Brackets set for divisional hoops tourney

by Chris Peterson Hungry Horse News
| February 24, 2016 7:56 AM

The Columbia Falls basketball teams will enter the Western A divisional tournament in Butte this week from opposite ends of the spectrum. The girls go in as the team to beat with a 17-1 record and a 6-0 conference mark.

They’ll play Corvallis Thursday at 4:15 p.m. at the Butte Civic Center. Corvallis is the fourth seed in the Southwest and gave the Wildkats a scare Feb. 11, when the Lady Blue Devils had the game tied up until the fourth quarter.

The Kats went on to win, 53-45, after a strong fourth quarter, but it was a reminder the team needs to bring its ‘A’ game to every opponent, regardless of rank.

If the Kats beat Corvallis, they’ll face the winner of the Dillon Whitefish game at 4:45 p.m. Friday. The championship game is 8:30 p.m. Saturday.

If Butte Central makes it through the other side of the bracket, it could prove to be one of the toughest games for the Kats this season. Central is 18-0 overall and 8-0 in conference play.

The Columbia Falls boys will look to finish their season on a high note, as they face Corvallis in the play-in game Wednesday (today) at 11 a.m. The hapless Wildcats have won just three games all season. But they’ve played much better basketball lately, drawing solid play from sophomores Austin Green, Mason Tucker and Matt Morrison in the last three games. That included a home game where they lost to Corvallis by seven, 49-42, in a game they could have won, if they had shot better from the free-throw line. The Cats are playing pretty good defense as of late, but will need to really drum up some offense to have a chance at the tournament. Their leading scorer is senior Nathan Riley, but he needs some help from the younger players to earn a state berth.

Polson is the No. 1 seed from the Northwest and Dillon is the No. 1 seed from the Southwest. If the Cats get by Corvallis, they’d face Dillon Thursday at 2:30 p.m.

The top four teams advance to the state tournament. The boys state A tourney is in Missoula March 3-5, the girls tournament is the following week in Belgrade.