Basketball: C-Falls sweeps Corvallis
COLUMBIA FALLS — Nearly a month removed from the gridiron, Ty Morgan appears to be in midseason form on the hardwood.
The senior guard dropped a game-high 25 points to lead the defending Class A champion Columbia Falls Wildcats to a nonconference home victory over the Corvallis Blue Devils, 66-62 on Saturday night.
It was a wild finish to a game that almost became a blowout as Morgan drained three of his five 3-pointers in the first quarter, putting any doubts of a slow start in the season opener to rest when the Wildcats jumped out to a 38-25 lead at halftime.
“We have open gym four times a week during football season, so you never really lose the stroke at all,” Morgan said.
“Once I hit that first one in the first half I was like ‘All right, that feels good,’ and the basket gets bigger and bigger as you keep shooting.”
The Blue Devils (0-1) were relentless in their comeback attempt, outscoring Columbia Falls 19-14 in the third quarter before making their final push in the fourth.
Corvallis went on a 10-2 run to start the final quarter. After Jesse Sims made two free-throws, 6-foot-5 senior Jayce Gilder, who finished with 19 points, went coast-to-coast for a layup. When junior guard Chase Jessop hit a pair of free throws with 3:40 remaining in the contest, the game was tied at 54 and a hush fell over the Wildcat faithful.
“Gilder killed us. We didn’t do a very good job on him. Obviously, Jessop got hot there as well,” Columbia Falls coach Cary Finberg said.
“We defended Sims all right, but other guys hurt us and we have to do a better job overall defensively.”
Columbia Falls broke out of its slump with back-to-back 3-pointers from junior Glen Morden and senior Jayce Fagerland that brought the crowd to its feet. It was Morden’s second trey on the night and Fagerland’s fourth as the Wildcats hit 11 shots from behind the arc.
“Give our kids credit. They found a way to get it done,” Finberg said.
“Morden and Fagerland had two big 3s when we needed it after they had tied it up, but we’ve got to do a better job rebounding and a better job running our offense, playing inside out instead of outside in.”
The Blue Devils pulled within three points of the lead, but Morgan’s free-throw with 12 seconds left made it a two-possession game and sealed the opening night victory for the Wildcats.
“I thought we came out in the first quarter and played just about as good as we could have,” Morgan said.
“We got a little sloppy and stopped making our 3s, but we withheld a run against possibly one of the best teams in Class A, so that was nice to know that we can do that.”
The Wildcats are back in action on Thursday for another nonconference home contest against the Class AA Flathead Braves. Tip off is scheduled for 8 p.m.
Corvallis 11 14 19 18 — 62
Columbia Falls 24 14 14 14 — 66
CORVALLIS — Chase Jessop 22, Jayce Gilder 19, Jesse Sims 10, Andrew Leopold 11.
COLUMBIA FALLS — Trevor Houston 8, Glenn Morden 6, Grant Stranger 2, Jayce Fagerland 16, Dakota Bridwell 1, Ty Morgan 25, Grant Wallace 8.
GIRLS
Columbia Falls 70,
Corvallis 42
CORVALLIS — Winter Kemppainen tallied 16 points to lead a balanced attack and help Columbia Falls roll by Corvallis in a Class A matchup.
It was the season opener for Columbia Falls.
Cydney Finberg added 13 points and Ellie Johnson followed with 11.
Columbia Falls led Corvallis 38-14 at the half.
Eleven players scored for the Wildkats.
Corrine Sanderson paced Corvallis with 16 points.
Columbia Falls hosts Class AA Flathead on Thursday.
Columbia Falls 14 24 18 14 – 70
Corvallis 9 5 10 18 – 42
COLUMBIA FALLS — Ciera Finberg 4, Sydney Grilley 7, Hailey Peacock 1, Cydney Finberg 13, Ellie Johnson 11, Peyton Kehr 3, Winter Kemppainen 16, Miranda Livingston 3, Kiara Burlage 6, Allyson Gimble 4, Sydney Moude 2.
CORVALLIS — Tara Tully 6, Jane Booth 9, Corrine Sanderson 16, Penny Jessop 1, Kira Doyle 9, Tayler Wright 1.