Bigfork streaks on, beats Columbia Falls for eighth win in a row
<p>Bigfork's Tyler Kirby (15) secures a loose ball Thursday night during Bigfork's nonconference victory over Columbia Falls.</p>
<p>Bigfork's Logan Lamm (22) and Josh Sandry (15) celebrate the Viking's nonconference basketball victory over the Wildcats on Thursday night at Columbia Falls.</p>
COLUMBIA FALLS — The Bigfork Vikings flexed their muscles as Class B’s No. 1-ranked boys basketball team and toppled a Class A school for the second time in eight days Thursday, beating Columbia Falls 48-47 despite the absence of leading scorer and rebounder Colter Trent, who was sidelined with a leg injury.
The win was Bigfork’s eighth straight and avenged the Vikings’ overtime loss to Columbia Falls (9-5 overall) on Jan. 3.
Without its statistical leader, Bigfork (12-3) responded with a team effort. Seth Roessmann led the Vikings with nine points, Tyler Kirby, Christian Evans and Josh Sandry each scored eight and Logan Lamm and Cameron Nissen each tallied four points.
“We did it without one of our main dudes, Colter, so I was proud that those other guys stepped up,” Bigfork coach Kurt Paulson said. “Logan Lamm, he’s one of our seniors, he doesn’t get to play a ton, but he had four points in the first half and played great defense. Just little stuff like that that people in the stands don’t often see.”
Kirby, a 6-foot-5 senior, said he didn’t feel any added pressure without Trent in the lineup, and he made one of the biggest plays of the game in the waning seconds. Leading 48-47 with 12.4 seconds left, Roessmann missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw and Alex Presnell raced down the court looking for a game-winner. The Columbia Falls guard rolled off a screen and slashed toward the basket, but Kirby got a piece of the shot which fell short of the basket.
“Coach just told us to switch off screens,” Kirby said. “That’s what I did and I tried my best to stay in front of him so he couldn’t get the bucket.”
Nursing a 33-31 lead after three quarters, Bigfork led by as many as nine points early in the fourth before Columbia Falls went on a 9-2 run to cut its deficit to two with 3 minutes and 47 seconds remaining. Paulson said his team might have folded at that point earlier this season. Of the Vikings’ three losses, two were in overtime against Class A schools and the third was a two-point loss against defending Class A state champion Dillon.
“Early in the season we weren’t winning these types of games, we were losing them,” Paulson said. “Now we’re executing and we’re learning to take care of the ball late in the game, and that’s winning games for us.”
Landon, Bigfork’s senior point guard, said avenging the Jan. 3 loss against Columbia Falls shows how much the Vikings have matured during their eight-game winning streak.
“We fight adversity,” he said. “To come and win, it showed we have heart and we came to play.”
Bigfork stormed out to a 10-2 lead in the first quarter before Columbia Falls went on an 8-0 run to even the score. The Wildcats took their first lead early in a second quarter that included six ties and five lead changes. When the dust settled at halftime, the score was tied at 24.
Bigfork opened the third quarter with six consecutive points, but Columbia Falls cut its deficit to two by the end of the frame.
Columbia Falls coach Cary Finberg said his team played well overall, but sluggish starts to the first and third quarters along with Bigfork’s run midway through the fourth were too much to overcome against the talented Vikings.
“Everybody remembers the last play, but like I told the guys, it’s the plays in the first, second and third quarters that set the end of the game up,” he said. “Those three stretches of three to four minutes apiece really hurt us.”
Junior guard Nakia Alexander gave the Wildcats a lift of the bench in the second quarter, scoring eight of his game-high 10 points in a stretch that turned a 12-all tie into a three-point lead. Sophomore Trevor Houston was Columbia Falls’ fourth-leading scorer with eight points off the bench.
“They gave us energy,” Finberg said of the two reserve guards. “Those two kids have picked up their effort in practice the last couple weeks. That’s why we gave them the opportunity tonight and they took advantage of it.”
Starters Jared Trinastich and Presnell each scored nine points, but Finberg said Columbia Falls has to be more productive on the offensive end.
“We’ve got too good of offensive players to struggle like we have offensively,” he said. “We’ll go back to the drawing board and we’ve got four games to figure it out before divisionals.”
The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for Columbia Falls.
Bigfork will look to win its ninth straight game today when it hosts Troy in a District 7B matchup. Columbia Falls returns to the hardwood Saturday with a conference game at Polson.
Bigfork 10 14 9 15 — 48
Columbia Falls 10 14 7 16 — 47
BIGFORK - Seth Roessmann 2 4-7 9, Tyler Kirby 3 2-5 8, Christian Evans 4 0-1 8, Chris Landon 4 0-0 8, Josh Sandry 2 0-0 4, Logan Lamm 2 0-0 4, Cameron Nissen 2 0-0 4, Austin Jordt 1 2-2 3. Totals 20 7-15 48.
COLUMBIA FALLS - Nakia Alexander 4 1-2 10, Alex Presnell 3 3-3 9, Jared Trinastich 1 7-10 9, Trevor Houston 4 0-0 8, Luke Kazlauskas 0 6-6 6, Austin Martin 1 2-2 4, Austin Kimmet 0 1-2 1. Totals 13 20-25 47.