BASKETBALL ROUNDUP: Kastella, Dogs top Cats; Columbia Falls girls move to 10-0
<p>Luke May and Jansen Anderson celebrate the Whitefish Bulldogs' 56-44 victory over the Wildcats in Columbia Falls on Thursday. (Aaric Bryan/Daily Inter Lake).</p>
<p>Columbia Falls' Kiara Burlage drives past Whitefish's Cailyn Ross for a shot in the first quarter at Columbia Falls on Thursday. (Aaric Bryan/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
<p>Whitefish's Zander Wold is fouled by Columbia Falls' Steven DeCamp as he goes up for a shot during the third quarter. (Aaric Bryan/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
COLUMBIA FALLS — Whitefish survived a slow start to knock off Columbia Falls 56-44 on Thursday in Northwest A boys basketball play.
Whitefish, down 15-6 after the first period, outscored the Wildcats 25-8 in the second quarter for a 31-23 halftime lead.
“A great start,” Columbia Falls coach John Anderson said for his club.
“We played some good defense in the first quarter.
“We had one bad quarter — the second quarter,” he added.
“That was the story of the game. We were unable to make a good run after that.”
Derek Kastella sparked the Bulldogs offensively. He scored 12 of his game-high 19 points in the second quarter.
He went to the free-throw line nine times in the quarter, missing just once. He also knocked down two field goals.
Sawyer Silliker followed with 15 points and 10 rebounds while Jacob Henry finished with 11 points.
Zander Wold also had 10 rebounds for the Bulldogs.
For Columbia Falls, Dakota Bridwell led the way with 11 points.
Steven DeCamp had a team-best eight rebounds.
Whitefish wound up shooting 37 charity shots, sinking 20. Columbia Falls went 11 of 26 from the line.
The Bulldogs held an advantage on the boards, 43-31, and finished with six turnovers to 13 for Columbia Falls.
Columbia Falls hosts Class AA Missoula Sentinel on Saturday while Class B Thompson Falls travels to Whitefish.
Whitefish 6 25 10 15 — 56
Columbia Falls 15 8 11 10 — 44
WHITEFISH — Janson Anderson 2, Derek Kastella 19, Jacob Henry 11, Zander Wold 3, Matt Brewer 3, Luke May 1, Sawyer Silliker 15, Ryan Kemm 2.
COLUMBIA FALLS — Nathan Riley 7, Logan Stevens 1, Austin Green 3, Tyler Murphy 5, Steven DeCamp 8, Dakota Bridwell 11, Matt Morrison 2, DJ Schrade 7.
Bigfork 57, Thompson Falls 51
BIGFORK — Joseph Potkonjak scored seven points in the fourth quarter, including a pair of key free throws, to help Bigfork slip by Thompson Falls in a tightly contested District 7B basketball contest.
Potkonjak finished with 13 points.
George Gibson led Bigfork (10-0 overall, 4-0 district) in scoring with 14 points. Anders Epperly added 11.
Trais Hoisington tallied 16 to pace Thompson Falls.
Bigfork led Thompson Falls 15-14, 27-24, 40-36 at the end of the first, second and third quarters.
Bigfork is back in action with a nonconference game on Saturday at Florence.
Thompson Falls 14 10 12 15 — 51
Bigfork 15 12 13 15 — 57
THOMPSON FALLS — Mackensie Holt 2, Trais Hoisington 16, Tanner Laws 5, Joe Frields 18, Max Birkholt 1, Tyler Riffle 9.
BIGFORK — Anders Epperly 11, Adam Jordt 9, Joseph Potknojak 13, Jonathan Landon 8, George Gibson 14, Garrett Beville 2.
Anaconda 84, Ronan 48
RONAN — Anaconda pulled away from Ronan in the second half to pick up the Class B nonconference victory.
Braxton Hill led a balanced Anaconda attack, which had four players in double figures, with 17 points. Kasey Mock led Ronan with 11 points.
Anaconda 14 23 23 24 — 84
Ronan 14 16 11 7 — 48
ANACONDA — Caleb Stetzner 12, Rico Ungaretti 13, Ethan Peterson 2, Trent Mickalates 7, Sean Gallagher 14, Kayden Stetzner 8, Braxton Hill 17, Cayne Cobban 9, Kayne Bryant 2.
RONAN — Ethan Blevins 2, Ezekiel Misa 6, Ty James 6, Kasey Mock 11, Aaron Misa 10, Perry Panzetanga 9, Elijah Cahoon 3, Anthony Camel 1.
Girls
Columbia Falls 72, Whitefish 33
COLUMBIA FALLS — Columbia Falls jumped out to a 24-7 advantage and never looked back in whipping Whitefish in Northwest A play.
Columbia Falls (10-0, 3-0) enjoyed a 41-17 lead at the half and outscored the Bulldogs after that 32-16.
“Again, early on we did a good job of transitioning from defense to offense,” Columbia Falls coach Cary Finberg said.
“I thought our defense set the tone early. We shared the ball well tonight with 20 assists.”
Peyton Kehr led the Columbia Falls offense with 20 points. Kiara Burlage netted 15 and Sydney Hovde added 11.
Ellie Johnson had 10 assists and six points.
Columbia Falls shot 58 percent from the field to 22 percent for Whitefish.
Columbia Falls held a 30-24 edge in rebounds.
Coral Schulz topped Whitefish in scoring with 12 points.
Columbia Falls hosts Class AA Missoula Sentinel on Saturday while Whitefish is home to play Class B Thompson Falls.
Whitefish 7 10 8 8 — 33
Columbia Falls 24 16 19 13 — 72
WHITEFISH — Dani Douglas 8, Coral Schulz 12, Allie Shulz 5, Haley Nicholson 2, Makenna Benbrook 2, Cailyn Ross 2, Becca Catina 2.
COLUMBIA FALLS —Sydney Grilley 4, Cydney Finberg 9, Ellie Johnson 6, Peyton Kehr 20, Miranda Livingston 3, Kiara Burlage 15, Allyson Gimbel 4, Sydney Hovde 11.
Bigfork 85, Thompson Falls 52
BIGFORK — Mattison McAnally turned in a triple-double and Miranda Campbell had a career scoring night as Bigfork thumped Thompson Falls in a District 7B matchup.
McNally totaled 15 points, 12 assists and 10 steals.
“She was over the top tonight,” Bigfork coach Jami Grende said.
“It was fun to watch. She’s a very unselfish player. She probably could have scored another six points.”
The senior guard had a busy night feeding passes to Campbell, who tallied 26 points, Lana Berg, who finished with 19, and Catie Thomas, who followed with 19.
Thomas had five treys.
The 85 points was a season high for the Valkyries (6-3, 4-0).
“We played out of our minds,” Grende said.
“We had 28 steals, they hustled and we only had 13 turnovers.”
Bigfork outscored Thompson Falls 34-17 in the fourth quarter.
Bigfork play a nonconference game Saturday at Florence.
Thompson Falls 11 4 20 17 — 52
Bigfork 15 17 19 34 — 85
THOMPSON FALLS — Brook Jacobs 4, Gellean Nelson 1, Lindsay Laws 13, Haley Wilson 14, Shey Hannum 16, Haley Morgan 4.
BIGFORK — Hailie Norred 5, Mattison McAnally 15, Catie Thomas 19, Lana Berg 20, Miranda Campbell 26.
Stevensville 56, Polson 43
STEVENSVILLE — Nichole Lake popped for 20 points, but it wasn’t enought to live Polson in a Class A nonconference loss to Stevensville.
Payton Tillotson led Stevensville with 15.
Polson 11 4 12 16 — 43
Stevensville 17 13 8 18 — 56
POLSON — Makenna Weltz 5, Marlee Congdon 6, Kyler Smith 2, Breanna Clarke 6, Nichole Lake 20, Mollie Fisher 4.
STEVENSVILLE — Deanna Blair 6, Mariah Hinson 10, Megan Pendergast 5, Ashlynn Harrington 5, Angel Richards 3, Makayla Davids 12, Payton Tillotson 15.