Cats take season conference title

The Columbia Falls boys basketball team extended its winning streak to nine games last week, handily beating Ronan and Whitefish.

The Cats went on the road and dropped the Class B Chiefs 50-38 on Feb. 10. The next day, they hammered the Bulldogs 61-49.

The win over the Bulldogs gave Columbia Falls the regular season conference title, the Wildcats' third in a row.

Senior Austin Barth had 19 points and 10 rebounds against the Bulldogs to lead the Cats, but he had plenty of help as well.

Parker Johnson had six points and seven assists, Anthony Correa had 14 points and five rebounds, and Luke Kazlauskas had 10 points and four boards. The Cats also had just 12 turnovers.

The boys had a 21-point lead over the Bulldogs in the second half, but Whitefish cut the lead to seven in the fourth quarter to make it interesting. Then the Cats pulled away late in the quarter.

For the weekend, the Cats were 23-of-29 from the charity stripe.

"We're shooting free throws and defending well," coach Cary Finberg said.

Against Ronan, the Cats built a 26-9 lead. Sophomore Jared Trinastich had 10 points and five rebounds. Barth had eight points and seven blocks. But after the big lead, they also had a big letdown.

"We kind of shut it off and put it in neutral the rest of the game," Finberg said, a development he wasn't too happy about.

But the Cats came back and played hard from start to finish against the Bulldogs.

Columbia Falls (14-3, 7-0) has one more regular season game against Libby, away on Saturday, and they host the Northwest A Divisional Tournament the following week.

Columbia Falls 16 15 3 16 - 50

Ronan 7 8 9 14 - 38

COLUMBIA FALLS - Ronny Gallegos 2, Ty Morgan 3, Luke Kazlauskas 4, Anthony Correa 7, Parker Johnson 9, Brian Marcille 7, Austin Barth 8, Jared Trinastich 10.

RONAN - Carston Baertsch 2, Edmond Dupuis 2, Marcus Hungerford 10, Robert Faoa 2, Marley Tanner 2, Brady Oakland 8, Chris Clary 10, Jalen Bell 2.

Columbia Falls 15 13 19 14 - 61

Whitefish 4 13 16 16 - 49

COLUMBIA FALLS - Alex Presnell 4, Luke Kazlauskas 10, Anthony Correa 14, Parker Johnson 8, Brian Marcille 2, Austin Barth 19, Jared Trinastich 4.

WHITEFISH - Jake Slaybaugh 14, Bryce Wehrli 2, Logan Harwood 4, Gage Vasquez 17, Cooper Olson 4, Jace Kalbfleisch 8.