-13 0-0 10, Jake McKinney 9-19 1-3 19, Bobby Anderson 2-3 2-3 6, Brandon Kellem 2-5 0-0 6, Matt Heidinger 0-0 0-0 0, Jay Dempster 1-1 0-1 2, Zach Cortese 1-1 0-2 2, Logan Foster 22-52 8-17 56.

BUTTE CENTRAL - Phil Antonioli 0-0 0-0 0, Jonathan Richards 7-9 4-5 22, Aschan Richards 3-5 4-6 10, Andy Ritter 4-7 5-6 17, Colin Hollow 1-3 4-6 7, Alex Ritter 0-0 0-0 0, Zach Kasperick 2-4 0-0 4, Brady Tippett 0-1 2-4 2, Jake Simkins 0-0 0-2 0, Keegan McCarthy 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 17-29 20-31 63.

3-point goals - Laurel 4-18 (Sweicker 2-10, Kellem 2-3, Anderson 0-1, McKinney 0-1, Budge 0-3), Butte Central 9-12 (J.Richards 4-5 Ritter 4-5, Hollow 1-1, Tippett 0-1). Rebounds - Laurel 23 (Swecker 5), Butte Central 32 (A.Richards 5). Fouls - Laurel 23, Butte Central 17. Fouled out - Anderson. Blocks - Butte Central 1 (A.Richards). Steals - Laurel 8 (McKinney 4), Butte Central 2 (A.Richards, J.Richards). Turnovers - Laurel 5, Butte Central 16. Assists - Laurel 2 (McKinney 2), Butte Central 9 (Hollow 3).