Columbia Falls enjoyed its best shooting night of the season as the Wildcats stormed to a 22-8 first-quarter lead en route to an 80-41 Northwestern Conference boys basketball victory over Bigfork last Friday in the CFHS gym.

The Wildcats and three other teams have two Northwestern A losses near the middle of the league season. Whitefish is 5-2, Libby and Polson both 4-2, and Columbia Falls 3-2. Ronan is 1-4, and Bigfork is 0-5. CFHS is 8-4 overall.

CFHS plays today (Thursday) at Libby, then hosts Polson in another conference game Saturday.

The Cats shot 63 percent from the field in the win over Bigfork, making 31 of 49 shots — their second straight game over 60 percent.

A 21-point lead was cut to 11 by the Vikings, but the Cats went on a 12-2 run to lead 45-24 at halftime.

“Right from the start we kind of took control,” Cats head coach Cary Finberg said. “Give our kids credit for being ready to play.”

The Cats had a lot of success scoring in the lane.

“We’re trying to play inside out,” Finberg  said, “focusing on getting the ball inside more. Our outside percentage is better. We’re getting better shots. We’re sharing the ball better and because of it we’re a lot more efficient.”

Four Cats scored in double figures, led by Wassam, a junior who had his best game of the season. He led the Cats in scoring with 15 points, rebounds with nine and steals with three.

Wassam was 7-for-9 from the field.

Howell added 12 points, Nolan had 11 and Austin Robbins 10. Grant Getts and Michael Williams had eight apiece. Howell grabbed five rebounds, Getts dished out five assists and Tanner Barth had three steals.

BIGFORK (41)

Lael Richmond 0 1-2 1, Garrett Pewe 2 1-1 5, Brock Boll 4 0-0 8, Jake Milner 4 2-7 10, Scott Taylor 5 3-6 13, Keenan Evans 1 0-2 2, Donny Tudahl 1 0-0 2. Totals 17 7-18 41.

COLUMBIA FALLS (80)

Kyle Howell 5 0-0 12, Tanner Barth 2 0-0 5, Matt Triplett 1 4-5 6, Mackey Nolan 5 1-1 11, Austin Robbins 4 2-3 10, Austin Barth 0 0-0 0, Mitchell Wassam 7 0-0 15, Kaleb Johnson 0 3-6 3, Grant Getts 3 2-4 8, Michael Williams 3 0-0 8. Totals 31 12-19 80.

Bigfork    8    16    7    10 — 41

Columbia Falls    22    23    24    11 — 80

3-point goals: Howell 2, T. Barth, Wassam, Williams 2. Total fouls: Bigfork 15, Columbia Falls 18. Fouled out: none.