C-Falls stops Locomotives in semifinal victory

Accurate shooting by Columbia Falls at the free-throw line carried the fourth-ranked Wildcats to a 57-48 semifinal victory over Laurel on March 7 at the Class A state boys basketball tournament at Four Seasons Arena in Great Falls.

The Wildcats (18-4) posted an amazing 25 of 28 from the charity stripe. Ty Morgan hit six straight free throws in the fourth quarter, as the Cats maintained their offensive edge.

Next up for Columbia Falls is top-ranked Dillon, which advanced to the title game Saturday night with a 51-35 semifinal victory over Belgrade.

This will be the fourth time Columbia Falls and Dillon have met for the state championship. They played each other in the final game in 2009, 2011 and 2012.

“Kind of a familiar foe,” Columbia Falls coach Cary Finberg said. “They’ve been pretty good all year long. If we play like we did tonight, and like we’re capable of, we have a great chance.”

Columbia Falls will be bringing home a state trophy for the sixth straight season. Last year, the Cats finished third. They won the championship in 2011, came in second in 2009 and 2012 and placed third in 2010.

The Laurel Locomotives slipped to within five, down 46-41 with three minutes to play, but never got any closer to the Wildcats.

Morgan also pulled down some key rebounds after Laurel missed back-to-back three point attempts. Columbia Falls held a 52-41 lead with 1:13 to play. For the game, Morgan was 7 of 8 at the line to finish with 12 points.

“Late in the game, with our guard play and ability to shoot free throws, we were in pretty good position,” Finberg said. “We have good free-throw shooters, and we were fortunate to get the right guys to the line. They showed some heart and knocked them down.”

Jared Trinastich led Columbia Falls and all scorers with 18 points. He was 7 of 8 in free-throw shooting. Alex Presnell, 6 of 6 at the free-throw line, wound up with 14 points. Columbia Falls was 13 of 28 shooting from the field for 46.4 percent.

The Locomotives were 18 of 44 for 40.9 percent from the field, but shot just 12 free throws, making six.

The Cats fell behind 6-2 in the opening quarter, but used a 14-0 run after that to stay on top for the remainder of play. They led 28-16 at the half and 36-29 heading into the fourth quarter.

Columbia Falls outrebounded Laurel 27-18. Morgan and Trinastich both had six rebounds to lead the Cats.

“A little bit of a slow start, but the kids kept their poise,” Finberg said. “No panic. I thought they played very good basketball beyond that first minute.”

Columbia Falls had 11 turnovers to six for Laurel. The Locomotives had three players in double-figure scoring — Zach Allen with 17, Evan Jones with 13 and Taylor Maida with 10.

Friday Semifinal Games

Laurel 9 7 13 19 — 48

Columbia Falls 17 11 8 21 — 57

LAUREL (19-3) - Dylan Meccage 0-6 0-0 0, Keegan Reilly 0-0 0-0 0, Tyler Thompson 0-3 0-2 0, Taylor Maida 4-12 0-0 10, Quinton Holmlund 1-1 0-1 2, Cooper Love 2-2 0-0 6, Evan Jones 4-10 3-4 13, Zac Allen 7-10 3-5 17. Totals: 18-44 6-12 48.

COLUMBIA FALLS (18-4) - Alex Presnell 3-8 6-6 14, Trevor Houston 0-1 2-2 2, Grant Stenger 0-0 0-0 0, Jayce Fagerland 2-6 2-2 7, Austin Kimmet 0-0 0-0 0, Nakia Alexander 1-2 0-0 3, Ty Morgan 2-3 7-8 12, Mason Gedlaman 0-0 1-2 1, Jared Trinastich 5-8 7-8 18, Grant Wallace 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 13-28 25-28 57.

3-point goals - Laurel 6-19 (Love 2, Jones 2-6, Maida 2-7), C. Falls - 6-15 (Presnell 2-5, Alexander 1-2, Morgan 1-2, Trinastich 1-1, Fagerland 1-4). Total fouls - Laurel 22, C. Falls 14. Fouled out - Meccage. Rebounds - Laurel 18 (Allen 6), C. Falls 27 (Morgan 6, Trinastich 6). Assists - Laurel 8 (Meccage 3), C. Falls - 8 (Presnell 2, Houston 2, Trinastich 2). Turnovers - Laurel 6, C. Falls 11.

Dillon 51, Belgrade 35

Belgrade 3 9 7 16 — 35

Dillon 9 9 16 17 — 51

Belgrade — Trevor Mahn 3-6 0-0 6, Brayden Konkol 2-7 1-2 5, Brandon Stubbs 1-4 0-2 2, Koby Ruff 1-1 1-2 3, Angel Torres 1-1 0-0 2, Ethan Turner 0-1 0-0 Shiloh Christopher 5-9 1-3 13, Keldon Lamb 2-4 0-0 4, Baxter Roys 0-4 0-0 0. Totals: 15-37 3-9 35.

Dillon — Chance Kluesner 2-2 5-6 11, Tyler Jory 0-0 2-2 2, Trae Williams 0-1 3-7 3, JD Ferris 1-4 1-4 4, Parker Love 0-1 0-0 0, Nate Simkins 1-2 0-0 2, Justin Ferris 1-3 0-0 3, Troy Scoot 4-8 5-7 15, Nick Huber 0-0 0-2 2, Tanner Haverfield 1-1 0-0 2, Jason Ferris 2-3 0-0 4, Brady Richardson 2-4 1-1 5. Totals: 14-29 17-29 51.

Total fouls -- BEL 22, DIL 12. Fouled out -- Mahn. Technical foul -- Lamb (flagrant). 3-point goals -- BEL 2-7 (Mahn 0-1, Turner 0-1, Christopher 2-4, Lamb 0-1), DIL 6-15 (Kluesner 2-2 T Williams 0-1, JD Ferris 1-3, Love 0-1, Simkins 0-1, Ju. Ferris 1-2, Scott 2-5). Rebounds -- BEL 28 (Konkol 7), DIL 19 (Scott 4, Richardson 4).

Friday loser-out games

Polson 62, Miles City 44

Polson 14 16 9 23 — 62

Miles City 10 10 14 10 — 44

POLSON (8-16) - Hudson Smith 2-5 0-0 4, Cedrick Smith 2-7 9-9 13, Chris McDonald 0-1 0-0 0, Andrew Weltz 3-6 5-10 12, Jacob Harrod 0-0 2-2 2, Payton Lefthand 0-0 0-0 0, Andrew Curley 7-8 2-4 22, Tanner Wilson 2-5 2-3 7, Joe Gallatin 0-0 0-0 0, Matthew Rensvold 0-0 0-0 0, Wyatt DuCharme 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 17-33 20-28 62.

MILES CITY (7-16) - Bryan Claypool 1-1 0-0 2, Gavin Gundlach 2-7 0-0 5, Timmy Regan 2-8 3-9 8, Austin Stradley 1-6 0-0 2, Brett Keith 3-9 0-0 6, Kyle Collins 0-0 0-0 0, Carson Barnosky 0-0 0-0 0, Brac Warren 5-14 1-4 13, Jaden Senger 0-0 0-0 0, Connor Torstenbo 2-2 0-0 5. Totals: 17-49 4-14 44.

3-point goals - Polson 8-15 (Curley 6-7, Weltz 1-1, Wilson 1-2), Miles City 6-24 (Warren 2-7, Torstenbo 1-1 Stradley 1-4, Regan 1-6, Gundlach 1-6). Rebounds - Polson 30 (Weltz 8), Miles City 20 (Warren 7). Fouls - Polson 17, Miles City 20. Fouled out - Stradley. Technicals - Polson 1 (book), Miles City 2 (Regan, coach). Assists - Polson 17 (Smith 8), Miles City 13 (Regan 5). Turnovers - Polson 17, Miles City 7.

Havre 12 10 12 21 – 55

Stevensville 8 10 14 17 – 49

Havre — Jerod Boles 0-3 0-0 0, Nate Rismon 1-8 1-4 4, Jonathan Faber 0-1 0-0 0, Dane Warp 9-17 13-18 32, Michael Bakke 2-3 5-6 9, Jase Kato 1-1 0-0 2, Kade Rismon 3-7 2-4 8. Totals: 16-40 21-22.

Stevensville — Bo Zeiler 2-2 0-0 5, Chris Lords 0-2 1-2 1, Christopher Bergman 1-6 2-2 4, Chance Coleman 1-2 0-0 2, Zach Gavlak 5-11 5-9 15, Jared Schultz 5-14 6-6 18, Bryce Torrey 1-5 2-4 4. Totals: 15-42 16-23.

Total fouls: Havre 18, Stevensville 24. Fouled out: Schultz. 3-pointers: Havre 2-12 (Boles 0-3, N. Rismon 1-5, Faber 0-1, Warp 1-3), Stevensville 3-12 (Zeiler 1-1, Bergman 0-3, Schultz 2-8). Rebounds: Havre 23 (Warp 10), Stevensville 36 (Gavlak 9, Torrey 9). Assists: Havre 7 (Warp 3), Stevensville 7. Turnovers: Havre 10, Stevensville 21.