Kehr, Columbia Falls girls roll past Whitefish

COLUMBIA FALLS — Columbia Falls dominated on senior night, beating Whitefish 80-11 in a Northwest A girls basketball game on Thursday at Larry Schmautz Memorial Gym.

The Wildkats (16-1 overall, 6-0 Northwest A) leapt out to a 28-3 lead in the first quarter and a 45-6 halftime advantage, continuing to pull away in the second half. Columbia Falls outrebounded Whitefish 36-15 in the contest.

“Defensively we set the tone early,” Wildkats coach Cary Finberg said.

“It was a good opportunity to play a lot of kids. Our seniors played well and led us tonight.”

Peyton Kehr had a game-high 20 points for Columbia Falls, Kiara Burlage had 17 and Cydney Finberg added 12 points.

Marlee Bender led Whitefish (0-17, 0-5) with five points.

Whitefish 3 3 4 1 — 11

Columbia Falls 28 17 21 14 — 80

WHITEFISH — Hope Brown 2, Libby Nagler 3, Becca Catina 1, Marlee Bender 5.

COLUMBIA FALLS — Dani Douglas 9, Savvy Ellis 2, Haylie Peacock 4, Cydney Finberg 12, Tallia Sova 3, Peyton Kehr 20, Ryley Kehr 2, Kiara Burlage 17, Trista Cowan 2, Sydney Hovde 5, Jaylynn Medina 4.

Glacier 44,

Missoula Big Sky 28

Glacier clamped down on defense, stopping visiting Missoula Big Sky in a Western AA conference game.

The Wolfpack (7-10 overall, 5-4 Western AA) held Big Sky (2-14, 0-9) to just four points in the second quarter, climbing back from a slow start to take a 19-12 halftime lead.

Glacier outscored the Eagles 16-7 in the third quarter to build a comfortable advantage it rode out for the victory.

“Defensively we were good,” Glacier coach Bill Sullivan said.

“The girls responded and did some nice things. We were able to distance ourselves from them.”

Courtney Mitchell led the Wolfpack with a game-high 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Julia Reikena had nine points and 14 rebounds for Big Sky.

Big Sky 8 4 7 9 — 28

Glacier 6 13 16 9 — 44

BIG SKY — Chelsea Todd 2 0-0 4, Kelsi McEnaney 4 1-2 10, Julia Reikena 3 3-5 9, Mia Sandau1 1-2 3, Emma Tew 1 0-0 2. Totals: 11 5-9 34.

GLACIER — Ellie Stevens 0 2-2 2, Nikki Krueger 2 4-6 8, Anna Schrade 2 2-5 6, Kali Gulick 2 0-2 4, Cadie Williams 2 2-4 6, McKenna Hulslander 1 0-1 2, Ahna Kreitinger 0 1-2 1, Brynn McChesney 2 2-2 6, Courtney Mitchell 5 2-2 12. Totals: 16 15-26 47.

3-point goals—Big Sky 1-3 (McEnaney 1-2, Megan Sweeney 0-1), Glacier 0-2 (Abi Manger 0-2). Rebounds—Big Sky 34 (Reikena 14), Glacier 40 (Mitchell 10). Total fouls—Big Sky 19, Glacier 17. Fouled out—Mitchell.

Hellgate 53, Flathead 43

Missoula Hellgate hit 12 of 15 free throws in the fourth quarter to pull away from Flathead in a Western AA game at Flathead.

The Bravettes (7-10 overall, 2-7 Western AA) had a big third quarter to cut a six-point halftime deficit to two entering the fourth quarter, but couldn’t get enough shots to fall in the final frame.

Kelsey Gillespie made three 3-pointers and had 13 points to lead the Bravettes and Tiana Johnson had 10 points.

Syd Riddle led Hellgate (6-11, 3-6) with 24 points.

Hellgate 10 14 6 23 — 53

Flathead 7 11 10 15 — 43

HELLGATE — Shay Evans 2 0-2 5, Claudia Wiese 1 1-2 3, Kaci Paffhausen 0 1-3 1, Middle Hamilton 4 2-2 14, Syd Riddle 6 9-10 24, Kat Liston 0 0-2 0, Kylie Lumday 2 2-2 6. Totals: 15 15-23 53.

FLATHEAD — Kylee Meredith 3 1-4 9, Mary Heaton 1 1-4 3, Sierra Siblerud 1 0-1 2, Kelsey Gillespie 3 2-5 13, Allie Gagnon 2 0-0 4, Taylor Henley 1 0-0 2, Tiana Johnson 4 2-2 10. Totals: 15 6-16 43.

3-point goals—Hellgate 8 (Hamilton 4, Riddle 3, Evans 1), Flathead 5 (Gillespie 3, Meredith 2). Total fouls—Hellgate 17, Flathead 22. Fouled out—none.

BOYS

Glacier 62,

Missoula Big Sky 46

MISSOULA — Jaxen Hashley nearly posted a triple double as Glacier found some life in the second half, pulling away to beat Big Sky in a Western AA contest.

Hashley had 19 points, 18 rebounds and eight assists for the Wolfpack (16-1 overall, 9-0 Western AA), who scored 44 points in the second half.

“We didn’t play real well (in the first half),” Glacier coach Mark Harkins said. “They extend their pressure out, we found an answer to that and had some guys step up and hit some big shots that got us flowing.”

Tadan Gilman added 14 points for the Wolfpack, making four 3-pointers in the game.

Nick Wakai and Jordan Casselman each had 14 points to lead Big Sky (2-14, 1-8).

Glacier 10 8 22 22 ­— 62

Big Sky 10 15 11 10 — 46

GLACIER — Jack Desmul 2 0-0 4, Tadan Gilman 5 0-1 14, Collin Kazmier 2 2-4 7, Caden Harkins 1 3-5 5, Kody Jarvis 1 0-0 3, Torin Bowden 1 0-0 2, Jeremiah Martin 0 1-2 1, Pat O’Connell 2 0-0 4, Brec Rademacher 1 0-0 3, Jaxen Hashley 8 3-6 19.

BIG SKY — Josh Malone 0 2-2 2, Carl Butz 1 0-0 2, Nick Yovetich 3 3-8 9, Nick Wakai 4 2-2 14, Alex Simmons 1 3-3 5, Jordan Casselman 5 0-0 14.

3-point goals—Glacier 7-14 (Gilman 4-6, Kazmier 1-2, Jarvis 1-2, Rademacher 1-2, Harkins 0-1, Hashley 0-1), Big Sky 8-22 (Wakai 4-11, Casselman 4-6, Simmons 0-2, Dan Morin 0-1, Garret Johns 0-1). Rebounds—Glacier 29 (Hashley 18), Big Sky 18 (Yovetich 6). Total fouls—Glacier 17, Big Sky 15. Fouled out—none.

Flathead 61, Hellgate 56

MISSOULA — Flathead hit a hot streak heading into halftime, pulling ahead of Hellgate and holding on for a Western AA victory.

The Braves (8-9 overall, 4-5 Western AA) scored 21 points in the second quarter, taking a 33-28 lead into the break. Flathead would nurse that lead for most of the second half.

Sam Elliott had 19 points and Tyler Johnson had 18 points to lead Flathead.

Derrius Collins led Hellgate (12-5, 6-3) with 23 points.

Flathead 12 21 9 19 – 61

Hellgate 14 14 12 16 – 56

Flathead – Cade White 1 0-0 2, Wyatt Potter 1 0-0 2, Bridger Johnson 3 0-0 6, Eric Seaman 0 5-6 5, Cole Gunderson 2 0-0 5, Tyler Johnson 6 5-6 18, Sam Elliott 8 3-6 19, Dawson Smith 2 0-0 4. Totals: 24 13-18 61.

Hellgate – Landon Youbles 3 0-0 6, Derrius Collins 10 1-2 23, Dylan Holst 1 0-1 3, Kade Lunday 0 2-4 2, Bridger Deden 3 2-4 10, Rollie Worster 4 3-4 11, Bridger Liston 1 0-0 2. Totals: 22 8-15 56.

3-point goals – Flathead 2 (Gunderson, T. Johnson), Hellgate 4 (Collins 2, Holst 1, Deden 1). Total fouls – Flathead 17, Hellgate 15. Fouled out – B. Johnson; Deden.

Whitefish 56,

Columbia Falls 41

COLUMBIA FALLS — Whitefish built an early lead and extended it in the second half to down its North Valley rivals in a Northwest A conference game.

The Bulldogs (7-10 overall, 2-3 Northwest A) led 18-6 after the first quarter and outscored Columbia Falls (3-14, 1-5) by 11 points in the second half to secure the victory.

Derek Kastella led all scorers with 20 points for Whitefish.

Logan Stephens paced Columbia Falls with 17 points.

Whitefish 18 5 16 17 — 56

Columbia Falls 6 13 12 10 — 41

WHITEFISH — Derek Kastella 20, Murphy Wick 2, Sawyer Silliker 12, Ryan Kemm 11, Lee Walburn 6, Dillon Botner 5.

COLUMBIA FALLS — Austin Green 10, Logan Stephens 17, Quintin Schriver 4, Matthew Morrison 8, DJ Schrade 2.