Basketball roundup: Columbia Falls boys, girls spill Whitefish

COLUMBIA FALLS — Class A No. 1 Columbia Falls played its best defensive game of the season, routing rival Whitefish 73-40 in a Northwestern A conference boys basketball game on Saturday night.

Ty Morgan scored 22 points and Grant Stenger had 15 points and 15 rebounds as the Wildcats fed off their interior defense to hold Whitefish to just 17 points at half.

“I thought tonight was our best game, start to finish, on the defensive end,” Columbia Falls coach Cary Finberg said.

“I thought the kids came out ready to play and played with a purpose. They played for four quarters.”

The Wildcats (9-2 overall) forced 25 turnovers and outrebounded Whitefish 40-20. Jayce Fagerland also had 19 points to add to the high-scoring backcourt.

Luke May and Jack Streibich had 10 points each to lead the Bulldogs (4-7).

Whitefish 7 10 9 14 — 40

Columbia Falls 17 19 15 22 — 73

WHITEFISH — Derek Kastella 3, Brian FauntLeRoy 8, AJ Wetsch 2, Cody Olson 2, Luke May 10, Jack Streibich 10, Chaffin Ross 5.

COLUMBIA FALLS — Trevor Houston 6, Grant Stenger 15, Jayce Fagerland 19, Tyler Murphy 4, Ty Morgan 22, Logan Williams 1, Grant Wallace 6.

Bigfork 64, Florence 55

BIGFORK — Class B No. 2 Bigfork made 11 of 13 free throws in the fourth quarter to pull away from Florence in a tight nonconference game.

The Vikings (8-1) didn’t take a lead until the third quarter and didn’t separate from the Falcons (7-3) until late in the contest, thanks to clutch shooting at the free-throw line. Adam Jordt, who finished with 10 points for Bigfork, was 6-for-6 from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter.

Isaac Martel had a team-high 19 points for the Vikings, including eight in the fourth quarter.

“It went down to the wire,” Bigfork coach Sam Tudor said.

“We put the pressure on (in the fourth) and Martel started getting involved in the offense. That was big for us to get him going.”

Josh Sandry had 17 points and a monster dunk, fixing a broken set play by leaping over a defender and throwing down the flush.

Travern Smith had a game-high 23 points to lead Florence and Levi Clagett had 13.

Florence 18 13 13 11 — 55

Bigfork 14 13 11 26 — 64

FLORENCE — Brandon Johnson 9, Jake Kelling 2, Levi Clagett 13, Travern Smith 23, Jake Christopherson 8.

BIGFORK — Adam Jordt 10, Isaac Martel 19, Tyler Piazzola 2, Jonathan Landon 7, Josh Sandry 17, Ryder Trent 9.

Polson 54, Libby 44

LIBBY — Matthew Rensvold scored 19 points and Tanner Wilson had 17 as Polson topped Libby in a Northwestern A conference game.

The Pirates (3-6) led 30-20 at halftime, a lead they would maintain for a comfortable win.

Michael Curtiss scored 16 to lead the Loggers (1-8) and Collin Johnson had 11.

Polson 13 17 9 15 — 54

Libby 10 10 12 12 — 44

POLSON — Wyatt Ducharme 6, Chris McDonald 2, Derek Peel 5, Tanner Wilson 17, Andrew Curley 5, Matthew Rensvold 19.

LIBBY — Jonny Cielak 9, Collin Johnson 11, Zander Petersen 1, Colin Maloney 2, Erik Lauer 5, Michael Curtiss 16.

Eureka 53, Noxon 23

EUREKA — The Lions defense stifled the Red Devils, holding Noxon to eight or fewer points in each quarter, and Eureka cruised to a nonconference victory.

Led by Chase Bohne’s game-high 18 points, Eureka (4-6) outscored Noxon 19-2 in the second quarter.

Trey Bohne added 15 points, Michael Peterson tallied seven and Brad Stein finished with six.

Noxon 8 2 5 8 — 23

Eureka 14 19 14 6 — 53

NOXON — Zach Osborne 9, Franklin Herschler 2, Aaron Brodmerkle 4, Quincy Grupenhoff 6, Lucas Fitchett 2.

EUREKA — Brandon Conard 2, Trey Bohne 15, Brad Stein 6, Michael Peterson 7, Chase Bohne 18, Sam Hannay 2, Pluid 2, Braden Thier 1.

St. Ignatius 50, Troy 48

TROY — Aaron Ahenakew scored a team-high 28 points and the Bulldogs held off Troy for a nonconference victory in a matchup of Class B squads.

Nick Durglow added nine points for St. Ignatius (4-5).

Troy’s Gage Tallmadge led all-scorers with 30 points, but it wasn’t enough to give his team the win. Adam Tallmadge scored nine points and grabbed 10 boards for the Trojans (3-6).

St. Ignatius 8 12 14 16 — 50

Troy 12 6 13 17 — 48

ST. IGNATIUS — Dennis Ahenakew 7, Tate Weihgart 2, Gentry Brown 2, Nick Durglow 9, Aaron Ahenakew 28, Will Powell 2.

TROY — Adam Tallmadge 9, Brennan Olds 2, Sean Opland 4, Mason Chapel 2, Gage Tallmadge 30, Kolten Winebark 1.

Stillwater Christian 77, Helena Christian 43

HELENA — Clayton Hashley and Matt VanSomeren each scored 15 points to lead the Cougars past Helena Christian in an MCAA conference win.

Stillwater outscored HCS 46-18 in the first half to storm to the victory. Daniel Lambert added 12 points for the Cougars (4-7).

Bryan Asbury and Zach Fenlason each had 14 points to lead Helena Christian.

Stillwater 19 27 16 15 — 77

Helena Christian. 7 11 14 11 — 43

STILLWATER — Schuylar Kauffman 9, Clayton Hashley 15, Nathan Chuang 5, BJ Bach 7, Daniel Fetveit 4, Daniel Lambert 12, Matt VanSomeren 15, Alex Sulzbacher 8, Zach Basnett 2. Totals: 31 12-22 77.

HELENA CHRISTIAN — Bryan Asbury 14, Tanner Marks 7, Zach Fenlason 14, Connor Koenig 6. Totals: 14 14-27 43.

Fouled Out- Marks, Asbury. Three Pointers- SCS 3 (Hashley 2, Kauffman 1), HCS (Asbury).

Girls

Columbia Falls 72, Whitefish 23

COLUMBIA FALLS — The Class A No. 1 Wildkats outscored their Northwestern A rivals 27-2 in the first quarter and led 47-11 at halftime to throttle Whitefish and kick off a dominant night for Columbia Falls at Larry Schmautz Memorial Gym.

Ciera Finberg had 16 points and Cydney Finberg and Peyton Kehr both had 10 to lead the Wildkats (10-1). Columbia Falls had 10 players register points in the game.

“We had a chance to play a lot of kids,” Columbia Falls coach Cary Finberg said. “I was happy with the way they responded after Thursday (in a loss to Glacier).”

The Wildkats forced 26 turnovers and outrebounded Whitefish 33-9. Kiara Burlage had eight points and eight rebounds for Columbia Falls.

Dani Douglas had five points to lead Whitefish (2-8).

Whitefish 2 9 8 4 — 23

Columbia Falls 27 20 16 9 — 72

WHITEFISH — Dani Douglas 5, Allie Schulz 3, Katie Fyall 2, Mariah Drown 2, Anna Peterson 3, Haley Nicholson 2, Makenna Benbrook 2, Cailyn Ross 4.

COLUMBIA FALLS — Summer Burlage 3, Ciera Finberg 16, Sydney Grilley 5, Cydney Finberg 10, Ellie Johnson 2, Peyton Kehr 10, Winter Kemppainen 9, Miranda Livingston 7, Kiara Burlage 8, Allyson Gimble 2.

Libby 44, Polson 27

LIBBY — Libby took a 10-point lead in the first quarter and built it into a blow out in the second half, topping Polson in a Northwestern A conference game.

Shannon Reny had 12 points and Hailey Craig 11 to lead the Loggers (5-5).

Nichole Lake had a team-high seven points for Polson (0-9).

Polson 4 11 4 8 — 27

Libby 14 9 10 11 — 44

POLSON — Skyla Krantz 3, Marlee Congdon 5, Lauren Lefthand 3, Brenna Clarke 4, Nichole Lake 7, Erin Sampson 2, McKenna Weltz 3.

LIBBY — Ashley Walker 2, Madison Monigold 2, Hailey Craig 11, Shyla Stevenson 5, Hailley Moe 6, Shannon Reny 12, Devon Gallagher 6.

Bigfork 59, Florence 29

FLORENCE — Marissa Hiza had 16 points and Lana Berg had 14 points and eight rebounds as the Valkyries (7-2) ran past Florence (3-7) in a Class B nonconference game.

Bigfork had 20 steals, led by eight from Mattison McAnally, who also had seven assists. Miranda Campbell added 12 points for the Vals.

Ally Rust had seven points to lead the Falcons.

Bigfork 14 18 17 10 — 59

Florence 7 8 7 7 — 29

BIGFORK — Haile Norred 4, Marissa Hiza 16, Jaime Berg 2, Matti McAnally 2, Katie Palmer 5, Lana Berg 14, Miranda Campbell 12, Emilee Park 4.

FLORENCE — Lexi Taulbee 2, Kourtney Kohlman 1, Autumn Round 6, Ally Rust 7, Jewel Zeiler 5, Chloe Arthur 4, Megan St. Germain 4.

Eureka 54, Noxon 12

EUREKA — The Class B Lions jumped out to a 19-2 lead in the first quarter and never looked back, scorching Class C Noxon in a nonconference game.

Amanda Peterson scored 19 points to lead Eureka (4-6).

McKenna Krueger and Alicia Fields led the Red Devils (1-8) with three points each.

Noxon 2 5 3 2 — 12

Eureka 19 11 12 12 — 54

NOXON — Kamber Torti 2, McKenna Krueger 3, Alicia Fields 3, Phalyn Fickas 2, Kristin Webley 2.

EUREKA — Charity Parsons 6, Courtney Lemer 4, Rachael Pacella 5, Evynn Anderson 6, Amanda Peterson 19, Erynn Thier 9, Lizz Pacella 5.

Troy 54, St. Ignatius 44

TROY — Tied at 10 after the opening quarter, the Trojans outscored St. Ignatius 16-5 in the second period and coasted to a Class B nonconference victory.

Allie Coldwell posted a game-high 19 points to pace Troy (2-7). Teammate Aurora Becquart also finished in double figures, scoring 14 points. Allie Brown added nine.

The Bulldogs’ (0-9) Trinity Lewandowski tallied 13 points while Sydney Castor finished with a 10-point effort.

St. Ignatius 10 5 13 16 — 44

Troy 10 16 15 13 — 54

ST. IGNATIUS — Sydney Castor 10, Irene Lopez 15, Trinity Lewandowski 13, Pam Anderson 5, Shania Dubois 1.

TROY — Aurora Becquart 14, Olivia Thomas 6, Taylor Brown 3, Allie Coldwell 19, Kaitlyn Downey 3, Allie Brown 9.

Stillwater 55,

Helena Christian 28

HELENA — Sarah Paolini pulled down 22 rebounds and tallied 16 points to guide Stillwater Christian School to an easy Montana Christian Athletic Association victory over Helena Christian School.

Stillwater (9-3, 3-0) held a commanding 35-9 lead at the half. Paolini had 10 points at the intermission.

Dori Smith scored 11 points and Janelle Falk 10 for Stillwater in the conference matchup.

Falk led the Cougars in steals with five while Megha Tannehill’s six assists were a team high.

Stillwater Christian 17 18 12 8 — 55

Helena Christian 6 3 16 12 — 28

STILLWATER — Serena Koch 8, Janelle Falk 10, Alisa Venman 2, Dori Smith 11, Sarah Paolini 16, Megha Tannehill 6, Amanda Kauffman 2.

HELENA CHRISTIAN — Marissa Kertula 6, Emma Kertula 9, Ashley Hamlin 4, Shelby Austin 9.

Late Friday

Boys

Thompson Falls 56, Whitefish 45

WHITEFISH — Trais Hoisington scored 22 points and Tanner Laws had 13 for Thompson Falls in a nonconference win at Whitefish.

The Class B Blue Hawks (7-3) led 30-17 at half and coasted to the finish to upset the Class A Bulldogs on the road.

AJ Wetsch had 17 points to lead Whitefish (4-6) and Cody Olson had 10.

T. Falls 13 17 12 12 — 56

Whitefish 7 10 12 16 — 45

THOMPSON FALLS — Trais Hoisington 22, Tanner Laws 13, Corey Tessier 4, Dylan Vaught 6, Joe Frields 5, Dalton Hooten 4, Tyler Riffle 2.

WHITEFISH — Derek Kastella 6, Brian FauntLeRoy 2, AJ Wetsch 17, Cody Olson 10, Jack Streibich 3, Chaffin Ross 6, Luke May 0, Matt Brewer 1.

Foothills Christian 61, Stillwater Christian 56

GREAT FALLS — BJ Bach scored 17 and Clayton Hashley had 16, but it wasn’t enough for the Cougars to overcome a terrific third quarter from Foothills Christian in an MCAA conference game.

Alex Sulzbacher also scored 10 points for Stillwater Christian (3-7).

Claus Henning had a game-high 19 points for Foothills.

Stillwater 14 9 12 21 — 56

Foothills 13 11 19 18 — 61

STILLWATER — Clayton Hashley 16, BJ Bach 18, Daniel Lambert 3, Matt VanSomeren 9, Alex Sulzbacher 10. Totals: 23 7-16 56. 

FOOTHILLS — Luke Willekes 9, Kim Youbin 9, Reiman Dawson 11, Shane Wood 6, Konner Lund 7, Claus Henning 19. Totals: 22 16-31 61.

 Fouled Out- Lambert, VanSomeren, Henning.  Three Pointers- SCS 3 (Hashley 3) FCCS 1 (Willekes).

Girls

Thompson Falls 31, Whitefish 27

WHITEFISH — Thompson Falls took a 19-7 lead at halftime to ride out a nonconference victory over Whitefish (2-7).

Shey Hannum scored nine points to lead the Class B Blue Hawks (4-5).

Dani Douglas had 10 points to lead Class A Whitefish.

T. Falls 12 7 4 8 — 31

Whitefish 3 4 11 9 — 27

THOMPSON FALLS — Lindsay Laws 4, Shey Hannum 9, Gillian Nelson 3, Autrey Hannum 7, Logan Beckman 8.

WHITEFISH — Dani Douglas 10, Coral Schulz 3, Allie Schulz 4, Katie Fyall 1, Mariah Drown 4, Cevana Lawshe 1, Cailyn Ross 4.