Krown the 'Kats
By JOSEPH TERRY
The Daily Inter Lake
BUTTE — Columbia Falls played like champions, crushing Hardin 73-50 in the Class A state girls basketball championship game on Saturday night at Butte Civic Center.
The Wildkats (23-1) left little doubt, breaking down Hardin’s (22-2) pressure defense to get a bevy of clean looks throughout the game. Columbia Falls was also stingy on defense, at one point holding the Bulldogs scoreless nearly six minutes in the second half in what was a 20-3 run to turn the contest into a rout.
Hardin opened the game on fire, making the first three shots to take an 8-0 lead less than three minutes in. However, there was little panic on the Wildkats side, despite the raucous Hardin fans filling the barn with deafening sound.
“We took deep breaths, showed some leadership and got it done,” Wildkats senior Kiara Burlage said.
“The 8-0 lead was nothing to me. I knew that we had it in our hearts that we were going to win and nothing was going to stop us from getting it.”
Columbia Falls answered with a 9-0 run of its own, breaking the Hardin press for a pair of transition layups and capped by a 3-pointer from junior Dani Douglas. The Wildkats closed the first quarter on a 22-7 run, taking a seven-point lead after eight minutes.
“I knew when we started hitting that we were going to take the lead and continue from there on,” Douglas said.
The advantage grew to 13 points midway through the second, with Columbia Falls opening the quarter on a 9-3 run.
Hardin responded after a short timeout to stem the momentum as Bulldogs senior Madisan Chavez hit a pair of 3-pointers to start a 12-4 run, cutting the lead to 35-30.
Burlage ended any momentum ahead of half, however, forcing the pressing Bulldogs to foul on a heave at the buzzer. A pair of free throws gave Columbia Falls a 37-30 advantage at halftime and ended the last sustained push Hardin would make.
The Wildkats kept breaking the press and getting the ball to the paint at the start of the third quarter, hitting six straight free throws to answer a Hardin 3.
Columbia Falls ratcheted up its defense further midway through the quarter, holding Hardin scoreless for the final five minutes of the third while continuing to push the ball past the press for easy buckets. The Wildkats scored seven points in transition and closed the third on a 12-0 run.
The Wildkats continued their onslaught in the fourth, opening the quarter on an 10-4 run with a steady diet of layups.
“The clock is our friend at that point,” Wildkats coach Cary Finberg said. “We said, a backdoor or penetration is going to open up, just have some patience. They worked some time, got some layups and it just extended from there.”
With Hardin forced to foul late to extend the game, Columbia Falls made 6 of 8 free throws down the stretch, extending its lead to 26 points before a late flourish from the Bulldogs narrowed the final score.
Peyton Kehr led Columbia Falls with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Burlage had 19 points and Douglas 16 points in the win.
Chavez led Hardin with 22 points.
“This is the feeling we’ve been waiting for all four years,” Kehr said. “We’ve been so close and it just feels so amazing.”
“I can’t even explain it honestly,” Burlage said. “It’s a dream come true.”
It is the first girls basketball state title for the Wildkats since winning the Class AA championship in 1983. It is the sixth state title for Finberg after five titles with the Columbia Falls boys. The girls have been close before, finishing second last year and third each of the two years before that.
“It feels like the first boys championship,” Finberg said. “It really does. This is special for this group of kids and it’s special for the girls that played last year and the years before. Those girls layed the groundwork for this team to get it done. The experience our girls had the previous four years was huge tonight.”
Championship Game
Columbia Falls 22 15 18 18 — 73
Hardin 15 15 6 14 — 50
Columbia Falls: Dani Douglas 16, Cydney Finberg 9, Peyton Kehr 22, Kiara Burlage 19, Sydney Hovde 4, Haylie Peacock 2, Trista Cowan 1.
Hardin: Madisan Chavez 22, Sharmayne Hardy 7, Trahnea Phelan 5, Aubrey Meiwald 10, Ivery Fritzler 1, Mashaya Alden 5.
Consolation Final
Corvallis 9 10 10 12 — 41
Butte Central 17 18 17 8 — 60
Corvallis: Penny Jessop 6, Calla Haldorson 4, Emme Warnken 14, Croinne Sanderson 6, Genesis Keith 5, Lainie Albright 3, Tayler Wright 3.
Butte Central: Kloie Thatcher 10, Mollie Peoples 12, Emily St. John 21, Tricia Joyce 4, Caleigh Mullaney 2, Olivia Bolton 7, Bella Sorini 2, Emma Keeley 2.
Loser-Out Games
Corvallis 9 8 13 17 — 47
Havre 13 9 2 13 — 37
Corvallis: Penny Jessop 7, Calla Haldorson 7, Emme Warnken 10, Corinne Sanderson 16, Genesis Keith 2, Steffani Stoker 2, Lainie Albright 3.
Havre: Ceyara Wright 6, Kyndall Keller 12, Naomi Terry 17, Danielle Wallace 2.
Butte Central 17 12 11 14 — 54
Belgrade 9 6 9 16 — 40
Butte Central: Kloie Thatcher 18, Mollie Peoples 11, Emily St. John 13, Tricia Joyce 3, Olivia Bolton 6, Bella Sorini 3.
Belgrade: Shania Neubauer 8, Kiah Hohenstein 11, Krista Brown 6, Hannah Gee 8, Samantha Flikkema 1, Ashley Sendon 4, McKayla Carlson 2.