Cats finish 8-0 in conference

Goodbye conference. Hello playoffs. The Columbia Falls boys basketball team ended their conference record at 8-0 last week, downing Polson away Thursday 67-55.

The Cats end the regular season at 16-2 overall. Mitchell Wassam led the Cats with 15 points, Nick Emerson tallied 14 and Kyle Howell and Michael Williams had 10 apiece. Wassam also went nine for 10 from the line, had three rebounds, three steals and six assists. Emerson also went eight for 10 from the line., with three rebounds and three assists.

Kaleb Johnson, coming off a hand injury, led the team with 10 rebounds.

The Cats held the Pirates to 29 percent shooting.

"That was a very good defensive performance," coach Cary Finberg said. Finberg said the bench played well in the third and fourth quarters, when Howell and Austin Barth both had four fouls. It's the kind of play the team will need in the post season.

Wassam was named player of the week. Frosh player of the week was Dyllon Parker, who had 13 and 18 points respectively in wins against Whitefish and Polson. The frosh ended the year with an 11-7 record. JV player of the week was Anthony Correa, who had 21 points and 13 rebounds in a win against Polson. The JV team went 15-1 on the season.

The Cats open up divisional play Friday night at 6 p.m. at Glacier High School with the winner of the Ronan-Whitefish game.

"If we're prepared and we come in and play our game, we'll be fine," Finberg said.

The top two teams advance to the state tournament in Butte, March 4-6.