C-Falls faces Corvallis in Class A State Tournament opener

It makes sense for a basketball team to break down a season into three parts — the regular season, the divisional tournament and state tournament. The team must accomplish goals to be one of the eight teams in its class playing at state.

That third and most important part of the season for the Columbia Falls boys unfolds today (Thursday) at the Class A State Tournament at ExpoPark in Great Falls. The Northwestern A Divisional champion Wildcats square off against Corvallis, the No. 2 team from the Southwest, in the first round at 12:30 p.m. You can catch the action of Wildcats games at state on radio station HANK 95.9 FM.

Defending state champion Browning, the top seed from the Central Divisional, plays Laurel, No. 2 in the East, at 2 p.m. today. The winner faces the Columbia Falls-Corvallis winner in the semfinals at 6:30 p.m. Friday. That winner earns a berth in the championship game at 8 p.m. Saturday.

On the other side of the state bracket the match-ups are Billings Central (1E)-Butte Central (2C) at 6:30 p.m. today, and Dillon (1SW)-Whitefish (2NW) at 8 p.m.

A HOST of 'Cats contributed to the tourney title for C-Falls, but none moreso than senior point guard Mackey Nolan. He averaged 12 points and eight assists per game, and had only four turnovers the entire tournament. He shot 67 percent from the field and 71 percent from the foul line.

"You talk about a tremendous tournament for him," 'Cats head coach Cary Finberg said. "That's a point guard doing his job and doing it efficiently."

Junior Kyle Howell was 5-for-9 on 3-pointers and shot 60 percent from the field. He had only four turnovers.

Another junior, Mitchell Wassam, shot 72 percent and averaged 10 points and seven rebounds a game.

Senior Grant Getts finished at 52 percent from the field and 75 percent from the line, averaging 12 points and eight rebounds a game at divisionals.

"He stepped up and was consistent throughout the tournament," Finberg said of Getts. "To be successful you have to have individuals step up and we had plenty of that."

In his first tournament, freshman Austin Barth was 12-for-15 from the field and averaged nine points and four rebounds a game — playing 12 to 14 minutes a contest.

"For a freshman to come in and play with that poise and put up those kinds of numbers shows you what kind of character he has," the coach said of Barth. "Defensively he made a huge difference in there (the lane)."

Teamwise, C-Falls outrebounded its divisional opponents collectively 89-67.

"We got to the free throw line 68 times and our opponents 39," Finberg said. "That was a weakness of ours during the year. We got to the line and it was a huge difference for us."

CORVALLIS IS a veteran team with four quality guards, according to Finberg. They include seniors Braden Bowles, Matt Smith and Kyle Powers. Anchoring the middle is a formidable senior, 6-foot-7, 240-pound Dalton Sybrant.

"They're an offensive-minded team. They'll want to push it down the floor," Finberg said of the Blue Devils. "It's a matter of who takes care of the ball."

Finberg spoke late in the season about how the 'Cats were struggling, but they have appeared to turn it around — beginning with a collective attitude adjustment.

"The jump we made from the season to the divisional was huge. We have to keep looking forward," the coach said.

NOLAN AND his teammates have had a new focus since winning the divisional tournament.

"Everybody is zero and zero and we took advantage of the fresh start," Nolan said.

Focus at the divisional tournament was to get the ball inside often.

"We're starting to play the way we want to play, inside out instead of outside in," Nolan said. "We have great post players and we want to get them the ball. We shoot a higher percentage when we get the ball inside."

Nolan, Getts, Howell and Wassam talked about the semifinal win over Whitefish at divisionals.

"There was definitely a little revenge and we went out and got it done," Nolan said.

"It was all about revenge and it's been that way all year," Howell said. "They beat us twice and we did what we had to do."

"Playing Whitefish is always a great game," he said, "but revenge was definitely on our mind. We wanted to get back and prove that we were the No. 1 team."

Getts spoke about how the 'Cats turned it around at divisionals.

"To be divisional champion we had to improve on our intensity and I think we did that," Getts said. "You have to be solid on the boards and make less turnovers and less mistakes, and attack and be aggressive."

"We struggled throughout the year but we knew we had it in us," Howell said of winning the divisional title. "We put our game together when it mattered and we're going to keep it rolling"

Howell agreed with Nolan that the offense was determined to get the ball inside to open up the outside shooting.

"We do that and we win games," Howell said.

Wassam was one the 'Cats' leading rebounders at divisionals.

"It was fun. Rebounding is will and desire, and to win you have to crash the boards," Wassam said. "That was our key to winning it all (the divisional title)."

He agrees that the 'Cats have had good balance with inside and outside scoring.

"It's inside first and outside next, and when we're hitting on the outside we're hard to stop," Wassam said.

Wassam said there's a goal in mind this week in Great Falls.

"We have to play together as a team and get out there and get three more wins," he said. "Like it says on our shirts, 'Don't give up, don't ever give up.'"

Getts said coach Finberg drew up a state bracket right after the divisional tournament.

"He told us all we need is to focus on one game at a time and get it done," he said. "I think our team knows what needs to be done now."

DIVISIONAL BOX SCORES

Columbia Falls 69, Ronan 47

RONAN — Mike Fisher 3 3-4 10, Dallas Cordier 4 0-2 10, Justin Dustybull 1 0-0 3, Jay Sorrell 0 0-0 0, Nolan Harris 3 3-5 11, Eddie Ness 2 3-3 7, Kyle Hendrickx 2 1-2 6. Totals 15 10-16 47.

COLUMBIA FALLS — Kyle Howell 5 1-5 13, Tanner Barth 1 2-3 4, Matt Triplett 1 0-0 2, Nick Emerson 0 0-2 0, Mackey Nolan 5 4-6 14, Austin Robbins 1 0-2 2, Austin Barth 5 1-1 11, Mitchell Wassam 4 2-4 10, Kaleb Johnson 0 1-2 1, Grant Getts 3 4-4 10, Michael Williams 1 0-0 2. Totals 26 15-29 69.

Ronan 7 7 14 19 — 47

Columbia Falls 18 12 20 19 — 69

3-point goals: Fisher, Cordier 2, Dustybull, Harris 2, Hendrickx; Howell 2. Total fouls: Ronan 22, Columbia Falls 18. Fouled out: Sorrell; A. Barth.

Columbia Falls 58, Whitefish 53

COLUMBIA FALLS — Howell 3 2-2 10, T. Barth 2 1-2 7, Nolan 1 3-6 5, Robbins 1 1-2 3, A. Barth 3 1-3 7, Wassam 3 0-0 6, Johnson 0 1-2 1, Getts 7 2-3 16, Williams 1 1-2 3. Totals 21 12-22 58.

WHITEFISH — Matt Whitehead 1 0-0 2, Aaron Tkachyk 6 0-0 17, Willie Roche 1 2-2 4, Josh Backer 1 0-1 2, Marc Hotzfield 1 0-0 2, Connor Silliker 2 1-2 5, Colt Idol 5 4-4 14, David FauntLeRoy 3 1-2 7. Totals 20 8-11 53.

Columbia Falls 15 14 10 19 — 58

Whitefish 17 14 11 11 — 53

3-point goals: Howell 2, T. Barth 2; Tkachyk 5. Total fouls: Columbia Falls 14, Whitefish 18. Fouled out: Whitehead; A. Barth.

Columbia Falls 64, Polson 45

COLUMBIA FALLS — Howell 1 0-0 3, T. Barth 0 1-2 1, Triplett 1 0-0 2, Nick Emerson 0 0-2 0, Nolan 6 5-5 17, Robbins 2 0-0 4, A. Barth 3 1-2 7, Wassam 6 1-2 13, Johnson 1 0-0 2, Getts 6 0-1 12, Williams 0 3-4 3. Totals 26 11-18 64.

POLSON — Craig Bagnell 1 0-0 2, Kyle Bagnell 4 2-2 11, Waylon Michel 4 0-0 11, Peter Hansen 0 0-1 0, Tim Rausch 4 6-6 15, Louis Mohr 1 0-0 3, Ryan Kelley 1 0-0 2, Derrick Rathe 0 1-2 1. Totals 14 9-11 45.

Columbia Falls 21 12 16 15 — 64

Polson 12 9 9 15 — 45

3-point goals: Howell; K. Bagnell, Michel 3, Rausch. Total fouls: Columbia Falls 15, Polson 15. Fouled out: none.