Cats edged by Wolfpack, pound Bulldogs

In the span of a couple of days, the Columbia Falls boys basketball team had one of its worst games of the year and then one of its best.

The Wildcats narrowly lost to the Glacier Wolfpack 47-46 at home Jan. 15 and then turned around and clobbered Whitefish two days later at home, 73-40.

The Cats had plenty of chances to beat the Class AA Wolfpack, but suffered a slew of costly turnovers down the stretch.

The Cats led by two at the break, but Glacier took the lead for good when it hit two three-pointers in the fourth with three and half minutes left to go, up 45-41. The Cats then cut it to 45-43. Glacier had two big turnovers as time wound down, but the Cats turned the ball over themselves with poorly timed passing.

The Wolfpack went up 47-43 with three seconds left. Ty Morgan hit a three on the ensuing possession at the buzzer to bring it within one.

Jayce Fagerland led the Cats with 14. Ty Morgan had 13.

“I thought we played hard and competed, but we didn’t execute,” coach Cary Finberg said.

The Cats righted the ship in a big way against their cross-valley rival, hammering Whitefish 73-40 in a fine defensive performance. The Cats forced 25 Whitefish turnovers and out rebounded the Bulldogs, which were actually bigger than Columbia Falls, 43-20.

Fagerland had 19, and Morgan had 22 in the lopsided contest. Grant Stenger had his best game of the year, scoring 15 with 14 rebounds.

“I was happy the way we bounced back,” Finberg said. “Defensively we came out with a purpose.”

The Cats are now 9-2 overall. They face Flathead away Friday night at 7:30 p.m. and then Frenchtown on the road Saturday at 5:30 p.m.

Frenchtown is a tough team. The last time the Cats faced them, it was a good game, with the Cats edging the Broncs 63-56.