Cats' win 'almost perfect'

Unheard -of 30-5 run catapults Columbia Falls to victory over the Whitefish Bulldogs

COLUMBIA FALLS - In the team's last Northwestern A game in front of the home crowd this season, the Wildcats wanted to put on a show.

Mission accomplished.

The Columbia Falls faithful saw a bit of everything in Thursday night's match-up - a shot getting stuck between the rim and the backboard, a technical foul off a little-known inbounds rule - and a whole lot of points on the scoreboard.

Thanks to a game-high 19 points from senior guard Kevin Boyer, and double-figures scoring from three others, the Wildcats won going away, 75-51.

"The win was almost perfect," said Boyer, who added six rebounds, six assists and three steals. "It was our last conference game at home; it's nice to go out on top."

Of course, the Cats have been on top since conference play began in December. Thursday's win was the team's 10th straight, as they improved their record to 12-2. They're an unblemished 7-0 in Northwestern A.

C-Falls was sharp from the get-go as Boyer found senior Nick Beckwith (10 points, 5 boards) under the basket for the game's first points. Beckwith returned the favor on the next possession, kicking out to Boyer who nailed his first 3-pointer to give the team a 5-0 lead. The next time up the floor, Boyer again found Beckwith for a layup, and the Cats were off and running.

"We've been working on going from inside-out," Boyer said. "It's always easier to get things going when you throw it inside."

Beckwith agreed.

"Once we get our passing going, everything seems to fall into place," he said.

Despite falling behind 11-2 early, the Bulldogs refused to lay down. They managed to close the gap to 13-10 on a basket from Mike McCracken, and took a 20-18 lead when Colt Idol (12 points) hit a 3 with 5:51 left in the first half.

However, the lead was their first, and only, on the night as Columbia Falls proceeded to rattle off a 30-5 run to turn a two-point deficit into a 48-25 advantage. Boyer closed the run by nailing his third and final trey of the contest with 4:30 left in the third quarter.

McCracken labored to keep his team in the game by pounding the glass and busting his tail inside. The senior led the team with 13 points, along with fellow senior Sam Penzi.

"Mike is a blue-collar guy; he's always going to work hard inside," Whitefish coach Derek Schulz said. "That's the type of team we are - we're never going to give up."

But the effort and heart the Bulldogs showed was nothing compared with the dogged determination the Cats had to avoid losing on their home court.

"Once they took the lead we were like, 'That's enough,'" Boyer said. "We're not used to being down, and when it happens we don't like it."

According to Cats coach Cary Finberg, it came down to a simple matter of getting back to the game plan.

"We got a lead, then we quit working the ball inside and we lost focus," Finberg said. "And give credit to Whitefish for battling back.

"But once we started working things back inside, it opened things up for us."

Ten players scored for Columbia Falls, including an 11-point effort from Robbie Dakin and 10 points from Guy Smith.

As good as the Cats have looked over the last six weeks, Finberg feels there's more to come.

"Our goal is to get better every game, and we've managed to do that so far," he said. "I don't think we've peaked yet."

Scary thought.

Columbia Falls is in action tonight at Libby, starting at 7:30. Whitefish (6-8, 3-4 Northwestern A) plays Saturday at Corvallis.

WILDCATS 75. BULLDOGS 51

Whitefish 13 10 13 15 - 51

Columbia Falls 18 14 28 15 - 75

Whitefish - Kenny Overcast 0 1-2 1, Sam Penzi 6 1-2 13, Jake Cummings 1 0-2 3, Luke Fennelly 1 2-2 4, Byron Whitcomb 0 1-2 1, Cody Idol 1 0-2 2, Colt Idol 5 0-0 12, Jamie Clogg 1 0-0 2, Mike McCracken 5 3-8 13. Totals: 20 8-20 51.

Columbia Falls - Chase Fairbank 0 2-2 2, Kevin Boyer 8 0-0 19, Robbie Dakin 2 6-6 11, Dustin Gibson 1 0-0 2, Steffen Anderson 3 2-4 8, Guy Smith 5 0-2 10, Andrew Burgi 2 1-1 6, Chase Grilley 1 0-0 3, Greg Macijunas 2 0-4 4, Nick Beckwith 4 2-5 10. Totals: 28 13-24 75.

3-point goals: Whitefish 3 (Cummings, Colt Idol 2), Columbia Falls 6 (Boyer 3, Dakin, Burgi, Grilley). Total fouls: Whitefish 17, Columbia Falls 19. Technical foul: Whitcomb. Fouled out: none.