C-Falls sweeps Flathead

COLUMBIA FALLS — The Columbia Falls boys and girls both improved to 2-0 on the basketball season Thursday evening by defeating Flathead in nonconference action.

Columbia Falls is back on the court today at the Northwest and Southwest Class A Tip-Off Classic in Missoula at the University of Montana.

The Columbia Falls boys face Dillon at 8 p.m. in the Auxiliary Gym while the Columbia Falls girls play Dillon at 4 p.m. in the Field House.

The tournament ends Saturday.

Boys

Columbia Falls 70,

Flathead 45

Columbia Falls outscored Flathead 40-20 in the final half to pull away.

The Wildcats had a balanced offensive attack with three players in double-figure scoring — Ty Morgan had 16, Grant Wallace 15 and Trevor Houston 10.

Grant Stenger and Jayce Fagerland were next with nine apiece.

Morgan had 10 rebounds, Stenger totaled nine rebounds and blocked six shots and Tyler Murphy had eight rebounds.

Columbia Falls outboarded the Braves, 36-19.

Columbia Falls jumped out to a 30-17 lead, but Flathead went on a 10-0 run to get within three.

“Other than that stretch, we played pretty good,” Columbia Falls coach Cary Finberg said.

“We had 13 turnovers in the first half, five in the second half. Once we started taking care of the ball and sharing the ball, we did much better. Overall, I’m happy with how we played.”

Tyler Johnson led Flathead offensively with 18 points.

Flathead (1-2) plays at Great Falls on Saturday.

Flathead    12    13    9    11    —    45

Columbia Falls    18    12    21    19    —    70

FLATHEAD  — Matt Marshall 1 0-0 2, Alex Croymans 3 0-0 8, Bridger Johnson 1 0-0 2, Tyler Johnson 7 1-1 18, Keaton Krantz 2 0-0 4, Blake Wilson 3 1-2 8, Micah Bucy 0 1-2 1, Trae Habel 1 0-0 2. Totals: 18 3-7 45.

COLUMBIA FALLS — Trevor Houston 3 2-2 10, Glenn Morden 0 0-2 0, Grant Stenger 4 1-6 9, Jayce Fagerland 4 0-0 9, Tyler Murphy 3 2-2 8, Ty Morgan 6 2-3 16, DJ Schrade 0 1-2 1, Grant Wallace 6 3-4 15, Will Johnson 1 0-1 2. Totals: 27 11-22 70.

             Girls

Columbia Falls 50,

Flathead 37

The Bravettes challenged Columbia Falls before the Wildkats pulled away in the fourth quarter.

“Flathead came out and competed hard,” Finberg said.

“They took us out of wanted we wanted to do. We could never get on track. Give Flathead a lot of credit. I thought they played hard tonight.”

Winter Kemppainen led Columbia Falls, and all scorers, with 14 points. Kiara Burlage was next with eight.

Top scorers for Flathead (0-3) were Stephanie Wilson, Jessica Simmons and Taryn Gutierez with seven points each.

Flathead hosts Great Falls High on Saturday.

Flathead    8    9    8    12    —    37

Columbia Falls    8    14    9    19    —    50

FLATHEAD — Stephanie Wilson 3 0-0 7, Kelsey Gillespie 2 0-0 6, Mary     Heaton 1 0-0 3, Lauren Clark 1 0-0 3, Tiana Johnson 2 0-0 4, Jessica Simmons 3 0-0 7, Taryn Gutierez 3 1-2 7. Totals: 15 1-2 37.

COLUMBIA FALLS — Summer Burlage 2 0-0 6, Ciera Finberg 1 2-4 4, Sydney Grilley 2 0-0 4, Cydney Finberg 1 0-0 2, Ellie Johnson 1 1-4 3, Peyton Kehr 3 0-0 7, Winter Kemppainen 5  4-9 14, Miranda Livingston 1 0-0 2, Kiara Burlage 1 6-8 8. Totals: 17 13-25 50.