Braves nip Wildcats

COLUMBIA FALLS — The Flathead boys basketball team held off a late surge by Columbia Falls to earn a 53-50 nonconference victory at Columbia Falls High School Friday.

The matchup pitted last year’s runners-up in the Class AA and Class A state tournaments and had an atmosphere to match, with supporters from both sides roaring in approval each time their team went on a run.

Flathead (1-1) led by as many as 13 points in the third quarter before Columbia Falls (2-1) cut its deficit to one late in the fourth, but Flathead’s Shea Schroeder and Matt Tokarz each converted a pair of clutch free throws with less than a minute remaining to help the Braves hold on.

“Columbia Falls is a really good team, and it’s good to face some adversity and get used to playing some different teams,” said Schroeder, who scored eight points and grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds.

“You have to be in really good condition to last the last four minutes of the fourth quarter, because the intensity picks up so much,” he added.

Both teams featured lean, athletic lineups, making for a face-paced game with a lot of scoring opportunities in transition. While Columbia Falls hoisted more shots, Flathead shot a much higher percentage, converting 57 percent of its field goal attempts compared to 26 percent for Columbia Falls.

“Some nights you have it, some nights you don’t,” Columbia Falls coach Cary Finberg said.

“We just didn’t shoot very well tonight, but I think Flathead had a lot to do with that.”

Flathead point guard Blaine Newman made just 4 of 13 field goal attempts, but didn’t have any turnovers while running the Braves’ transition offense.

“We didn’t mess around with a lot of dribbling, we just got the ball up the floor,” Flathead coach Fred Febach said.

“Offensively our biggest problem was we got in a bit of a hurry sometimes and forced some shots that we didn’t need to. That’s something we need to work on, but we’ll get better.”

Columbia Falls went on a 7-2 run late in the fourth quarter to make the score 49-48 with 49 seconds remaining, but the Wildcats were forced to foul Schroeder to keep Flathead from running out the clock. Schroeder made the first end of a one-and-one, then drained the second to give the Braves a three-point advantage.

Columbia Falls guard Luke Kazlauskas answered by drawing a shooting foul and converting both free throws, but Tokarz converted a pair of fouls shots at the other end of the floor to ice it.

Columbia Falls led 11-6 at the end of the first quarter before Tokarz opened the second with a three-pointer and a transition layup to tie the score at 11. Then Matt Quist came off the bench to give the Braves a lift, scoring six points in the quarter, including a dunk after a steal at midcourt.

“When one person steps it up it just affects the whole team,” Quist said. “We know how to fire each other up and we know what has to be done.”

Quist added eight points in the second half to finish with a team-leading 14.

“Matt Quist was our leading scorer off the bench, so certainly he was integral,” Febach said. “I thought a lot of guys contributed very well. Everyone had spots where they did a nice job, and it’s a key for us to have guys come off the bench and contribute.”

Newman and Tokarz each finished with nine points.

Presnell led Columbia Falls with 15 points. Jared Trinastich scored 10 and Kazlauskas added nine.

“I thought we played with a lot of heart,” Finberg said. “We played well early and we played well late, we just had a little bit of a lull in the middle there, but we showed a lot of heart in coming back from down 13 points.

“A game like that is going to help us out in the long run. I told our guys I was more proud of our effort this week in a loss than I was last week in two wins, so we’re making strides.”

Flathead travels to Libby today while Columbia Falls hosts Frenchtown.

Flathead 6 20 17 10 — 53

Columbia Falls 11 8 16 15 — 50

FLATHEAD - Blaine Newman 4-13 0-0 9, Matt Tokarz 3-5 2-2 9, Chandler Escalante 1-8 0-0 2, Shea Schroeder 3-9 2-3 8, Garth West 2-4 0-0 4, Tommie Owens 0-0 0-2 0, Kaleb Cannaday 0-1 0-0 0, Will Cronk 2-2 0-0 4, Matt Quist 5-7 3-5 14, Adam Bradley 1-1 1-2 3. Totals: 21-50 8-14 53.

COLUMBIA FALLS - Alex Presnell 4-18 4-4 15, Austin Martin 1-3 0-0 3, Colin King 1-7 3-6 6, Luke Kazlauskas 2-6 4-4 9, Jared Trinastich 4-11 2-4 10, Jayce Fagerland 0-2 0-0 0, Grant Stenger 1-1 0-0 2, Nakia Alexander 2-4 1-1 5, Ty Morgan 0-4, 0-0 0, Mason Gedlaman 0-2 0-0 0.

3-pointers - Flathead 3-14 (Quist 1-1, Tokarz 1-3, Newman 1-6), Columbia Falls 6-21 (Presnell 3-11, Martin 1-2, King 1-1, Kazlauskas 1-2). Rebounds - Flathead 47 (Schroeder 13, West 7), Columbia Falls 32 (King 8, Presnell 7, Trinastich 7). Assists - Flathead 12 (Newman 4, Cronk 3), Columbia Falls 5 (Presnell 2, Kazlauskas 2). Steals - Flathead 7 (Cronk 2, Quist 2), Columbia Falls 7 (King 3). Blocks - Flathead 5 (West 3, Schroeder, Quist), Columbia Falls 3 (Presnell, King, Trinastich). Turnovers - Flathead 10, Columbia Falls 12. Total fouls - Flathead 18, Columbia Falls 18. Technical fouls - none. Fouled out - Escalante.