Kats hold off Valkyries, crush Lady Pirates
The Columbia Falls girls basketball team clinched the regular season conference title last week, as they held Polson to just 11.4 percent shooting and blew out the Lady Pirates 59-18 in Polson.
Sisters Ciera and Cydney Finberg led the Wildkats in scoring with 14 and 12 points respectively in the Feb. 8 tilt. Winter Kemppainen had 10 points and 13 rebounds, and Cydney had eight rebounds and eight steals as the freshman is playing excellent defense in the past few weeks. Ellie Johnson chipped in with four assists and no turnovers.
Class B Bigfork proved tough competition as the Wildkats got by the Valkyries 42-35 at home Feb. 6. The Kats at one point had a double-digit lead, but Bigfork, who is similar in size to the Kats, cut the margin to just four points with four minutes left to play.
Cydney Finberg had a key steal down the stretch to help squash Bigfork’s run. She had five steals in the game and four assists. Haley Belgarde led the scoring with 15 and nine rebounds.
Coach Cary Finberg said the Bigfork game was good for the team — they kept their composure when the Vals made their run.
“Bigfork is a pretty good team,” he said. “It’s good for our girls to be in that situation.”
The Kats are now 14-1 overall and 6-0 in conference play with three games left to play in the regular season. They’ll get a first-round bye in the divisional tournament at the end of the month.
“You want to put yourself in the best position possible come tournament time,” Finberg noted.
The girls are on the road against Ronan Thursday and Whitefish Saturday.
Bigfork 5 9 12 9 — 35
C Falls 15 6 14 7 — 42
BIGFORK — Marissa Hiza 9, Riley Coleman 7, Mattison McAnally 3, Lana Berg 6, Josie Spokie 2, Kallister Meagher 2, Tessa Robertson 4, Miranda Campbell 2.
CFALLS — Ciera Finberg 5, Cydney Finberg 5, Ellie Johnson 2, Andrea Getts 4, Winter Kemppainen 8, Miranda Livingston 1, Allyson Gimbel 2, Haley Belgarde 15.
C Falls 15 9 23 10 — 59
Polson 5 5 5 3 — 18
CFALLS - Ciera Finberg 14 , Cydney Finberg 12, Winter Kemppainen 10, Haley Belgarde 9, Kiara Burlage 4, Allyson Gimbel 3, Andrea Getts 2, Summer Burlage 2, Ellie Johnson 2, Miranda Livingston 1.
POLSON - Nicole Lake 7, Monika Frame 6, Skyla Krantz 5.