C-Falls boys flip Flathead

In a game featuring 56 fouls, Columbia Falls went 16 for 25 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter, finishing 68 percent from the charity stripe as a team, to pull away from a scrappy Flathead squad on Friday night.

Wildcats senior Ty Morgan scored 17 of his game-high 23 points from the free-throw line, including nine in the fourth quarter to preserve a 70-53 nonconference road victory for No. 1-ranked Columbia Falls.

“Seventy-seven free throws in a game. That’s a ton. I don’t know if I’ve ever been in a game with that many,” Wildcats head coach Cary Finberg said.

“It is what it is. We took advantage of it and I thought we played hard. We had a little lull there to start the fourth, but we bounced back, made some free throws, and defensively, I thought we played pretty solid all night.”

After being outscored 20-8 in the third quarter, the Braves (4-6) made an impressive push at a comeback attempt.

Trailing by 18 early in the fourth, the Braves cut the deficit to just five on Trae Habel’s layup with just over three minutes remaining.

Tragedy struck in the form of two ill-timed technical fouls. Flathead’s Matt Marshall and Cade White earned technicals after disagreeing with the referee’s call.

With Columbia Falls in the double bonus, Morgan and Logan Williams shot four free throws each, making 6 out of 8 to distance itself from the Braves in the final two minutes.

Williams finished with a team-high seven rebounds while scoring eight points., and teammate Grant Wallace added 14 points.

“It’s certainly a lesson in composure,” Flathead head coach Fred Febach said.

“I thought we battled through a lot of things out there. To be down as much as 18 to Columbia Falls, an awfully good basketball team, I couldn’t be prouder of my kids for fighting back like that and getting themselves back into the game. There are some things you just don’t have control over. We don’t have control over the officials calls and those kind of things. You just play your game and hope things work out. We’ll put this one in the rear view mirror and get ready for crosstown on Thursday.”

The Wildcats (10-2) led by as much as nine in the first half, grabbing 15 rebounds in the first two quarters.

Morgan made it a seven point game on a pair of free throws with 4.9 seconds left in the half, but Marshall took any momentum away from the Wildcats by taking the inbound pass, streaking up the court and launching a 3-pointer on the run that found the bottom of the net as the buzzer sounded to trail 25-21 at the half.

Flathead’s Habel finished with a double-double, scoring 11 points to go with his game-high 11 rebounds.

“I’ve got a lot of improvements to make on defense. I’ve always got work to do,” Habel said.

“As far as rebounding goes, I rebound for the team. Our posts work on it every week. If we rebound for the team we get those extra looks on offense and gives us extra shots, extra points.

“I think we did good as a team. We’re making a lot of improvements. We’re just going to comeback next week and work as a team. We’re always getting better and getting stronger.”

White added 11 points and seven rebounds for the Braves while Alex Croymans poured in 10 — five of Flathead’s first seven points to start the fourth quarter.

Columbia Falls travels to Northwest A foe Frenchtown today at 5:30 p.m.

Flathead enters the crosstown rivalry, hosting Glacier at 8 p.m. on Thursday.

Columbia Falls 15 10 20 25 — 70

Flathead 9 12 8 24 — 53

COLUMBIA FALLS — Trevor Houston 2-6 1-2 1, Grant Stenger 1-4 1-0 2, Jayce Fagerland 4-11 0-0 11, Tyler Murphy 0-1 6-8 6, Ty Morgan 3-7 17-20 23, Logan Williams 2-4 4-9 8, Grant Wallace 7-10 0-1 14. Totals — 19-43 28-41 70.

FLATHEAD — Matt Marshall 3-12 0-1 7, Seth Adolph 2-7 4-8 8, Alex Croymans 3-8 4-4 10, Cade White 2-5 7-8 11, Wyatt Smith 1-2 0-2 2, Blake Wilson 1-5 2-4 4, Trae Habel 3-9 5-9 11. Totals — 15-52 22-36 53.

3-point goals — Columbia Falls 4-12 (Houston 1-2, Fagerland 3-9) Flathead 1-12 (Marshall 1-7). Rebounds — Columbia Falls 30 (Morgan 6, Williams 7). Flathead 44 (Habel 11, White 7). Assists — Columbia Falls 18 (Houston 7, Fagerland 3), Flathead 16 (Marshall 3, Adolf 3, Croymans 3). Turnovers — Columbia Falls 9, Flathead 17. Fouls — Columbia Falls 25, Flathead 31. Fouled Out — Houston, Stenger, Johnson, Marshall White, Habel.