Poor first half costs Cats in loss to Loggers

By CHRIS PETERSON / Hungry Horse News

They went from hot to ice cold.

The Columbia Falls boys basketball team had a bad first half and lost to Libby last Saturday, 55-48. The Cats only tallied 16 points in the first half — one of their worst performances of the season. They scored just 15 points against Dillon in their second game of the year.

Chase Grilley led the team with 20, but no one else on the squad saw double figures. The Cats could have taken sole possession of first place in the conference as Ronan lost to Polson, but now the two teams are tied at 5-2 in conference, a half game better than the Pirates.

"We were flat on offense and flat on defense," coach Cary Finberg said. "Sometimes you get what you deserve."

Finberg said the boys didn't play with any emotion.

"Hopefully this is a wake-up call for us," he said.

The Cats are 10-5 overall. The Libby win has the Loggers lurking closer as well, as they improve to 4-3.

The team will try to regroup this week as they face Ronan on Friday night and Whitefish on Saturday night.

Ronan beat the Cats earlier this year on a buzzer beater.

"They're a good team and we need to play hard and see what happens," he said. "If we play like we're capable of, we can beat anyone in the conference."

But Finberg noted the Cats still have a lot of work to do to get better in certain areas. Libby outrebounded them 32-19, and the Cats shot just 30 percent. Mackey Nolan had five rebounds, and four assists. Fairbank had four assists.

Whitefish is also dangerous. They also gave them a good game in Whitefish earlier this year before the Cats pulled away in the fourth quarter to win, 57-49.

Game time for Ronan is 7:30 p.m., and 6 p.m. for Whitefish.

COLUMBIA FALLS (5-2, 10-5)

Chase Fairbank 1 0-0 2, Cody Bowman 2 0-1 5, Zane Ridings 2 0-0 4, Mackey Nolan 1 0-0 3, Chase Grilley 7 3-4 20, Mitchell Wassam 4 1-1 9, Grant Getts 1 3-3 5. Totals 18 7-9 48.

LIBBY

Zach Rowan 4 0-0 8, Jim Mee 3 6-6 12, Joel Fuller 5 3-5 15, Bryan Cooper 7 2-2 16, Jordan Gragert 2 0-0 4. Totals 21 11-13 55.

Columbia Falls 9 7 16 16 — 48

Libby 12 8 20 15 — 55

3-point goals: Bowman, Nolan, Grilley 3; Fuller 2. Team fouls: CF 15, Libby 12. Fouled out: Bowman.