Cats snap Vikes' streak, sink Pirates
Snap! The Columbia Falls boys basketball team broke the Bigfork boys 31-game winning streak last week in convincing fashion, 64-43 away Jan. 8.
The Wildcats were led by Ty Morgan, who had 22 in the contest. Grant Stenger had 11, and Grant Wallace and Jayce Fagerland had 10 apiece to pace the Cats.
The Cats’ defense held the Vikings to just 27 percent shooting in the game, using their size in the paint to outplay the Vikings. Bigfork was also awful from the free throw line, shooting just 5 for 17.
“I’m very happy with the way the boys responded,” said coach Cary Finberg. “Christopher Finberg and the coaching staff did a great job with those guys.”
Christopher is the assistant coach of the boys team and coached them, as Cary was coaching the girls at home. Bigfork missed 48 shots.
Against Polson Jan. 10, Jayce Fagerland was on fire from behind the three-point arc, with six treys — five in the first half. He finished with 20 points to lead the Cats. Morgan had 18 and Wallace had 12. Guard Trevor Houston had four rebounds, four steals and seven assists. Stenger had 14 points and eight rebounds. Polson shot 13 for 28 on treys, but had no answer for the Cats’ inside play.
“We took care of business and eliminated their easy baskets,” Finberg said.
The Cats have a tough test against Glacier High School at home Thursday and then play cross-valley rival Whitefish at home on Saturday. The Bulldogs are down a bit this year, but the game is always entertaining. The Glacier game should be a good one.
“I’m sure they’ll come after us,” Finberg said. “Any time you play a team like this, it’s good for you.”
Glacier should match up well in size and athleticism with the Cats. The Glacier game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. The Whitefish game is at 6:30 p.m.
The Wildcats are now 8-1 on the year and undefeated in conference play.
Columbia Falls 12 18 17 17 — 64
Bigfork 8 12 13 10 — 43
COLUMBIA FALLS — Trevor Houston 3 0-2 6, Glenn Morden 0 0-1 0, Grant Stenger 5 1-2 11, Jayce Fagerland 3 2-4 10, Tyler Murphy 0 1-2 1, Ty Morgan 6 8-10 22, Logan Williams 1 0-0 2, Grant Wallace 5 0-2 10, Logan Stephens 1 0-0 2. Totals: 24 12-23 64.
BIGFORK — Isaac Martel 3 1-2 7, Jonathan Landon 4 0-7 8, Josh Sandry 8 4-8 20, Ryder Trent 3 0-0 8. Totals: 16 5-17 43.
3-point goals—Bigfork 2 (Ryder Trent 2), Columbia Falls 4 (Fagerland 2, Morgan 2). Fouls—n/a.
Columbia Falls 18 12 24 19 — 73
Polson 10 14 13 20 — 57
COLUMBIA FALLS — Trevor Houston 7, Glenn Morden 2, Grant Stenger 14, Jayce Fagerland 20, Ty Morgan 18, Grant Wallace 10.
POLSON — Wyatt Ducharme 3, Grey Fitzpatrick 3, Payton Lefthand 12, Derek Peel 11, Tanner Wilson 7, Andrew Curley 12, Joe Gallatin 1, Matthew Rensvold 8.