Girls battle back to .500

Slowly, but surely, they're righting the ship. The Columbia Falls girls basketball team had a solid week, dropping Class B Eureka last Thursday 56-39 and Libby 54-44 Friday.

Kesley DeWit had 22 points and 20 rebounds against the Lions while her sister Kayla had 17 points. The roles reversed against Libby as Kayla scored 22 and Kelsey had 17. Shay Grilley chipped in seven against the Loggers and Brooke Cady had six against the Lions.

Libby made it interesting down the stretch. With about a minute left, the Loggers managed to cut the lead to five after forcing a couple of Kat turnovers. But the Kats answered with some tough defense and stretched the lead back to 10 in the closing seconds.

"Kelsey in particular really stepped it up (this weekend)," coach Dan Fairbank said. Against Eureka Kelsey also had four steals, six blocks, three assists and just one turnover. Against Libby she had 17 boards, four steals, one block and two assists.

"She had a monster of a weekend."

The Kats shot 46 percent from the field against Libby, but turned the ball over 27 times. The girls still need to take care of the ball better, Fairbank noted.

The girls are now 4-4 overall and face Ronan at home Friday night and Whitefish here Saturday. Gametimes are 7 p.m. and 6 p.m. respectively.

Fairbank said the girls can't look at team records as a gauge, though Ronan has just one win and Whitefishhas none.

The cross-valley rivalry between the Dogs and Kats always brings out the best in both teams, Fairbank noted. The Kats will be taking nothing for granted as they look to go 3-0 in conference play.