Cats outshoot Dogs in rival matchup
When a team is forced to play from
behind the three-point line, games like Saturday’s 73-49 pounding
at Columbia Falls sometimes happen.
Defensive stops were tough to find and
Whitefish’s outside shooters struggled to find consistency from
beyond the arc as the Wildcats handed the Bulldogs their first
conference loss.
Columbia Falls was paced by 21 points
from their offensive star Anthony Correa. Senior standout Austin
Barth picked up a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds.
Without a post game and no luck with
dribble penetration, Whitefish was forced to find their offense
from the outside. The three-pointer kept them close for the first
two quarters.
Junior guard Jake Slaybaugh was feeling
it early. He opened the game with a nice jumper from the baseline
and later rattled in a three-pointer from the corner in front of a
rowdy Columbia Falls student section.
Senior Gage Vasquez added a fade-away
trey from the same spot to get Whitefish within four points after
the first quarter. Vasquez and Slaybaugh accounted for all of
Whitefish’s 12 first-quarter points.
Chris Forrest, Cooper Olson and
Slaybaugh each added treys in the second quarter to make it a seven
point game, 32-25, at the half.
Coming out of the break, Whitefish’s
shooters went cold and Columbia Falls took control.
The Wildcats outscored the Dogs 41-24
in the second half.
Vasquez and Slaybaugh led Whitefish
(5-4, 1-1) with 13 points each.
The Bulldogs travel to Glacier on
Friday and host the Polson Pirates in a conference game Saturday at
6 p.m.
Whitefish 12 13 13 11 - 49
Col. Falls 16 16 21 20 - 73
WHITEFISH - Christopher Forrest 7, Jake
Slaybaugh 13, Logan Harwood 7, Gage Vasquez 13, Cooper Olson 6,
Jace Kalbfleisch 3.
COLUMBIA FALLS - Alex Presnell 9, Ronny
Gallegos 5, Austin Martin 2, Luke Kazlauskas 9, Anthony Correa 21,
Brian Marcille 10, Austin Barth 11, Jared Trinastich 4, Austin
Kimmett 2.