Sapa goes big, Wildcats take third

BUTTE — A state trophy was a long time coming for the Columbia Falls Wildcats, who beat Butte Central 58-53 Saturday in the State A boys basketball consolation game.

So was a big game from Reggie Sapa.

The junior, who suffered a fractured leg in a football game on Sept. 15, had easily his best outing of the season with 16 points. They were needed for the Wildcats (17-9) to win what was in effect a home game for the Maroons (19-6) at the Civic Center.

A breakout performance didn’t seem likely — Sapa played five minutes and scored two points in the Cats’ 71-48 loser-out win over Hamilton Saturday morning — until it happened.

“Love that kid, and I just feel good for him that he was able to have that moment,” eighth-year Columbia Falls coach Chris Finberg said.

“He was ready for this game,” said senior forward Cody Schweikert, who had 10 points. “What can you say? He’s been through it all. He was ready for it.”

Columbia Falls 58, Butte Central 53

Sapa had a transition layup near the start of a 12-0 Columbia Falls run in the second quarter; Schweikert capped it with a 17-footer put his team up 25-19, and added two more baskets before the half ended.

The Wildcats led 29-23 at intermission, and the Maroons (19-6) didn’t catch them until 4:05 was left in the game when Ryan Peoples hit his fourth 3-pointer. 

Central led, 50-49, but less than 15 seconds later Sapa drove baseline for a layup. The Wildcats wouldn’t trail again. 

Jace Hill started them away from a 50-50 tie with a basket, and Schweikert and Sapa hit two free throws each to grow the lead to 56-50 with 30 seconds left. That pretty much sealed it.

Hill added 10 points, and Dayne Tu chipped in nine. Owen McPartland had 18 points to lead the Maroons, who beat Billings Central 58-54 Saturday morning.

The Cats shot 52 percent, with Sapa going 5-for-6.

“It’s been a tough go of it this year for Reg. Last spring to lose his dad (Billy Sapa, the Cats’ baseball coach) unexpectedly,” Finberg said. “This year in the fall, early in the season, breaking his leg. 

“Then coming back in January and being nowhere near 100 percent, and he just grinded and grinded and grinded — and by the end of the year I could tell physically he was feeling better. And what a moment for him, to have his best game of the year, because we needed it.”

“I’m still not supposed to be playing, actually,” said Sapa, who did his damage in a shade over 15 minutes. “I just healed really quick in rehab and came back early. It still bothers me. I’ve just got to ignore it, pretty much.”

The Wildcats bounced back from a first-round loss to Lewistown with three straight wins, getting their first hardware in Finberg’s tenure.

“Eighth year as a coach, first year with a trophy,” he said. “Feels pretty good, especially because the first four years our won-loss record, to put it bluntly, was very poor.

“I can’t thank these seniors enough. … the time they put in, and they got Columbia Falls basketball back to the state tournament, No. 1, and they got Columbia Falls basketball back to getting a trophy.”

Sapa was the only non-senior in the Wildcats’ nine-man rotation. Everyone seemed to have a moment: In the blowout of Hamilton, Mark Robison scored 11 points in the first half and Tu hit all four of his shots for eight points.

“At times this year we were so reliant on Jace and Cody for scoring,” Finberg said. “All three games we won at the state tournament we had a lot of contributions from a lot of different guys.”

Saturday afternoon Sapa was that guy, playing poised on the court before letting the emotions take hold after the buzzer.

“I just thought about dad and what he’d think,” he said.

Butte C.    15    8    15    15    -    53

C-Falls    9    20    11    18    -    58

BUTTE CENTRAL — Joshua Sutton 0-1 0-0 0, Zane Moodry 3-4 0-0 6, Owen McPartland 6-14 2-2 18, Ryan Peoples 5-10 0-0 1, Jack Keeley 2-13 3-7 8, Parker Robertson 1-2 1-1 3, GG Fantini 1-2 0-0 3, Patrick Stimatz 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-46 6-10 53.

COLUMBIA FALLS — Dayne Tu 4-5 0-0 9, Alihn Anderson 1-3 0-0 3, Cody Schweikert 4-9 2-2 10, Jace Hill 4-9 2-2 10, Mark Robison 2-7 0-0 6, Reggie Sapa 5-6 6-9 16, Easton Brooks 2-3 0-0 4, Chance Miller 0-0 0-0 0, Hunter Goodman 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-42 10-13 58.

3-point goals — BC 11-25 (Peoples 5-8, McPartland 4-8, Fantini 1-1, Robertson 0-1, Keeley 1-7), C-Falls 4-11 (Robison 2-5, Tu 1-2, Anderson 1-2, Sapa 0-1). Rebounds — BC 26 (Keeley 11), C-Falls 23 (Schweikert 7). Fouls — BC 12, C-Falls 10. Turnovers — BC 9, C-Falls 5.

Columbia Falls 71, Hamilton 48

To put it mildly, the Wildcats shot the Broncs out of the Civic Center, going 8 of 12 from the 3-point arc (4 of 6 in each half) and shooting 26 of 40 overall (65 percent).

Anderson, Robison and Hill missed two threes among them and combined for 35 points, and Columbia Falls steadily built on a 36-28 halftime lead.

Hamilton got 13 points each from Canaan Magness and Tristan Koemer and ended up 20-4.

C-Falls    20    16    18    17    -    71

Hamilton    9    19    11    9    -    48

COLUMBIA FALLS — Dayne Tu 4-4 0-0 8, Alihn Anderson 3-4 0-0 9, Cody Schweikert 4-8 6-6 14, Jace Hill 5-9 3-3 15, Mark Robison 3-4 2-4 11, Chance Miller 2-3 0-0 0, Easton Brooks 2-2 0-0 4, Hunter Goodman 2-5 0-2 4, Hunter Hoerner 0-0 0-0 0, Reggie Sapa 1-1 0-0 2, Grady Hutton 0-0 0-0 0, Silas Ypma 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-40 11-15 71.

HAMILTON — Tyler Jette 1-7 6-7 8, Tristen Koemer 5-7 2-2 13, Canaan Magness 5-13 2-2 13, Jackson Jessop 3-8 5-6 11, Cole Dickemore 0-9 1-2 1, Francesco Baruffini 1-2 0-0 2, Lucas Lant 0-1 0-1 0. Totals 15-47 16-19 48.

3-point goals — C-Falls 8-12 (Anderson 3-3, Robison 3-4, Hill 2-3, Schweikert 0-1, Miller 0-1), Hamilton 2-15 (Koemer 1-1, Magness 1-3, Jessop 0-1, Lant 0-1, Jette 0-3, Dickemore 0-6). Rebounds — C-Falls 24 (Schweikert 6), Hamilton 19 (Koemer 7). Fouls — C-Falls 18, Hamilton 11.  Turnovers — C-Falls 10, Hamilton 5.