Cats alone atop NW A

By CHRIS PETERSON / Hungry Horse News

The Columbia Falls boys basketball team bounced back in a big way last week, tromping two conference rivals to take sole possession of first place in the Northwest A Conference with one game to go.

The Wildcats (12-5, 7-2) beat Ronan on Friday night 66-40 and Whitefish 56-43 on Saturday night. In both games, the Cats played solid defense and rebounded the ball very well.

Against Ronan, they outrebounded the Chiefs, 39-22 and against Whitefish they had a 41-27 rebound advantage.

Against Ronan, Chase Grilley led with 26 points and Zane Ridings also had a hot hand, scoring 14. Chase Fairbank had seven assists, and Grilley and Nolan had four apiece.

Grilley tallied 14 against the Dogs and Grant Getts had 12 off the bench and 11 boards. Ridings also had a solid game with 10 and Mackey Nolan nabbed 12 rebounds.

The Whitefish game got sort of chaotic in the first half. Wildcat point guard Chase Fairbank broke his nose when he collided with a Whitefish players shoulder on a pick. A few minutes later coach Cary Finberg picked up a technical foul after arguing with the referees on a Mackey Nolan lay-up and a foul that wasnt called after Cody Bowman took an elbow to the head. Nolan made a sweet reverse lay-up that fell in, but the basket was called off and he was called for a charge. A couple of plays later Mitchell Wassam picked up a technical after he committed a foul and talked a little too long about it.

Despite the mayhem, the game itself was never really close. Whitefish scored just 10 points in the first half and only six points in the third quarter. By then, the game was out of reach when the Dogs made a little run on the Cats JV players. Grilley also had seven assists and Nolan had four.

Those were our best two games defensively of the year, Finberg said.

The team was aggressive on defense and the rebounds followed. They also shot the ball well 52 percent from the field against Ronan and 48 percent against Whitefish. The defense, in turn, held the Chiefs to just 23 percent from the field and they held Whitefish to just 22 percent.

Bowman also did a great job playing point guard after Nolan picked up his third foul and Fairbank was out with the broken nose, Finberg said. Also a major contributor was Caleb Johnson. The freshman went to the line nine times in the first half, had three blocks and three rebounds and scored four points.

The Cats wrap up the regular season with an away game at Polson tonight (Thursday). Theyve had a tough time playing in Polsons gym in the past few years and a win would give them some momentum going into the divisional playoffs.

Finberg said if they continue to rebound and play defense like they did this weekend, they should be in the game. Polson is one game behind in the standings and wraps up their regular season at Libby. The Pirates style of play is heavy on zone defense and a slow, methodical offense. It can be boring to watch, but it works if the opposing team cant break it down and run the floor.

The Cats are looking for a bye in the Divisional playoffs that would be assured if they beat the Pirates outright. The tourney is held primarily at Glacier High School this year, though some of the loser-out games will be held at the Flathead High gym.

Fairbank is expected to be able to play in the Divisional tourney, though hell probably have to wear some sort of face guard.

WHITEFISH (4-5, 8-8)

Shawn Watterud 4 10-15 20, Matt Whitehead 3 0-0 7, Aaron Tkachyk 0 3-4 3, Marc Hotzfield 0 0-2 0, Austin Green 0 1-2 1, Colt Idol 2 0-0 4, Connor Silliker 0 1-2 1, David FauntLeRoy 3 1-2 7. Totals 12 16-27 43.

COLUMBIA FALLS (7-2, 12-5)

Chase Grilley 4 2-2 13, Grant Getts 4 3-3 12, Zane Ridings 4 0-2 10, Cody Bowman 2 1-2 5, Mitchell Wassam 3 0-0 6, Caleb Johnson 0 4-9 4, Michael Williams 1 0-0 3, Tanner Perry 0 1-3 1 Austin Robbins 0 0-2 0, Chase Fairbank 0 0-0 0, Mackey Nolan 1 0-0 2. Totals 19 11-23 56.

Whitefish 7 3 6 27 56

Columbia Falls 14 14 19 9 43

3-point goals WF 3 (Watterud 2, Whitehead), CF 7 (Grilley 3, Ridings 2, Getts, Williams). Team fouls WF 25, CF 22. Fouled out Idol; Smith, Nolan.

RONAN (5-3, 12-4)

Moss Tanner 3-18 4-7 10, Mike Fisher 4-9 1-2 10, Ryon Hesselgesser 0-4 0-0 0, Makenzy Kelch 0-2 0-0 0, Jordan St. Clair 2-5 3-3 7, Eddie Ness 1-6 0-0 3, Nolan Harris 4-11 0-0 10, Kyle Hendrickx 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-55 8-12 40.

COLUMBIA FALLS (6-2, 11-5)

Chase Fairbank 1-3 0-0 2, Kyle Howell 0-1 0-0 0, Cody Bowman 1-2 1-2 3, Zane Ridings 5-12 3-3 14, Mackey Nolan 2-4 1-2 5, Chance Meyer 0-0 0-0 0, Matt Triplett 1-1 2-2 4, Austin Robbins 0-0 0-0 0, Chase Grilley 9-17 7-8 26, Mitchell Wassam 4-5 0-0 8, Kaleb Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Grant Getts 2-2 0-0 4, Michael Williams 0-1 0-2 0. Totals 25-48 14-19 66.

Ronan 12 4 13 11 40

Columbia Falls 17 14 14 21 66

3-point goals Ronan 4-28 (Harris 2-7, Fisher 1-3, Ness 1-6), CF 2-8 (Ridings 1-2, Grilley 1-4). Rebounds Ronan 23 (Tanner 7, Hesselgesser 6, Harris 4, Fisher 3, team 3, Kelch), CF 43 (Nolan 12, Grilley 7, Fairbank 5, Ridings 5, Triplett 3, team 3, Bowman 2, Wassam 2, Johnson 2, Getts 2). Assists Ronan 7 (Tanner 4, Hesselgesser 2, St. Clair), CF 14 (Grilley 5, Nolan 4, Fairbank 3, Ridings, Getts). Steals Ronan 6 (Tanner 2, Harris 2, Hesselgesser, St. Clair), CF 9 (Grilley 4, Nolan 2, Fairbank, Ridings, Wassam). Blocks Ronan 0, CF 1 (Bowman). Turnovers Ronan 11, CF 17. Team fouls Ronan 17, CF 14. Fouled out None.