Wildkats bounce back, buck Broncs
The Daily Inter Lake
FRENCHTOWN — The Columbia Falls girls bounced back from their first basketball loss of the season to handily beat Northwest A rival Frenchtown 51-40 on Saturday afternoon.
The Wildkats (4-0 NW A, 11-1 overall) built a 35-18 lead at halftime, and took a 20-point lead into the fourth quarter. Columbia Falls’ three-game weekend seemed to catch up in the fourth quarter, however, with Frenchtown rallying to cut into the lead before running out of time.
Peyton Kehr led all scorers with 16 points and Kiara Burlage had 15 points to lead the Wildkats. Columbia Falls closed its third game in three nights with a 2-1 record, only dropping a close loss to the state’s top-ranked Class AA team, Missoula Sentinel.
Meg Delaney had 12 points to pace Frenchtown (1-2, 9-2). The Broncs had won six straight, including wins over Class AA Glacier and Missoula Hellgate since a mid-December loss to Columbia Falls.
Columbia Falls 16 19 13 3 – 51
Frenchtown 6 12 10 12 – 40
Columbia Falls – Dani Douglas 3, Hayllie Peacock 1, Cydney Finberg 8, Peyton Kehr 16, Kiara Burlage 15, Sydney Hovde 8.
Frenchtown – Meg Delaney 12, Alivia Williams 7, Lexi Statelen 3, Kylie Willett 4, Shannon Worster 9, Emilie Hinrichs 4, Alli Hochhalter 1.
Polson 34, Whitefish 32
WHITEFISH — Polson beat Whitefish at the free-throw line in the fourth quarter to notch its first Northwest A conference win of the season.
The Pirates (1-2 NW A, 2-9 overall) outscored Whitefish 14-10 in the fourth quarter to overcome a back-and-forth contest in which neither team seemed to be able to build a significant lead.
Mollie Fisher scored 10 points to lead Polson.
Annisa Brown had a game-high 14 points for Whitefish (0-2, 0-11).
Polson 12 4 4 14 — 34
Whitefish 9 7 6 10 — 32
POLSON — Kaelyn Smith 8, Quinn Motichka 4, Alex Pierre 4, Mollie Fisher 10, Tasha Gravelle 5, Olivia Perez 3.
WHITEFISH — Hope Brown 2, Libby Nagler 3, Becca Catina 6, Annisa Brown 14, Diana Vasquez 7.
Libby 47, Bigfork 42
BIGFORK — Libby took over first place in District 7B with a road victory over Bigfork.
The Loggers (4-1 7B, 7-4 overall) handled Bigfork’s pressure defense in the first quarter and bounded out to a 16-8 advantage.
Bigfork (4-2, 7-5) was able to cut the lead to 31-27 at half, but couldn’t make up enough ground in the second half.
Shannon Reny and Jayden Winslow each scored 15 points to lead Libby. Jaime Berg had 14 points for Bigfork.
Libby 16 15 2 14 — 47
Bigfork 8 19 2 13 — 42
LIBBY — Alli Collins 2, Madisen Monigold 2, Abby Ennenga 7, Jayden Winslow 15, Sammee Bradeen 2, Khalyn Hageness 2, Shannon Reny 15, Brookyln Rainer 2.
BIGFORK — Haile Norred 3, Shae Anderson 6, Abby Ellison 8, Jaime Berg 14, Ellie Berreth 6, Emilee Park 5.
Troy 51, Florence 48
FLORENCE — Troy dominated play in the second quarter on the way to a nonconference upset of Florence.
Troy (6-3) outscored the Falcons 18-9 before half to ride a 29-21 lead into the break, all the lead it would need to hold on for the win.
Alyssa Lewis led the Trojans with 18 points. Danielle Zahn had 16 points for Florence (8-3).
Troy 11 18 14 8 – 51
Florence 12 9 17 10 – 48
Troy – Aurora Becquart 8, Allie Coldwell 10, Kaitlyn Downey 6, Sami Rohrich 1, Allie Brown 8, Alyssa Lewis 18.
Florence – Autumn Round 6, Sarah Hopcroft 4, Jewel Zeiler 3, Rilee Mangun 5, McKenna Liles 9, Danielle Zahn 16, Chloe Arthur 5.
Eureka 54,
Stillwater Christian 48
Eureka built a comfotable halftime lead and held off a strong performance from Stillwater Christian to notch a nonconference road win.
The Lions (6-5) went on a 14-8 run in the second quarter, building an 11-point lead at half. Stillwater (6-6) rallied back to take the lead in the fourth quarter, but Eureka pulled away at the free-throw line.
Sienna Utter scored a game-high 27 points for Eureka. Selah Neumann scored a season-best 18 points for Stillwater.
Eureka 15 14 7 18 — 54
Stillwater 14 8 7 19 — 48
EUREKA — Avory Escobar 2, Sienna Utter 27, Liz Pacella 3, Maggie Graves 1, Stacy Cooper 6, Erynn Thier 15.
STILLWATER CHRISTIAN — Cora Boll 4, Ramey Metzger 2, Haliegh Schwartz 4, Adrianna Lambert 6, Dori Smith 6, Lulu Neumann 6, Julie Bey 2, Selah Neumann 18.
BOYS
Frenchtown 40,
Columbia Falls 36
COLUMBIA FALLS — Frenchtown rallied in the fourth quarter, overtaking Columbia Falls to stay undefeated in the Northwest A conference.
Columbia Falls led 21-13 at halftime and 29-26 after three quarters but couldn’t hold on in the final eight minutes as the Broncs closed the game on a 14-7 run.
Matthew Morrison scored 13 points and Dakota Bridwell had 11 points for the Wildcats (1-3 NW A, 2-10 overall).
Jacob Price had 19 points to lead Frenchtown (3-0, 6-5).
Frenchtown 7 6 13 14 — 40
Columbia Falls 11 10 8 7 — 36
FRENCHTOWN — Ethan Pyron 4, Jacob Price 19, Cade Baker 1, Adam Botkin 7, Hank Rugg 2, Austin Means 7.
COLUMBIA FALLS — Austin Green 8, Logan Stephens 4, Dakota Bridwell 11, Matthew Morrison 13.
Polson 63, Whitefish 54
WHITEFISH — Polson held off a late Whitefish rally to win a Northwest A conference contest.
The Pirates (2-1 NW A, 6-5 overall) took a big first quarter lead, running the score up to 21-13. Polson would extend the lead to 34-24 at halftime and 48-34 after three quarters.
Whitefish (0-2, 4-7) cut the deficit to four points with two minutes to play, but ran out of time as Polson iced the game at the free-throw line.
Tanner Wilson had 19 points to lead Polson.
Derek Kastella scored 16 and Sawyer Silliker had 14 for Whitefish.
Polson 21 13 14 15 — 63
Whitefish 13 11 10 20 — 54
POLSON — Jayden Bautista 12, Tanner Wilson 19, Jeremiah North Piegan 14, Connor Lanier 7, Matt Rensvold 11.
WHITEFISH — Derek Kastella 16, Murphy Wick 3, Vegard Ellingsen 2, Sawyer Silliker 14, Ryan Kemm 6, Lee Walburn 8, Dillon Botner 5.
Bigfork 54, Libby 48
BIGFORK — Bigfork rallied from a halftime deficit to top Libby in a District 7B conference nailbiter.
The Vikings (6-0 7B, 10-2 overall) went on an 18-5 run to retake the lead, 42-40, in the second half, pulling ahead on a pair of buckets from Beau Santistevan.
After the teams traded buckets, Santistevan converted a three-point play to stretch the lead to 49-46 with a little more than a minute to play. The Vikings then iced the game with free throws down the stretch.
Anders Epperly had 17 points to lead Bigfork and Santistevan and Gilliard each had 12 points.
Ryggs Johnston had 21 points for Libby (3-2, 6-6) and Erik Lauer had 14.
“It was a tough, physical game,” Bigfork coach Sam Tudor said. “Down in the fourth quarter, I’m proud of how the kids played. Both teams played hard.”
Libby 13 12 15 8 — 48
Bigfork 13 8 13 20 — 54
LIBBY — Ryggs Johnston 21, Stephen Williams 6, Colin Maloney 4, Ryan Nagle 3, Erik Lauer 14.
BIGFORK — Anders Epperly 17, Clayton Reichnebach 7, Colton Reichenbach 3, Logan Taylor 3, Logan Gilliard 12, Beau Santistevan 12.
Florence 59, Troy 30
FLORENCE — Florence went up big early and never looked back in a nonconference rout of Troy.
The Falcons (7-6) led 18-3 after the first quarter and 44-19 entering the fourth.
Brent Stroppel had 19 points to lead Florence.
Dillon Savage led Troy (2-7) with 12 points.
Troy 3 9 7 11 – 30
Florence 18 6 20 15 – 59
Troy – Zach Cotten 8, Dillon Savage 12, Jordan Day 3, Dylan Cummings 3, Mason Chapel 2, Austin Weideman 2.
Florence – Tyce Pedersen 4, Brenden Bailey 7, Colby Kohlman 3, Jacob Round 3, Brent Stroppel 19, Cody Liles 9, Dillon Christopherson 9, Carson Katen 5.