Girls lose first game at divisionals

Hungry Horse News

Before the divisional tournament, Wildkats coach Kris Salonen said a key to victory would be scoring more points than they had in recent games.

Unfortunately for Columbia Falls, its offensive woes continued as it lost 47-34 against Libby last night in the first round of divisionals in Ronan.

"It wasn't pretty," Salonen said. "We just can't get it going. We've lost our spark. I don't know if we're going to get it back."

The Wildkats next game is at 6:30 p.m. Friday against the loser of the game between Ronan and Polson.

Columbia Falls dropped to 8-11 overall and has lost nine of its last 10 games. If the Wildkats lose Friday, their season is finished.

Jenna Toole led Columbia Falls with 13 points. Bekah Stoltz and Callie Spencer both added six points.

Last week, the Wildkats also lost to Bigfork 50-46 at home Thursday and then lost 55-44 at Ronan Saturday.

Despite the losses, Coach Kris Salonen was optimistic as her team got ready for divisionals. The Wildkats are the sixth seed in the six-team tournament.

"If someone would have told me at the beginning of the year that we would be in sixth place, I would say 'no way,'" Salonen said. "We're not a sixth-place team."

Against Ronan, Columbia Falls trailed 23-18 at the half. They had trouble generating points because three of their starters, Stoltz, Kim Pearce and Toole, were in foul trouble.

That problem continued in the third quarter as Ronan increased their lead to 10 points. The Wildkats scored 15 points in the final quarter but couldn't make up the deficit.

Toole led the team with 12 points. Stoltz scored 11.

On Thursday against Bigfork, Columbia Falls once again played better in the fourth quarter, but couldn't catch its opponent. After trailing by 10 points early in the quarter, the Wildkats pulled within four points with less than a minute remaining when Stoltz completed a three-point play.

But Bigfork guard Nikki Thompson, who had a team-high 16 points, stole an inbound pass and scored a layup to put her team ahead six points and seal the victory.

Toole was a bright spot for Columbia Falls as she tallied 17 points. Stoltz scored 11 and Pearce added 7.

The Wildkats' losing skid began when seniors Stoltz and Lindsay Johnson got hurt in a win against Corvallis on Jan. 15. Stoltz returned to action on Feb. 4. Johnson, who tore her anterior cruciate ligament, returned with a brace on her injured knee against Bigfork on senior night.

But Johnson tweaked her knee before the Ronan game and will not play the rest of the season.

In other action, the JV girls lost to Ronan 34-31 and Bigfork 32-23. They finished their season 9-9, 5-5 in conference. The freshmen lost 30-29 against Bigfork.

BIGFORK 50, COLUMBIA FALLS 46

Bigfork 15 18 8 9 - 50

Columbia Falls 6 15 7 18 - 46

RONAN 55, COLUMBIA FALLS 44

Columbia Falls 6 12 11 15 - 44

Ronan 6 17 16 16 - 55