Wildcats win fifth straight conference title

Five in a row, baby. The Columbia Falls boys basketball team downed the Frenchtown Broncs 64-54 to win the Northwest Class A divisional title Feb. 23 in Ronan.

The Wildcats dropped Polson 51-40 the night before to make it to the championship.

Senior Luke Kazlauskas had a huge tournament, scoring 16 against Polson and 18 against Frenchtown to lead the Cats. He also had six rebounds, three assists, four steals and four blocks against the Pirates and nine rebounds, three assists and three steals against the Broncs.

The Cats were down at the half by four points in the final game after Frenchtown dropped 21 in the second quarter. But they ratcheted up their defense in the second half and got great bench play from Ty Morgan, Trevor Houston and Nakia Alexander as they out scored the Broncs 42-26.

Point guard Alex Presnell was 14-of-16 from the line in the tourney. Jared Trinastich had nine points, 11 rebounds, six assists and four blocks against Frenchtown.

“These were typical tournament games,” coach Cary Finberg said. “They played very hard, and we had contributions from a lot of different players. We achieved what we wanted to achieve.”

It was Columbia Falls’ fifth straight divisional tournament championship. The boys have two weeks of practice before heading down to Billings for the state tournament March 7, where they face Laurel.

Finberg said the bench played a big role in giving the team energy down the stretch. Earlier this season, they had games with a scoring drought that could be the difference in the game. Now they’re getting important contributions from Morgan, Houston and Alexander.

The state bracket looks to be tough, but Finberg said they can’t worry about it.

“All eight teams that get there are dangerous,” he said. “We’re happy to be there, and our focus is on that first game.”

The Cats had more to lose than Frenchtown, which also advanced to the state tournament. The Broncs beat Whitefish in the semifinal, 57-53. If the Cats had lost the game, they would have had to face the Whitefish Bulldogs in a challenge game.

Frenchtown 7 21 12 14 – 54

Col. Falls 13 9 20 22 – 64

FRENCHTOWN – Matt Price 17, John Chapman 12, Bridger Truett 10, Kyle Cyr 6, Daniel Lebsock 6, Andrew Honken 3. Totals 17 14-24 54.

COLUMBIA FALLS – Luke Kazlauskas 18, Alex Presnell 15, Jared Trinastich 9, Ty Morgan 8, Colin King 4, Trevor Houston 3, Austin Martin 3, Nakia Alexander 2, Jayce Fagerland 2. Totals 17 28-37 64.

3-point goals – Frenchtown 6, Columbia Falls 2. Total fouls – Frenchtown 25, Columbia Falls 21. Fouled out – Lebsock, Morgan. Rebounds – Frenchtown 16 (Truett 7), Columbia Falls 18 (Trinastich 9). Turnovers – Frenchtown 15, Columbia Falls 7.

Polson 7 14 9 10 — 40

Columbia Falls 4 18 17 12 — 51

POLSON — Cedrick Smith 14, Hayden Congdon 11, Riley Sampson 7, Derek Peel 4, Andrew Weltz 2, Will Davey 2.

COLUMBIA FALLS — Luke Kazlauskas 16, Trevor Houston 7, Austin Martin 7, Alex Presnell 7, Ty Morgan 7, Jared Trinastich 6, Colin King 1.