Cats blow out Jackets

BUTTE — For three quarters the Columbia Falls boys found themselves in a slugfest with Stevensville in the first round of the Class A state basketball tournament on Thursday.

The Wildcats fought toe-to-toe with the Yellowjackets for the better part of 27 minutes until they were finally able to land a finishing blow, wrenching down on defense and ripping off a 17-0 run in the final five minutes to blow open a close game and win 53-36.

Until the fourth quarter, the two teams played an extremely physical, low-scoring game. Stevensville, whose stature matches its physical brand of play, broke out to an early lead, catching the Wildcats early to take a 14-7 advantage when Tyler Gavlak drained a 3-pointer from the corner.

Columbia Falls took the message and locked down on defense, suffocating Stevi with its swarming zone. A turnaround jump shot by Anthony Correa and a lefty scoop by Jared Trinastich closed the gap to 14-11 at the end of the first quarter. A 3-pointer by Parker Johnson to start the second evened it up.

The Wildcats took a bigger lead just moments later, answering a Stevi bucket with six straight points for a 20-16 lead with 1:49 left in the half. The Jackets’ Josh Schultz led his team back, following a Stevi free throw with his second 3-pointer of the game, tying the score again. A late free throw gave Columbia Falls a slight edge at halftime, 21-20.

“(Stevensville) is very physical and they’re very good at it,” Columbia Falls coach Cary Finberg said. “It took us a while to maybe adjust to that style. Obviously at the state tournament the officials are going to let you play a bit more. I thought they did a great job tonight allowing us to play a little physical down on our end too.”

Columbia Falls’ defense slowly began to wear on the Jackets in the third. The Wildcats held Stevi to one field goal in the first six minutes after half, stretching their lead to eight points at 30-22.

It took just 37 seconds for the Jackets to nearly erase that lead, hitting another 3 and following that with a basket after an offensive rebound to pull within three.

A pair of free throws by Johnson stretched the Wildcats’ lead back to 32-27 after three quarters, but the Jackets weren’t quite done.

Schultz opened the fourth with two 3-pointers, twice curling around a pick to bury a shot from the left wing, closing Stevi back to 36-33, forcing Finberg to call a timeout to stop the momentum with 5:36 to play.

The Wildcats responded, holding Stevi without a point for the next five minutes of play.

Austin Barth started the run, making a nice cut to the basket for an easy layup. Luke Kazlauskas got out on the break on the next possession, running the floor to hit a layup while getting hit out of bounds. Two minutes and five Wildcat free throws later Kazlauskas wowed the crowd again, combining with Barth on a slick give and go for another easy bucket to give Columbia Falls a 47-33 lead and put the game away.

“Luke’s been one of those kids, and I’ve said this all year long, he was ready to go from the first game,” Finberg said. “He does so many little things for us. He’s just a good spark to bring in. Defensively and finishing at the basket he does a lot of things.”

Stevensville began to force its offense, taking long 3s and turning the ball over on entry passes down low. The Wildcats scored five more points in the run, capped by a full-court pass from Barth to a wide open Alex Presnell for an easy layup. A few free throws sealed the game and a trip to the semifinals for the Wildcats.

“Obviously that starts with defense,” Finberg said. “We rebounded the ball much better in the second half and once we rebounded the ball that got our break going. We got some easy points off our break. It just kinda steamrolled from there.”

Barth and Kazlauskas each finished with a game-high 13 points, Barth also pulled in 13 rebounds for the double-double. Schultz led the Jackets with 12 points, all on 3s.

The Wildcats defense held Stevensville to just 30 percent shooting and forced 16 turnovers.

“On our winning streak that’s been the staple of this team,” Finberg said.

“Stevi got free a few time there early but I think we settled in once the guys kinda settled down offensively our defense took over.”

Columbia Falls will play Billings Central, who upset Browning 51-47 in the first round, today at 8 p.m.

STEVENSVILLE (18-4) - Zach Gavlak 2-5 2-2 6, Jesse Sims 2-8 3-6 7, Jared Schultz 0-6 1-2 1, Josh Schultz 4-13 0-0 12, Tyler Gavlak 2-4 0-0 5, Josh Lords 1-1 0-2 2, Austin Kelling 1-2 0-0 3, Austin Lords 0-1 0-0 0, Noah Baney 0-0 0-0 0, Chris Lords 0-0 0-0 0, Chance Coleman 0-0 0-0 0, Kadin Beller 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 12-40 6-12 36.

COLUMBIA FALLS (18-3) - Anthony Correa 1-9 6-8 8, Brian Marcille 1-3 0-0 3, Austin Barth 3-6 6-6 13, Ronny Gallegos 0-1 0-0 0, Parker Johnson 1-4 3-6 6, Alex Presnell 3-4 0-0 6, Austin Martin 0-0 0-0 0, Colin King 0-0 0-0 0, Luke Kazlauskas 6-11 0-1 13, Jared Trinastich 2-4 0-0 4. Totals 17-42 15-21 53.

Stevensville 14 6 7 9 - 36

Columbia Falls 11 10 11 21 - 53

3-pointers - Stevensville 6-20 (Josh Schultz 4-11, T. Gavlak 1-1, Kelling 1-2, Jared Schultz 0-4, Sims 0-1, Z. Gavlak 0-1), CF 4-10 (Marcille 1-1, Barth 1-1, Johnsno 1-2, Kazlauskas 1-2, Correa 0-3, Presnell 0-1). Rebounds - Stevensville 25 (Sims 8), CF 34 (Barth 13). Assists - Stevensville 6 (Kelling 4), CF 10 (Barth 5). Fouls - Stevensville 15, CF 9. Fouled out - Z. Gavlak. Technicals - none. Steals - Stevesnville 6 (T. Gavlak 3), CF 8 (Correa 3). Blocks - Stevensville 4 (Z. Gavlak 3), CF 0. Turnovers - Stevensville 16, CF 11.

Billings Central 51, Browning 47

BROWNING (19-2) – Jonathan Hall 1-4 2-2 4, Gary Monroe 1-11 0-2 2, Josiah Davis 4-8 3-3 12, Charles Old Chiefe 0-2 0-0 0, Dee Jay Lazy Boy 4-18 0-0 11, Kurt red Crow 1-2 0-0 2, Jonathan Skunkcap 2-7 1-2 6, Jaron Calf Robe 1-3 0-2 2, Vince Omeasoo 1-2 0-0 2, Jalen Croff 0-1 0-0 0, Cliff Ollinger 2-4 2-2 6. Totals 17-62 8-13 47.

BILLINGS CENTRAL (13-8) – Ryan Burke 3-17 6-10 13, Dylan Hanser 3-6 2-9 8, Daniel Meyer 8-13 0-2 16, Jacob Stanton 3-4 3-6 9, Bobby Keil 1-5 0-1 2, Garrett Flaming 1-3 0-1 2, Conner Cerkovnik 0-2 0-0 0, Ian Byorth 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 19-51 12-31 51.

Browning 8 15 5 19 – 47

Central 11 13 12 15 – 51

3-point goals – Browning 5-20 (Lazy Boy 3-10, Davis 1-2, Skunkcap 1-2, Monroe 0-3, Old Chief 0-1, Red Crow 0-1, Calf Robe 0-1), BC 1-10 (Burke 1-6, Flaming 0-2, Hanse 0-1, Keil 0-1). Rebounds – Browning 42 (Olinger 13), BC 46 (Burke 10, Meyer 10). Assists – Browning 9 (Davis 3), BC 5 (Burke 3). Steals – Browning 10 (Monroe 3), BC 6 (Stanton 3). Blocks – Brownin 0, BC 8 (Hander 3, Meyer 3, Keil, Byorth). Turnovers – Browning 16, BC 19. Fouls – Browning 24, BC 12. Fouled out – Croff. Technicals – none.