Wildkats roll by Laurel in 1st round
By JOSEPH TERRY
The Daily Inter Lake
BUTTE — The Columbia Falls girls dominated Laurel in the first round of the Class A state basketball tournament, rolling to a 59-35 win on Thursday afternoon at the Butte Civic Center.
Columbia Falls controlled the game from the tip, using a suffocating defense and an opportunistic fast break to break it open.
“First game at state, sometimes you’re a little concerned about how they’re going to come out,” Wildkats coach Cary Finberg said. “I thought they came out and played relaxed, played with a purpose and did what we needed to do. I think our experience and our senior leadership showed today.”
The Wildkats started slow, unable to get onto the break and having difficulty penetrating the Laurel defense.
Columbia Falls broke through late in the first quarter, scoring on back-to-back possessions, capped by a 3-pointer from Dani Douglas to take a 9-3 lead. Those baskets started a 10-0 run that carried the Wildkats to a 14-5 advantage after eight minutes and carried over to the second quarter, opening that frame with an 11-4 run. That stretched the lead to 25-9.
The Wildkats had a spate of turnovers to end the half, but were able to hold their own on defense, forcing Laurel into nine turnovers in the second quarter and 17 in the first half to take a 29-13 lead at halftime.
“Without pressuring we were forcing turnovers, getting into passing lanes, not giving them a lot of easy looks,” Finberg said.
“I thought defensively we set the tone and that’s what we want to do every game.”
Columbia Falls opened the third quarter on an 8-2 run and scored the last six points of the quarter to build its lead to 23 points. The Wildkats pounded the paint in the fourth quarter, extending the lead further with easy layups and free throws.
“Once we got out on the break we knew we could be succesful, especially in the post,” Finberg said.
“I thought Sydney Hovde ran the floor very well and everybody followed suit. We got some easy baskets because of it.”
Hovde led the Wildkats with 15 points and Kiara Burlage had 13 points and 10 rebounds. Dani Douglas scored 11 points in the win.
Aspen Cotter led Laurel with a game-high 20 points.
Columbia Falls will play Central A champion Havre in the semifinals at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. The Blue Ponies, the second seed from the East, beat Butte Central 55-41 in the first round.
“We’re where we want to be,” Finberg said. “We got what we wanted to do, we accomplished what we wanted to get done. Played a lot of kids, didn’t have to overexert our first five. We should be fresh, ready to go tomorrow.”
Laurel 5 8 7 15 — 35
Columbia Falls 14 15 14 16 — 59
LAUREL — Rylee Clark 3, Aspen Cotter 20, Paige O’Toole 2, Dakota Boehler 2, Kaitlyn Dawes 3, Sami Spitzer 1, Riley Chapman 4.
COLUMBIA FALLS — Dani Douglas 11, Cydney Finberg 8, Peyton Kehr 8, Kiara Burlage 13, Sydney Hovde 15, Ryley Kehr 2, Trisa Cowan 2.
Havre 14 12 14 15 — 55
Butte Central 10 7 14 10 — 41
HAVRE — Ceyara Plante 6, Kyndall Keller 17, Naomi Terry 26, Danielle Wallace 3, Ryan Vandenbos 2, Kyley Verploegen 1.
BUTTE CENTRAL — Kloie Thatcher 13, Mollie Peoples 2, Emily St. John 8, Olivia Bolton 12, Bella Sorini 4, Corbyn Holm 2.
Belgrade 8 18 12 22 — 60
Corvallis 12 15 12 14 — 53
BELGRADE — Shania Neubauer 17, Bailey Christensen 5, Gabby Weber 15, Krista Brown 4, Hannah Gee 1, Kiah Hohenstein 16, Pipi Eitel 2.
CORVALLIS — Penny Jessop 4, Calla Haldorson 17, Emme Wanken 13, Corinne Sanderson 9, Genesis Keith 1, Lainie Albright 7, Tayler Wright 2.
Hardin 21 12 12 24 — 69
Hamilton 9 19 11 15 — 54
HARDIN — Madisan Chavez 15, Sharmayne Hardy 12, Trahnea Phelan 6, Karissa Dushane 14, Aubrey Meiwald 12, Mashaya Alden 4, Arena Penty 4, Marie Five 2.
HAMILTON — Kara Nye 2, Mallory McGill 10, Reilly Rostad 15, Rachael Ringer 9, Lauren Ryter 13, Tristan Searle 5.