Braves drill C-Falls

Three days after a tough nonconference loss to Great Falls C.M. Russell, Class AA Flathead responded with a 68-53 win over Class A Columbia Falls in an inter-class boys basketball game Tuesday at Flathead High School.

The loss was the third straight for the Wildcats (6-4 overall, 2-1 Northwestern A) while the Braves (5-2, 2-0 Western AA) have won five of their last six.

Flathead beat Columbia Falls 53-50 when the two teams met Dec. 14 in Columbia Falls.

“We had already beaten them this year, so our focus was on teamwork, putting everything together and playing fast,” said Flathead co-captain Matthew Tokarz, who scored 10 points and grabbed six rebounds.

“We didn’t get the calls early, but we stuck through it, put it aside at halftime and just went out there and played ball.”

Columbia Falls led 15-8 after the first quarter, but the Braves exploded offensively in the second and left the Wildcats to eat their dust in the third when a 17-4 run put Flathead ahead by 20 points.

“Initially it seemed like there was a lid on that basket,” Flathead coach Fred Febach said. “We couldn’t get anything to drop, but the kids never got down. They just kept getting the ball up, shooting it and trying to rebound it and make things happen. Ultimately we were able to turn the game in our favor, so I’m pretty proud of these kids for doing that.”

Garth West led the way for the Braves, displaying an unblockable hook shot and determination on the offensive glass en route to a game-high 19 points and 13 rebounds. West scored 13 of his points in the second half when Flathead made an effort to get the ball in the paint where he towered over 6-foot-4 Columbia Falls center Jared Trinastich.

“I feel like it was really just looking at their 1-3-1 (zone defense), getting a feel for it and trying to figure out what we had to do to get the ball inside to the big guy,” Tokarz said.

West scored four points in Flathead and Columbia Falls’ previous encounter, and Febach said getting the big man more involved was the main reason why Flathead was able to easily put away a Columbia Falls team that pushed it to to brink earlier this year.

“I think that was the primary difference, our ability to establish inside play,” he said. “We have some kids that can shoot, but when you establish that inside game it’s doubly tough on the defense.”

Flathead’s 68 points were a season-high. Shea Schroeder scored 14 and Will Cronk and Adam Bradley came off the bench to score nine and eight points, respectively.

Cronk entered the game at shooting guard in the second quarter and knocked down a three-pointer on his first field goal attempt. He moved over to point guard after starter Blaine Newman picked up his third foul and the Flathead offense didn’t miss a beat. Cronk confidently handled the ball against Columbia Falls’ pressure, helped orchestrate Flathead’s 17-4 run and finished with a game-high five assists.

“To have Will step on the floor and maintain his composure and not really have a drop off in our level of play is absolutely huge,” Febach said. “That helps us a ton.”

Cronk, a junior who plays point guard in junior varsity games, said his confidence has grown as his varsity role has expanded.

“I play the one-(guard) in JV, so it’ a nice warm-up for varsity,” he said. “It’s also great having some good teammates that can come help me when I get in trouble, so overall I’ve been getting more confidence.”

Luke Kazlauskas led Columbia Falls with 17 points on 5 of 10 shooting. Trinastich added 12 and point guard Alex Presnell scored 10.

Both teams shot similar percentages with Columbia Falls converting 44 percent of its field goal attempts compared to 43 percent for Flathead, but the Braves had a huge edge on the glass, outrebounding the Wildcats 42-24.

Flathead travels to Polson for a nonconference game on Friday. Columbia Falls is back in action Saturday with a conference game at Frenchtown.

Columbia Falls 15 8 13 17 — 53

Flathead 8 21 22 17 — 68

COLUMBIA FALLS - Luke Kazlauskas 5-10 6-9 17, Jared Trinastich 4-7 4-6 12, Alex Presnell 3-10 3-4 10, Austin Martin 1-3 2-2 4, Austin Kimmet 2-2 0-0 4, Colin King 1-2 0-1 3, Nakia Alexander 1-3 0-0 3, Ty Morgan 0-2 0-0 0.

FLATHEAD - Garth West 8-17 3-4 19, Shea Schroeder 5-10 4-6 14, Matthew Tokarz 3-7 2-2 10, Will Cronk 3-4 2-3 9, Adam Bradley 3-3 2-3 8, Blaine Newman 2-8 0-0 5, Chandler Escalante 1-8 0-0 3, Matt Quist 0-1 0-0 0.

3-pointers - Columbia Falls 4 (Presnell, King, Kazlauskas, Alexander), Flathead 5 (Tokarz 2). Rebounds - Columbia Falls 24 (Trinastich 5, Alexander 4), Flathead 42 (West 13, Schroeder 7). Assists - Columbia Falls 2 (Presnell 2), Flathead 12 (Cronk 5, Schroeder 4). Blocks - Columbia Falls 1 (Martin), Flathead 2 (Schroeder, Quist). Steals - Columbia Falls 7 (Kazlauskas 3), Flathead 9 (Cronk 3, Escalante 3). Turnovers - Columbia Falls 19, Flathead 11. Fouls - Columbia Falls 15, Flathead 18. Technical fouls - Tokarz. Fouled out - Trinastich.