Boys look to make history at state

The Columbia Falls boys basketball team will look to repeat at the state Class A tournament in Bozeman this week.

Like the Wildkats last week, the Wildcats will open the tournament against Butte Central at the Brick Breeden Field House on the Montana State University campus on Thursday at 2 p.m.

Butte Central (13-8) is the second seed from the Southwestern division and is led by senior Marcus Ferriter, who averages more than 19 points a game. He’s coming off a 31-point performance against Hamilton in a challenge game to lead the Maroons to a state berth.

Coach Cary Finberg knows the Cats have their work cut out for them.

“The boys team is trying to do something that is very difficult — win two titles in a row,” he said. “Everyone is going to give you their best shot.”

But the Cats have won back-to-back titles in the past — in 2005 and 2006.

The Cats appear to be peaking at the right time. They hammered the competition at the Northwest divisional tournament and have been playing much better team basketball down the stretch. They’re led in scoring by senior Ty Morgan, who averages almost 19 points a game but more importantly shoots nearly 90 percent from the free throw line.

Last year at the state tourney, Morgan’s free throws iced more than one game for the Wildcats.

Jayce Fagerland is also shooting extremely well for the Cats, averaging more than 11 points per game, most of which come from beyond the three-point arc. Fagerland often gets overlooked by opponents, which makes him all the more dangerous.

The two Grants — Wallace and Stenger — will also need to play key roles. Stenger leads the league in blocks, and Wallace shoots about 66 percent from the floor. Point guard Trevor Houston is also playing excellent basketball heading into the tournament, with a stellar turnover to assist ratio in the Northwest tourney.

If the Cats can get by Butte Central, they’ll face the winner of the Belgrade-Laurel game. Get by one of them and the Cats could very well find themselves in a rematch with Dillon — the team they beat to take the state title last year.