Top-ranked Columbia Falls presented a challenge for top ranked Bigfork

In a matchup of top-ranked boys basketball teams, the final score wasn’t quite indicative of the battle that took place on the court Thursday evening.

Class A No. 1 Columbia Falls ran away with its game at Class B No. 1 Bigfork, winning 64-43 and leading by less than 10 points for just 16 seconds after halftime.

It was a defensive display by the defending Class A state champion Wildcats and broke the Vikings’ 31-game unbeaten streak and a personal three-game losing streak to the defending Class B state champions.

By the score it was convincing, but the Wildcats earned every point against a physical Bigfork squad that defended well but struggled to hit even its easy shots against the long, aggressive Columbia Falls defense.

Behind 6-foot-7 forwards Grant Wallace and Grant Stenger, Columbia Falls forced Bigfork into shooting 16-for-46 from inside. The length of the Wildcats forced Bigfork into shooting many of its close shots short, with the threat of one of “the Grants” lingering nearby changing as many shots as when they stood over the shooter.

“Any team you play when you go 6-7 (and) 6-7 (at the forward position), we feel we have the advantage inside regardless of who we’re playing. That’s our gameplan going in every game and we executed very well tonight,” said Columbia Falls assistant coach Chris Finberg, who took over the coaching duties in the absence of head coach Cary Finberg, who was coaching the Columbia Falls girls at home in the north Valley.

The advantage inside was evident from the beginning, though it never manifested in a significant rebounding edge for Columbia Falls. Stenger and Wallace were each strong on the offensive end, Stenger scoring seven of his 11 points in the first half and Wallace going on a tear to start the second half, scoring seven of his 10 points in the first five minutes.

“We knew they were going to be strong coming into (the game),” Wallace said. “We took it to them, saying lets just pound it straight into them. It worked out well for us.”

Bigfork announced itself early, Adam Jordt finding Josh Sandry in the first quarter on a thundering alley oop. Jordt, bringing the ball up near the three-point line found a soaring Sandry across court on a perfect pass, the senior Montana football recruit leaving from outside of the paint to throw down the dunk and give the Vikings a 5-3 lead.

It wasn’t until late in the first quarter that Columbia Falls was able to grab the lead. Senior guard Ty Morgan followed a Wallace basket in the final minute with a circus shot the next trip down the court. Morgan, who was advancing the ball at full speed up the court, was fouled, and while falling down lofted a well-placed bank shot. He would nail the ensuing free throw to give his team a 12-8 lead after the first quarter.

The Wildcats leaned on their defense in the second quarter, spreading their lead to 20-10 by the midway point while holding Bigfork to one field goal in the first four minutes of the frame.

Bigfork would cut the lead to four, but another quick run by Columbia Falls before the half would give the Wildcats a 30-20 lead at the intermission. The lead only got larger in the third quarter with the Wildcats feeding the ball to the post, scoring its first eight points from one of its forwards.

Even as Bigfork hung around, it wasn’t able to take advantage of its chances to close the gap.

After a Morgan 3-pointer spread the lead to 15 points, Bigfork missed three of its next four free throws. The Vikings missed five of six free throws in the fourth quarter and were just 5 for 17 from the charity stripe in the game.

Morgan finished with a game-high 22 points to lead Columbia Falls, which also got 10 points from Jayce Fagerland.

Sandry led Bigfork with 20 points.

“When you shoot that bad it’s hard to win a basketball game against a good team like C-Falls,” Sandry said.

“We can hang with those guys. We’ve just got to shoot better and not turn the ball over.”

While the loss was upsetting for the Vikings, they weren’t discouraged by the blemish on their record.

“We played with them,” Bigfork coach Sam Tudor said.

“Rebounding wasn’t as big of a problem as everyone thought it was going to be, even though they had us on height. We stuck to a good game plan and we tried to keep things calm.

“We play up to five guards out there at once, so we want to run. Sometimes things are going to run away on us. We can shoot our way out of a game as fast as we can run up the score.

“I was happy with the effort. The execution wasn’t there tonight.”

Friday night saw the tables turn for the Vikings as they toppled Troy 74- 52 in a district 7B matchup at home. Bigfork got going quick with a bucket from Sandry who led the Vikes in scoring with 20 points, 14 of which he scored in the first half. Martel added another 15 points and Trent followed up with 13.

“We’re starting to come together a little bit as a team,” Tudor said. “We’re trying to get from good to great.”

The Vikings visit Thompson Falls on Thursday and will face Florence at home on Saturday, varsity plays at 7 p.m.

Troy 15 14 10 13 — 52

Bigfork 21 21 17 15 — 74

TROY — Craig Helmrich 6, Trinity Rice 3, Adam Tallmadge 2, Gage Tallmadge 19, Brennan Olds 5, Sean Opland 13, Kolten Winebark 4.

BIGFORK — Matt Farrier 2, Adam Jordt 7, Isaac Martel 15, Tyler Piazolla 6, Jonathan Landon 10, Josh Sandry 20, Ryder Trent 13, Garrett Beville 1.

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.