Columbia Falls boys slip past Bigfork in overtime
BIGFORK — A Luke Kazlauskas’ layup with two seconds remaining in overtime gave Columbia Falls a 61-59 boys nonconference basketball victory Thursday night over a stubborn and talented Bigfork squad.
Bigfork’s Christian Evans forced OT with his field goal with a minute to play.
Columbia Falls held the ball for the final shot after that, but missed.
Kazlauskas led all scorers with 20 points.
Jared Trinastich added 10 for Columbia Falls.
Evans totaled 18 points and 11 rebounds for Bigfork (4-3). Evans scored nine points in the opening quarter as the Vikings enjoyed a 24-11 advantage.
Columbia Falls 11 7 24 11 8 — 61
Bigfork 24 11 8 10 6 — 59
COLUMBIA FALLS — Alex pPresnell 18, Luke Kazlauskas 20, Nakia Alexander 2, Ty Morgan 4, Mason Gedlaman 3, Jared Trinastich 10, Austin Kimmet 4.
BIGFORK — Austin Jordt 12, Seth Roessmann 3, Colter Trent 9, Chris Landon 12, Cam Nissen 2, Tyler Kirby 3, Christian Evans 18.
Glacier 70, Big Sky 50
MISSOULA — Glacier used Evan Epperly’s 17 points and a balanced attack to drop Missoula Big Sky by 20 points in Western AA play.
Ryan Edwards added 12 points and Kyle Griffith 11.
Logan Iverson contributed nine and Matt Peters eight.
Glacier (4-1, 1-0) jumped out to a 19-2 first-quarter lead, led by six points by Griffith.
“A great game, both teams battled hard,” Glacier coach Mark Harkins said.
“We had lots of guys scoring.”
Harkins said Epperly “was solid all-game long.”
Big Sky (4-2, 0-1) was led by RJ LaValley, who tallied 15 points.
“A great team effort,” Harkins said.
“A physical game. Fifty-nine fouls were called. I was proud of the kids. They played through it and got it done.”
Glacier hosts Missoula Sentinel on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
Glacier 19 15 12 24 — 70
Big Sky 2 15 16 17 — 50
GLACIER – Charlie Obermiller 2 0-0 5, Reid Siderius 0 2-2 2, Kyle Griffith 5 1-3 11, Evan Epperly 6 4-6 17, Bryan Michaels 2 0-0 5, Tanner Olson 0 1-2 1, Logan Iverson 2 4-8 9, Matt Peters 4 0-0 8, James Cutler 0 0-0 0, Kevin Malloy 0 0-0 0, Ryan Edwards 4 4-6 12. Totals 25 16-28 70.
BIG SKY – Jay Owens 1 5-8 7, RJ LaValley 4 5-9 15, Olan Donaldson 3 2-5 8, Ethan Donaldson 2 1-2 6, Tyler Thornock 1 1-2 3, Cole Baker 2 2-4 6, Ryan Koster 0 2-6 2, Alex Mustard 0 0-0 0, Colin Bingham 0 1-2 1, Brad Wakai 1 0-0 2, Chris Lange 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 19-38 50.
3-point goals - Glacier 4 (Obermiller, Epperly, Michaels, Iverson), Big Sky 3 (LaValley 2, E.Donaldson). Fouls – Glacier 27, Big Sky 27. Fouled out – Griffith, O. Donaldson.
Flathead 41,
Missoula Sentinel 36
MISSOULA — Flathead outscored Missoula Sentinel 15-9 in the fourth quarter to claim a Western AA victory over Missoula Sentinel.
Blaine Newman and Shea Schroeder both scored 12 points for the Braves (3-1, 1-0). Schroeder tallied six points and Newman five in the fourth quarter.
Sentinel (0-1, 1-5) led by three early in the fourth but turnovers helped Flathead surge in front.
Tres Cunningham topped Sentinel (1-5, 0-1) in scoring with 15 points.
Flathead entertains Missoula Big Sky on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
Flathead 6 11 9 15 – 41
Sentinel 4 9 14 9 – 36
FLATHEAD – Blaine Newman 5 0-1 12, Matt Tokarz 0 1-2 1, Matt Quist 1 0-0 2, Shea Schroeder 4 4-13 12, Garth West 2 3-7 7, Caleb Cannadry 1 0-0 2, Will Cronk 0 2-2 2, Chandler Escalonde 0 3-4 3. Totals 13 13-29 41.
SENTINEL – Jake Messerly 3 0-0 8, Sean Laughnan 0 0-1 0, Austin Violette 1 2-2 4, Tres Cunningham 6 2-2 15, Trevor Powell 3 0-1 7, Kyle Douglas 0 2-6 2. Totals 13 6-12 36.
3-point goals – Flathead 2 (Newman 2), Sentinel 4 (Messerly 2, Cunningham, Powell). Rebounds – Flathead 20 (Schroeder 6), Sentinel 26 (Laughnan 7). Fouls – Flathead 17, Sentinel 22. Fouled out – Laughnan.
Whitefish 56, Libby 39
WHITEFISH — Whitefish jumped on top quickly, leading 12-3 after eight minutes of play and rolled from there to an easy Northwestern A victory over Libby.
Whitefish (3-3, 1-1) was led by Logan Harwood, 19 points, Keaton Nicholson, 11, and Jace Kalbfleisch, 10.
Jared Winslow and Kraig Nelson both had 11 to pace Libby.
Libby 3 11 13 12 — 39
Whitefish 12 14 18 12 — 56
LIBBY — Dan Leggins 8, Will Reichel 1, Jared Winslow 11, Barak Lapka 8, Kraig Nelson 11.
WHITEFISH — Keaton Nicholson 11, EJ Havens 4, Cody Olson 1, Logan Harwood 19, Jace Kalbfleisch 10, Cooper Olson 9, Jake May 2.
Girls
Libby 52, Whitefish 17
LIBBY — Hannah England and Hailey Craig had season-high scoring efforts with 21 and 19 points, respectively, and Libby cruised to an easy Northwestern A victory over Whitefish.
England hit two 3s and scored eight points in Libby’s 19-point first quarter. Craig had one trey and two field goals during that stretch. She had nine points in the third quarter.
Simone Craft had five points for Whitefish.
Whitefish 5 3 6 3 — 17
Libby 19 5 18 10 — 57
WHITEFISH — Micah McFeely 3, Ashlee Brewer 4, Simone Craft 5, Maura Kalbfleisch 3, Shannon Craft 2.
LIBBY — Kaitlyn Gilder 2, Hannah England 21, Hailey Craig 19, Hailley Moe 2, Dani Hawthorn 2, Dayln Germany 4, Devon Gallagher 2.
Columbia Falls 47,
Bigfork 35
COLUMBIA FALLS — A big second quarter helped Columbia Falls to a nonconference win over Bigfork .
The Wildkats (6-1) outscored Bigfork (2-5) 20-6 in the second quarter and led 32-16 at halftime.
“We played well the first half,” Columbia Falls coach Cary Finberg said. “The second quarter we forced some turnovers and got some easy baskets.”
Columbia Falls led by 18 after three quarters, but Bigfork opened the fourth with a 12-0 run to cut its deficit to six.
Winter Kemppainen led the Wildkats with 10 points. Andrea Getts and Haley Belgarde each scored 9.
Mattison McAnally scored a game-high 14 points to lead Bigfork.
Bigfork hosts Troy today while Columbia Falls is off until Thursday when it plays Glacier.
Bigfork 10 6 7 12 — 35
Columbia Falls 12 20 9 6 — 47
BIGFORK - Mattison McAnally 14, Stevi Siloti 2, Marissa Hiza 2, Riley Coleman 4, Shelby Scoggins 7, Tessa Robertson 6.
COLUMBIA FALLS - Ciera Finberg 5, Tori Price 5, Kathrin Jetty 4, Hope Burlage 5, Andrea Getts 9, Winter Kemppainen 10, Haley Belgarde 9.