Basketball: Braves knock off Columbia Falls

A startling Columbia Falls (7-3) comeback fell short, or to be more accurate, bounced off the top of the backboard, on Friday against Flathead (5-5) in a nonconference boys basketball game at FHS. 

Down four points in the waning seconds, an apparent Wildcats 3-pointer bounced off the front of the rim to the top of the backboard, where it softly bounced down and fell back through the hoop. The shot, however was called off by all three officials, who felt the ball hit a portion of the support system, ruling it a dead ball.

Columbia Falls coach Cary Finberg was given a technical foul after reacting negatively to the decision, allowing Flathead to hit a free throw before getting the ball back. Once the Braves inbounded, they were fouled again, hitting another free throw to push the game out of reach, winning 47-41.

The wild finish was a far cry from the play of the first half, that saw Flathead dominate, holding the Wildcats to just 11 points with suffocating defense and rebounding. 

“Defensively, I thought we were really good in that first half,” Flathead coach Fred Febach said. “When they missed some shots or they couldn’t convert when they did have open looks, we were able to rebound it and we were able to take control of the game.”

The Braves led 22-11 at halftime and held a 15-point lead three minutes into the second half when Columbia Falls was able to make a charge. 

“You bury yourself against a team like      Flathead, it’s hard to dig out of that hole,” Finberg said. 

“Give Flathead a lot of credit. They took us out of what we wanted to do and we allowed them to do that.”

Fueled by a much more sound defensive effort, the Wildcats started to chip away at the lead, getting out in transition and charging to the basket. A pair of 3s from Alex Presnell cut the lead to 28-23 as the Wildcats closed the quarter on a 14-3 run. 

Flathead saw its lead fall to just two points midway through the fourth when Trae Habel was able to make a smooth spin move in the post, turning over his right shoulder towards the baseline and dipping under a defender for a bucket while getting fouled. He missed the free throw but a teammate tipped the rebound to a wide-open Blaine Newman, who drained a 3-pointer to push the lead back to 38-31.

“It’s amazing what happens when you rebound the basketball,” Febach said. 

“It gets you another possession, they don’t get to score and hopefully, if you move the ball quickly enough, the defense is flying around trying to find everybody. Often times there’s somebody wide open. We were able to hit the open guy.”

A few possessions later, the Braves found Newman open again, this time after breaking through the Columbia Falls press. With the defense scrambling, he hit another 3 to give Flathead a cushion. Newman also hit three free throws in the final seconds to seal the win.

“Four fouls, he comes off the bench in that fourth quarter and drains two big 3s for us that really helped us keep a cushion,” Febach said.

Matt Quist led the Braves with 14 points and nine rebounds.

Jared Trinastich had a game-high 15 points and nine rebounds for the Wildcats. Alex Presnell had 12 points and Ty Morgan 10 for Columbia Falls. 

The Wildcats have a quick turnaround, facing Northwestern A leader Frenchtown today. Flathead is off until its crosstown game at Glacier on Thursday.

Columbia Falls561416—41

Flathead1210718—47

COLUMBIA FALLS — Alex Presnell 4-8 5-6 12, Ty Morgan 3-6 1-4 10, Jared Trinastich 6-12 3-6 15, Grant Wallace 2-3 0-0 4. Totals: 15-35 9-18 41.

FLATHEAD — Alex Croymans 2-6 0-0 4, Blaine Newman 2-5 3-6 9, Easton Johnson 1-2 0-0 2, Will Cronk 2-3 1-2 6, Chandler Escalante 1-7 1-2 4, Trae Habel 2-2 0-1 4, Adam Bradley 2-2 0-2 4, Matt Quist 7-11 0-1 14. Totals: 19-38 5-14 47. 

3-pointers — CFalls 2-8 (Presnell 2), Flathead 4-16 (Newman 2). Rebounds — CFalls 22 (Trinastich 9), Flathead 26 (Quist 9). Assists — CFalls 13 (Morgan 3, Nakia Alexander 3), Flathead 16 (Cronk 5). Blocks — CFalls 0, Flathead 2 (Quist, Cody Norberg). Steals — CFalls 1 (Presnell), Flathead 5 (Cronk 2). Personal fouls — CFalls 13, Flathead 16. Fouled out — Flathead, Bradley. Technical fouls — CFalls coach.