Cats go 2-0 at tip-off tourney

The standings merely mark them as wins, even if they were on the ugly side of the scale. Last weekend the Columbia Falls boys basketball team edged Dillon 33-32 Friday in Ronan and then held off Stevensville 79-70 Saturday in Polson at the Western A tip-off tourney.

The Dillon game was a defensive affair. The Cats gave up 26 turnovers to the Beaver's 17, but out-rebounded them 36-17.

The Cats had a five-point lead with about 10 seconds left, but a technical foul on an elbow by Mitchell Wassam put Dillon on the line to cut the lead to three. The Cats then fouled on an ensuing three-point shot by Dillon, but the Beaver's free throw didn't drop to tie the game with eight-tenths of a second left.

"I wasn't pleased with the way we finished. I thought we lost our composure," coach Cary Finberg said. "It almost cost us."

The Cats were lead by Kaleb Johnson with eight points in the win.

The boys' offense bounced back against Stevi, but three starters had four fouls in the third quarter. Parker Johnson, Devon Rocker, Jake Calderwood and Chris King came off the bench and stepped it up to hold off a Stevi rally.

"All four came in and were huge for us," Finberg said.

Wassam led the scoring with 16 points and Kyle Howell had 15 points, four boards, three assists and no turnovers.

Tim Spencer came off the bench and had eight rebounds and Austin Barth had seven.

The Cats out-rebounded the Yellowjackets 37-19.

The boys face AA Flathead at 6 p.m. Thursday at home and Sentinel at home Saturday at 5 p.m.

They'll both be tough tests for the Cats. In early polls, Sentinel is the top team in the Western AA.

"We have a long ways to go before we get to where we want to be," Finberg said. However, playing AA teams early on is a good way to judge one's progress.

"These are the games we want to play," he said.

The player-of-the-week honors went to Barth. In the two games, he was 9 for 12 from the field, with 19 points, 15 rebounds, and six blocks.

There were no JV games, but the freshmen played Cut Bank and Browning. The frosh player of the week was Dyllon Parker, who had 16 points in a 74-58 loss to Browning and 33 points in a 65-64 win against Cut Bank, including eight three-pointers.