Girls edge Pirates, take first
The Columbia Falls girls basketball team took sole possession of first place in the conference last week.
The Kats (7-7, 5-0) dropped Libby Friday night away 53-35 and then had a huge win at home against rival Polson 45-40.
Kayla DeWit led the scoring for the Kats in both games, with 22 against the Loggers and 23 against the Pirates. She also had 10 and 14 rebounds respectively.
“We took care of the ball,” said coach Dan Fairbank. “We did what we needed to do defensively (against Polson) for the most part.”
Polson often double and triple-teamed DeWit, but to no avail. The Kats moved the ball well and were able to get DeWit good looks at the basket, where she threw down her trademark turn-around jumper over and over again. Polson was down by just a point, 41-40 with 45 seconds left in the game, but couldn’t convert.
Jonna Werner also had a solid game against the Pirates, with eight points and Kayla Stratton knocked down a couple of key shots as well to finish the game with five points.
Against the Loggers the Kats shot out to a 13-4 lead in the first quarter and then held the margin.
Dani Gilley had one of her best scoring games of the year with 13 and sophomore Hope Burlage added nine.
Fairbank was particularly pleased with Gilley’s effort last week. Against Libby, she also had seven steals, five rebounds, eight assists and just two turnovers. Against Polson she had eight assists and just one turnover.
The Kats face Ronan at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Whitefish at 6 p.m. Saturday. Both are home games.
“We’re going to work on our offense in both games,” Fairbank said.
Polson 8 17 6 9 - 40
Col. Falls 12 12 11 10 - 45
POLSON - Nina Orozco-Charlo 8, Mariah Hamel 2, Breanne Kelley 4, Riley Kenney 13, Jonna Grant 4, Heidi Rausch 9.
COLUMBIA FALLS - Kayla Stratton 5, Dani Gilley 1, Kayla DeWit 23, Allie Lampman 2, Hope Burlage 4, Jonna Werner 8, Shaun Rowe 2.
Col. Falls 13 15 15 10 - 53
Libby 4 14 7 10 - 35
COLUMBIA FALLS - Dani Gilley 13, Kayla DeWit 22, Hope Burlage 9, Jonna Werner 7, Shaun Rowe 2.
LIBBY - Alysha Martin 5, Jaime Gilden 16, Logan Best 7, Taylor Barton 7.