Kats go 1-2 at state tournament

The Columbia Falls girls ended their season by going 1-2 at state. They opened the tournament last Thursday with a loss to eventual champion Billings Central 64-52.

The Kats could have packed it in, but beat Frenchtown in loser out action Friday 46-41. Defending champ Anaconda proved too tough for the girls Saturday morning, and the Kats lost 62-48.

Junior Kayla DeWit led the scoring against Billings Central and Frenchtown, with 25 and 20 points respectively. She also had 18 and 15 rebounds in the first two games. Her sister, senior Kelsey, had 16 against Billings Central and Frenchtown and led the Kats with 17 against Anaconda. The sisters accounted for 76 percent of the Kats' offense in the tournament.

Kelsey DeWit has already signed to play with Montana Tech in Butte this fall.

In the opener the Kats kept the game close deep into the fourth quarter. A couple of times they were down by just four points, but each time the Kats just couldn't close the gap or would have a costly turnover.

Against Frenchtown the Kats struggled with turnovers once again, particularly in the first half. Even so, they had a lead 20-17 after the first half. Frenchtown had a one-point lead in the fourth with 2:46 left to play, but the Kats battled back and Frenchtown made some costly fouls in the closing two minutes that the Kats converted at the line to pull away for the win.

The girls finished the year 15-8 overall.

"We played well," said coach Dan Fairbank of the tournament. "We just didn't play great. I was proud of the girls, they worked their butts off."

Fairbank noted that the worst game they played they won. They had 28 turnovers against Frenchtown, he said.

Billing Central won the tournament, knocking off Sidney 50-42. Anaconda took third, beating Havre 41-33.

The Kats should have a solid team next year. Kayla returns as does junior point guard Dani Gilley and junior forward Jonna Werner.

In season-ending honors, Brooke Cady and Ashli Fairbank were named honorable mention all conference, Gilley and Shay Grilley were named second team all conference. Kelsey and Kayla DeWit were named first team all conference and first team all state.