Girls stifled by Polson's defense, fall to 3-5 in conference

Hungry Horse News

Just when it appeared the Columbia Falls girls basketball team's offense was heating up, Polson's pressure defense came along.

The Pirates harassed the Wildkats into shooting just 26 percent as Columbia Falls lost 43-37 on Saturday at Polson. The Wildkats are now 8-8 overall and 3-5 in the Northwestern A conference.

Columbia Falls was coming off one of its finest offensive performances of the season, a 63-62 win at Whitefish.

"A lot of people were coming up to me saying, 'How do you score 63 points in one game and 37 in the next,'" coach Kris Salonen said. "Polson plays an aggressive man-to-man defense that takes our guards out of the offense."

Only four Wildkats scored. Bekah Stoltz led the team with 15 points. The other scorers were Danielle Herman (10), Jenna Toole (8) and Jessica Boyer (4).

Boyer was the only Columbia Falls guard to score.

The reason for that was Polson's guards. They are quick and talented, especially senior Strohm Fouty. Fouty gets into passing lanes and can easily steal a lazy pass or dribble.

Polson's guards were tough offensively, too. Jenn Orchard hit four 3-pointers and led the team with 18 points. Fouty added seven points.

It was Columbia Falls' second loss of the season against Polson.

Despite their poor offense, the Wildkats hung with the Pirates for much of Saturday's game and trailed just 23-21 at the half.

Polson pulled ahead as they outscored Columbia Falls 10-5 in the third period. At one point the Pirates led by 10.

"We just couldn't buy a bucket," Salonen said. "It was just one of those days."

The Wildkats played better in the fourth quarter, outscoring Polson 11-10, but it wasn't enough to win.

With two games left before divisionals, Columbia Falls stands fifth in the conference. Salonen said her team will probably take fourth or fifth. The top-two conference teams get a first-round bye in the divisional tournament.

The Wildkats play at 7:30 tonight (Feb. 17) at home against Bigfork. Then they play at 5 p.m. Saturday at Ronan.

Salonen said both of those teams will at least play a half-court pressure defense, meaning the Wildkats offense will have to be better than Saturday for them to win.

In other action, the junior varsity team lost 42-38 at Polson Saturday. The freshmen lost 39-36 against Polson Monday.

Polson 43, Columbia Falls 37

Columbia Falls 12 9 5 11 37

Polson 7 16 10 10 43