Wildkats tame Lady Lions

The Columbia Falls girls basketball team made short work of the Eureka Lady Lions last week. The Wildkats racked up 50 points in the first half for a 75-22 drubbing away on Jan. 3.

The girls were led by Ciera Finberg, who had 18 points to lead all scorers. Her sister Cydney had 13 points and eight assists, and Haley Belgarde had 11 points and eight rebounds in what was a dominant effort.

“I’m very, very happy with the way the girls played,” coach Cary Finberg said.

As a team, the Kats had 22 assists total and just 13 turnovers. The girls did a good job moving the ball around, and that helped their shooting percentage, Finberg noted.

The Kats were 30 for 54 from the field — just under 56 percent shooting. Seven girls shot 50 percent or better.

Winter Kemppainen had nine points, Kiara Burlage had six rebounds, Ellie Johnson had eight points and six assists, and Ally Gimbel came off the bench to score 10 points and nab two steals.

The girls will face Polson on Friday at home and travel to Bigfork on Saturday. The Polson game has a 7:30 varsity start.

Columbia Falls    27    23    19    16    –    75

Eureka    8    9    0    5    –    22

COLUMBIA FALLS – Ciera Finberg 18, Cydney Finberg 13, Ellie Johnson 8, Andrea Getts 4, Winter Kemppainen 9, Miranda Livingston 2, Haley Belgrade 11, Ally Gimbel 10.

EUREKA – Whitney Williams 2, Caty Gondeiro 3, Charity Parsons 4, Evynn Anderson 2, Amanda Peterson 1, Elliott Peterson 2, Jamie Soderling 2, Ashlen Pacella 2, Nicole Anderson 4.