Kats claw past Loggers

The Columbia Falls girls basketball team won their third straight Northwest A Divisional Title in convincing fashion last week. The Kats dropped Whitefish 37-26 Friday and held off Libby 46-37 in the title game at Ronan High School.

Kayla DeWit led the Kats with 18 points and 17 rebounds in the title game and sophomore Hope Burlage had nine points, hitting several key free throws in the fourth quarter to ice the game. Senior point guard Dani Gilley had a solid game too, with four steals, nine assists and six points.

“We hit our first six shots against Libby,” coach Dan Fairbank said. The scoring barrage helped give the girls an early lead that they never relinquished.

Fairbank said the season’s been a very pleasant surprise and he was pleased with the team’s efforts.

“I didn’t envision a 10-0 run in the conference,” he said. “The girls did a nice job.”

The Loggers made it to the finals after they upset favored Polson Friday night, 29-27. The Kats face Belgrade at 8 p.m. Thursday night in Belgrade to open the state tournament. Belgrade lost to Butte Central 52-38 in the Central A title game, but they’ll have the home court advantage against the Kats, provided they can find an answer for DeWit, who’s been averaging 19.88 points per game and 11 rebounds on the season.

Burlage has also improved her play over the course of the season and senior Dani Gilley has been playing excellent defense while keeping turnovers on the offensive end in check.

Fairbank expects Belgrade to play man-to-man defense. On the offense end, he said the girls will modify their zone to get out on the Belgrade shooters.

The tournament is anyone’s to win.

“It comes down to whoever shows up to play,” Fairbank said.

The tournament scheduling leaves something to be desired.

Both boys and girls tournaments ended up on the same weekend because the The Metra in Billings, which was originally the host of the boys finale, was damaged by a tornado last summer.

As a result, the boys tournament was moved to Bozeman, but on the same weekend as the girls, a move that didn’t please Fairbank — there’s a possibility that both teams could play on the same night and games could overlap one another.

For example, if both teams win their first game, the following Friday night games are 6:30 p.m. for the girls and 8 p.m. for the boys. Add in travel time between Belgrade and Bozeman and fans will miss at least some of the boys’ game.

If both teams make it to the championship, the times are exactly the same — 8 p.m.

Libby 10 8 10 9 - 37

Col. Falls 16 10 16 4 - 46

LIBBY - Jaime Gilden 19, Logan Best 14, Alysha Martin 3, Kim Tangen 1. Totals 12 5-10 37.

COLUMBIA FALLS - Kayla DeWit 16, Hope Burlage 12, Dani Gilley 6, Jonna Werner 6, Shaun Rowe 4, Allie Lampman 2. Totals 19 8-18 46.

Whitefish 4 7 8 7 - 26

Col. Falls 9 11 12 5 - 37

WHITEFISH - Brooke Silliker 12, Shannon Craft 4, Simone Craft 3, Olivia Curtiss 2, Olivia Nagler 2, Taylor Havens 2, Ashley Millard 1. Totals 9-35 4-9 26.

COLUMBIA FALLS - Kayla DeWit 16, Hope Burlage 11, Dani Gilley 5, Allie Lampman 3, Jonna Werner 1, Shaun Rowe 1. Totals 14-25 8-17 37.