Basketball roundup: Finbergs, Kemppainen lift Kats over Broncs

FRENCHTOWN — Ciera Finberg tallied 17 points, Winter Kemppainen added 11 and Cydney Finberg 10 as the top-ranked Columbia Falls Wildkats needed a fourth-quarter spurt to put away the Frenchtown Broncs in a 61-44 victory on Saturday afternoon in Northwestern A girls basketball action.

Frenchtown, down by 19 points at one point, closed to within three before the Wildkats pulled away for good.

Columbia Falls (12-1 overall, 5-0 league) outscored Frenchtown 16-3 in the final eight minutes.

Frenchtown (6-5, 2-2) was led by Lacey Hochhalter’s 12 points.

Columbia Falls 15 22 8 16 — 61

Frenchtown 11 7 23 3 — 44

COLUMBIA FALLS — Ciera Finberg 17, Sydney Grilley 2, Cydney Finberg 10, Ellie Johnson 7, Peyton Kehr 7, Winter Kemppainen 11, Kiara Burlage 5, Allyson Gimbel 2.

FRENCHTOWN — Haley Cyr 2, Laci Willett 3, Krista Hebnes 1, Alli Moe 3, Brooke Yarnall 6, Lacey Hochhalter 12, Megan Delaney 8, Alivia Williams 9.

Polson 45, Whitefish 36

WHITEFISH — A big third quarter propelled the Polson Lady Pirates to a Northwest A victory as they beat the Whitefish Lady Bulldogs for their first win of the season.

Polson (1-9, 1-2) led just 22-19 at halftime, but outscored Whitefish 14-4 in the third quarter.

Polson’s Nichole Lake finished with a double-double, scoring 15 points to go along with her 11 boards. Both marks led all players.

Lauren Lefthand added nine points for the Lady Pirates.

Whitefish (2-10, 0-4) received a 10-point effort from Haley Nicholson. Anna Peterson and Mariah Drown both notched seven points.

Polson 12 10 14 9 — 45

Whitefish 9 10 4 13 — 36

POLSON — Skyla Krantz 3 1-2 7, Marlee Congdon 1 1-2 3, Lauren Lefthand 3 1-2 9, Nichole Lake 4 7-10 15, Erin Sampson 2 0-0 4, MaKenna Weltz 0 1-4 1, Peyton Anderson 3 0-0 6. Totals 16 10-18 45.

WHITEFISH — Dani Douglas 1 2-2 5, Allie Schultz 0 1-2 1, Katie Fyall 2 0-0 4, Mariah Drown 3 1-2 7, Anna Peterson 3 0-0 7, Haley Nicholson 4 0-0 10, Makenna Benbrook 1 0-0 2. Totals 14 4-6 36.

Eureka 45, Ronan 42

EUREKA — The Ronan Maidens missed a 3-point attempt at the buzzer that would have tied the game and Eureka held on for a Class B nonconference victory.

Amanda Peterson led the Lions with 15 points. Evynn Anderson chipped in nine.

Lee Camel led the Maidens with nine points while Alicia Camel and Jordyn Clairmont each added eight.

Ronan 9 13 8 12 — 42

Eureka 7 14 11 13 — 45

RONAN — Micalann McCrea 3, Jordyn Clairmont 8, Aspen Jore 6, Haley O’Hern 2, Alicia Camel 8, Kendra Starkel 6, Lee Camel 9.

EUREKA — Charity Parsons 4, Courtney Lemer 3, Rachael Pacella 1, Evynn Anderson 9, Amanda Peterson 15, Stacy Cooper 3, Erynn Their 3, Gina Williams 2, Caty Gondeiro 5.

Plains 49, Troy 31

TROY — The Trotters jumped out to a 22-9 halftime lead and never looked back, downing Troy in a District 6B matchup.

Hailey Phillips finished with a game-high 15 points to lead Plains. Carley VonHeeder tallied 11 and Kimberly Earhart scored seven.

Troy saw Aurora Becquart score 13 points. Allie Coldwell added seven.

Plains 7 15 17 10 — 49

Troy 2 7 10 12 — 31

PLAINS — Kimberly Earhart 7, Sami Kinzie 2, Carley VonHeeder 11, Hailey Phillips 15, Kayla Holmes 6, Jessica Thompson 2, Leah Thompson 6.

TROY — Olivia Roach 2, Aurora Becquart 13, Olivia Thomas 4, Allie Coldwell 7, Kaitlyn Downey 2, Allie Brown 3.

Boys

Columbia Falls 68, Frenchtown 53

FRENCHTOWN — Ty Morgan dropped in 17 points and Grant Stenger and Grant Wallace both followed with 12 as a balanced scoring performance helped top-ranked Columbia Falls top Frenchtown in a Northwestern A contest.

Morgan was 13 of 13 from the free-throw line.

Columbia Falls (11-2, 5-0) held a 32-25 lead at the half and was up 50-40 heading into the fourth quarter.

Jayce Fagerland added 10 points for Columbia Falls.

Bridger Truett scored 26 points for Frenchtown.

Columbia Falls 15 17 18 18 — 68

Frenchtown 13 12 15 13 — 53

COLUMBIA FALLS — Trevor Houston 9, Grant Stenger 12, Jayce Fagerland 10, Ty Morgan 17, Logan Williams 8, Grant Wallace 12.

FRENCHTOWN — Jacob Price 4, Chris Delaney 3, Bridger Truett 26, Austin Means 6, Robert Jones 4, Andrew King 10.

Eureka 67, Ronan 54

EUREKA — Chase Bohne scored 25 points to lead Eureka past Ronan, thanks to a strong first half performance by the Lions.

Eureka outscored Ronan 32-14 in the first half and held on as the Chiefs heated up in the second half to get the Class B nonconference victory.

Trey Bohne scored 15 points and RJ Glover had 14 for the Lions.

Jeremiah North Piegan scored 13 points and Cedric Earthboy had 10 to lead Ronan.

Ronan 7 7 17 23 — 54

Eureka 17 15 16 19 — 67

RONAN — Cedric Earthboy 10, Colton McRea 3, Jayce Nenemay 4, Rhett Duffey 3, Bryce Cullen 5, Jeremiah North Piegan 13, July Sorrell 16.

EUREKA — Trey Bohne 15, RJ Glover 14, Michael Peterson 7, Chase Bohne 25, Bradon Thier 6.

Plains 44, Troy 38

TROY — Ryan Ovitt tallied 19 points to lead all scorers as Plains beat Troy in a District 7B contest.

Aaron Baker added 14 for Plains, who trailed 18-16 at halftime.

Gage Tallmadge dropped 18 points for the Trojans and Brennen Olds scored 11.

Plains 8 8 7 21 —  44

Troy 13 5 6 14 —  38

PLAINS — Ryan Ovitt 19, Alec Cole 2, Kyle Revier 4, Cole Benson 3, Aaron Baker 14, Brennen Abormett 2.

Troy — Gage Tallmadge 18, Brennen Olds 11, Sean Opland 6, Colton Whinebark 2.

Polson versus Whitefish

WHITEFISH — No results were available from this Northwestern A contest.