Columbia Falls girls beat Bravettes
<p>Columbia Falls senior Kiara Burlage is guarded closely by Flathead guard Averie Olson during the fourth quarter of the Wildkats' 57-42 victory at Flathead on Saturday. (Aaric Bryan/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
Columbia Falls continued its undefeated start to the season, pulling away from Flathead in the second quarter to win a girls nonconference basketball game on Saturday at Flathead High School, 57-42.
The Wildkats (5-0) closed the first half on an 11-4 run to take a 29-21 lead into the break. Columbia Falls outscored Flathead 16-8 in the third quarter to give itself a 16-point cushion entering the final eight minutes.
Kiara Burlage had 17 points to lead the Kats and Dani Douglas and Peyton Kehr each scored 11.
Tiana Johnson did it all for Flathead (3-2), scoring a game-high 28 points.
Col. Falls 9 20 16 12 — 57
Flathead 9 13 8 12 — 42
COLUMBIA FALLS — Dani Douglas 4 1-3 11, Cydney Finberg 3 0-0 9, Peyton Kehr 4 2-2 11, Kiara Burlage 7 3-3 17, Trista Cowan 1 0-0 2, Sydney Hovde 2 3-4 7. Totals: 21 9-12 57.
FLATHEAD — Kylee Meredith 1 0-0 3, Mary Heaton 2 1-2 5, Kelsey Gillespie 2 0-0 4, Taylor Henley 1 0-0 2, Tiana Johnson 9 6-8 28. Totals: 15 7-10 42.
3-point goals—CF 6 (Finberg 3, Douglas 2, Kehr 1), Flathead 5 (Johnson 4, Meredith 1). Total Fouls—CF 11, Flathead 15. Fouled out—none.
Hamilton 55, Polson 33
POLSON — The Hamilton girls (2-2) pulled away in the second quarter to beat Polson (0-5) in a nonconference game.
The Broncs, who led 12-9 after the first quarter, were able to take control before half, turning turnovers into points to outscore Polson 16-4 in the second quarter to take a commanding 28-13 lead into the break.
Mallory McGill led the Broncs with 16 points.
Mollie Fisher had 10 points to lead Polson.
Hamilton 12 16 17 10 — 55
Polson 9 4 10 10 — 33
HAMILTON — Tessa Della Silva 4, Tristy Searle 9, Kara Nye 3, Mallory McGill 16, Reilly Rostad 1, Sophia Doyle 3, Rachael Ringer 10, Jorden Taggart 5, Lauren Ryter 4.
POLSON — Kaelyn Smith 6, Quinn Motichka 6, Mollie Fisher 10, Natasha Gravelle 5, Mikayla Croft 6.
Ronan 71, Eureka 58
RONAN — Ronan shut down Eureka in the fourth quarter to pull away for a win in a back and forth nonconference contest.
The Maidens outscored Eureka 20-12 in the final eight minutes to secure the victory.
Alicia Camel had 26 points and Micalann McCrea scored 20 points for the Maidens.
Sierra Utter and Stacy Cooper each had 18 points to lead Eureka.
Eureka 12 15 19 12 — 58
Ronan 13 23 15 20 — 71
EUREKA — Avory Escobar 0 0-2 0, Sierra Utter 7 2-2 18, Liz Pacella 0 1-5 1, Cassie Ammic 1 0-0 2, Maggie Graves 2 2-6 6, Ashtin Waldo 2 0-0 4, Stacy Cooper 7 2-2 18, Eryn Thier 3 3-6 9. Totals: 22 10-23 58.
RONAN — Micalann McCrea 7 5-8 20, Tiana Ulutoa 0 1-2 1, Jaelynn Askan 3 0-0 6, Louetta Conko-Camel 0 1-3 1, Alicia Camel 8 9-10 26, Hannah Moss 2 0-0 4, Kianna Finley 1 0-2 2, Lee Camel 2 6-7 11. Totals: 23 22-32 71.
Bigfork 34, Libby 33
LIBBY — Bigfork held on despite a late charge from Libby’s Shannon Reny to pick up its first conference road victory.
“It was our press (defense) that won the game for us,” Valkyries coach Jami Grende said.
“Our goal is to prevent them from getting into their offense. It was good to see the girls playing aggressively.”
Haile Norred scored 14 points to lead the Valkyries.
Reny had 18 points for Libby, including a pair of late 3-pointers that cut the once sizeable Bigfork lead to one at the buzzer.
Bigfork 10 4 13 8 — 34
Libby 8 9 4 12 — 33
BIGFORK — Haile Norred 14, Abby Ellison 5, Reese Nissen 4, Jaime Berg 5, Emilee Park 2.
LIBBY — Alli Collins 2, Madison Monigold 4, Jaden Winslow 9, Shannon Reny 18.