Girls notch two victories, face Pirates, Vals

The Columbia Falls girls basketball team grabbed a couple of wins last week. At home Jan. 24, the Wildkats edged Class B Eureka 40-31 and then on Jan. 26 against Libby, they downed the Loggers 53-35.

Eureka gave the Wildkats all they could handle and had a 20-19 halftime advantage.

"I don't think we played as aggressively as we needed to," coach Cary Finberg said.

But the Kats played a much better second half, and Haley Belgarde won the battle of the boards, dropping in 14 points.

The Kats took an early lead 17-8 against the hapless Loggers for an easy Class A victory a couple of nights later. Belgarde had 14 in that game, too.

Senior Madison Sandefer is playing well. She had eight points against the Lions and 10 against Libby.

Finberg said her consistent play is leading the team.

"We need to get more girls to follow her lead," he said.

The girls (4-9, 2-3) host Bigfork at home Thursday and then travel to Polson on Saturday. The last time the Kats played the Pirates, the game went into overtime.