Cats end regular season on a high note

They saved the best for last.

The Columbia Falls boys basketball team thumped Ronan 75-60, to take first in the Northwestern A Division with a record of 8-2 in league and 15-3 overall.

"It was probably our best game of the year from start to finish," said coach Cary Finberg. "They did a nice job of getting on a roll. We had a lot of contributors who played unselfishly both defensively and offensively."

Kevin Boyer led the scoring with 23, followed by Anthony Minson, 19, Drew Perry, 14, J.D. Fields, 10, Justin Heinrichs, six, Guy Smith, two, and Jace Ladenburg, one.

Perry also had four steals and was 3-for-3 from the three-point line.

"That was Drew's overall best game of the season," Finberg said. "He did a good job of setting up his teammates, and that's key because so much of the defensive attention goes to him."

Boyer had three steals and seven rebounds, Minson had six rebounds, and Ladenburg had five. Boyer was also 9-for-15 in shooting and Minson was 9-for-14.

The Cats will face the winner of the Bigfork-Ronan game at 2:30 p.m. in Ronan. If they win that game, it's on to the championship game Saturday night (see bracket). Only the top two go to state this year. But a team can lose a game early on and still make it to the state tourney.

Under tourney rules, if you win the consolation final, and you haven't been beaten by a the second-place team, a challenge game is played.

The bottom line? Win two games and you're assured a trip to Butte.

Finberg said having a bye is nice. The Northwestern Division has been a squeaker all season long, and a bye is as good as a win.

Plus, the Cats seem to like the Ronan gym. They played well there Saturday night, and they played well there last year as well, when they took second for a state berth.

They lost to Stevensville in the final, 38-37.

Finberg said it didn't matter to him who the Cats played in the first round. Bigfork has been troublesome all year long-both times the Cats beat them in the final seconds, and earlier this year Ronan took them to overtime.

It should make for a great tournament. So gas up the car and head for Ronan.

In other season-ending scores, the JV team beat Ronan 52-42. They finished 9-1 in conference and 15-3 overall. The froshmores were 10-0 in conference and 16-2 overall.

Columbia Falls 75, Ronan 60

Columbia Falls 13 23 14 25 - 75

Ronan 16 8 15 21 - 60

Final season standings

Northwestern A

League Overall

W L W L

Columbia Falls 8 2 15 3

Libby 7 3 12 6

Polson 6 4 9 9

Ronan 5 5 10 8

Bigfork 4 6 8 10

Whitefish 0 10 0 18