POLSON - Unbeaten no more.

Top-ranked Columbia Falls, which escaped with a 33-31 victory over

Libby on Friday, fell to Polson 59-52 on Saturday in Northwestern A

boys basketball action.

Columbia Falls (13-1 overall, 4-1 league) could not overcome two

sluggish middle quarters to stay perfect on the season.

The Wildcats managed to close within five points in the fourth

quarter, but never got any closer.

"We played zone, packed it in a little bit," Polson coach Brad Pluff said.

"We wanted them to try and beat us from outside. They had a little

trouble shooting tonight."

Polson (11-5, 5-1) was led by Louis Mohr's 18 points. Sheldon Fisher added 13.

Fisher had four treys in the contest and Mohr three. The Pirates were

10 of 22 shooting from behind the arc.

The Pirates, who have won five-straight games, did struggle at the

free throw line in the fourth quarter, hitting just 7 of 14 shots.

Nick Emerson tossed in 15 points to pace Columbia Falls. Chris King

was next with 11.

Polson outscored Columbia Falls 34-13 in the middle two quarters.

Polson lost Vince DiGiallonardo to an ankle injury early in the second quarter.

"They're the best team in the state," Pluff said of the Wildcats.

"It was our best effort of the season."

Columbia Falls beat Polson three times last year.

Columbia Falls 17 8 5 22 - 52

Polson 15 16 13 15 - 59

COLUMBIA FALLS - Devyn Rocker 6, Nick Emerson 15, Chris King 11,

Parker Johnson 7, Austin Barth 4, Kaleb Johnson 9.

POLSON - Tyler Krell 10, Kyle Bagnell 9, Zach Camel 4, Sheldon Fisher

13, Cody Fischer 5, Louis Mohr 18.

Missoula Hellgate 56, Flathead 44

MISSOULA - Missoula Hellgate held off a late charge by Flathead to

claim a Western AA victory.

Mike VanArendonk scored 10-straight points for the Braves in a 2 1/2

minutes stretch with less than four minutes to play to get FHS within

four, 47-43.

But Hellgate's Jesse Ginn, who led all scorers with 22 points,

rebounded a missed free throw by Mitchell Hall for a basket and a

49-43 Hellgate lead with 1:23 showing. The Knights then used free

throws, sinking 5 of 6, to put the game away.

VanArendonk finished with 13 points to pace Flathead (7-6 overall, 3-3 league).

Hellgate, ranked No. 3, led 26-18 at the break.

The Knights (11-4, 7-1) bounced back from Tuesday's 53-51 last-second

loss to Glacier.

Flathead hosts Missoula Sentinel on Friday.

Flathead 13 5 13 13 - 44

Hellgate 15 11 14 16 - 56

FLATHEAD - Ian Gillespie 2-3 1-2 6, George Sherwood 1-11 0-0 2, Scotty

Keller 4-5 1-2 9, Joe Pistorese 3-9 0-0 7, Mike VanArendonk 4-8 4-5

13, Matt McLean 1-4 0-0 3, Garth West 1-3 0-0 2, Shea Schroeder 1-1

0-0 2. Totals 17-44 5-9 44.

MISSOULA HELLGATE - Connor Woodill 2-6 1-4 6, Zach Peevey 3-10 0-0 6,

Jesse Ginn 8-10 6-9 22, Ben Hartmann 2-7 0-0 5, Cody Oliver 2-5 2-2 6,

Kramer Ungaretti 1-2 0-0 2, Mitchell Hall 2-2 1-3 7, Lucas Wittkopp

1-1 0-0 2, Charlie Pew 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-43 10-18 56.

3-point goals - Flathead 4-17 (Gillespie 1-2, VanArendonk 1-2, McLean

1-3, Pistorese 1-6, Sherwood 0-4), Hellgate 4-14 (Hall 2-2, Woodill

1-4, Hartmann 1-6, Oliver 0-2). Rebounds - Flathead 23 (Sherwood 7),

Hellgate 28 (Woodill 7, Ginn 7, Wittkopp 7). Fouls - Flathead 11,

Hellgate 9. Steals - Flathead 2 (Schroeder, Sherwood), Hellgate 7

(Hart-mann 2, Ungaretti 2). Blocks - Flathead 2 (Sherwood 2).

Turnovers - Flathead 11, Hellgate 7.

Bigfork 73, Troy 32

TROY - For the second-straight season, Bigfork is perfect in District 7B play.

The Vikings won their 10th league game versus no losses by thumping Troy.

Bigfork (13-4 overall) outscored Troy 45-18 in the second half.

Carter Sorensen had 18 points and five steals for Bigfork, while

Christian Ker had 16 points and eight rebounds. Travis Knoll had a

team-high four assists for the Vikings and Jackson Boese blocked three

shots.

Bigfork wraps up regular-season action at Whitefish on Friday.

Bigfork 15 13 24 21 - 73

Troy 8 6 8 10 - 32

BIGFORK - Carter Sorensen 18, Ian Lorang 10, Colter Trent 8, Evan

Jordt 2, Travis Knoll 3, Austin Jordt 3, Christian Ker 16, Connor

Coleman 2, Kyle Hauns 2, Jackson Boese 7, Dillon Fraley 1.

TROY - Creede Garcia 4, Cory Orr 4, Ryan Rayson 2, Cody Orr 9, Mikey

Ormiston 2, Kody Hoffman 3, Trent Crappy 8.

Libby 43, Ronan 38

RONAN - Libby bounced back from a tough Friday loss at Columbia Falls

(33-31) to down Ronan in a Northwestern A contest.

Garrett Craig led the Loggers (8-7, 3-3) in scoring with 13 points.

Libby 11 5 12 15 - 43

Ronan 8 7 11 12 - 38

LIBBY - Cree Maloney 5, Kelly May 6, Garrett Craig 13, Alex Cislo 9,

James Hare 9, Dan Webster 1.

RONAN - Jarod Tanner 7, Justin Dustybull 13, Kevin Wroblewski 11,

Lucas Black 3, Marcus Hungerford 2, Brady Oakland 2.

Eureka 63, Plains 56

EUREKA - Tanner Blankers scored 11 of his game-high and season-high 24

points in the third quarter, helping Eureka knock off Plains in a

District 7B matchup.

Blankers hit three big treys in the third period as Eureka outscored

Plains 24-18.

Chris Ibach finished with 16 points, Bryton Guckenberg added 11 and

Tanner Peterson totaled 10 for the Lions.

"It was our best team effort by far," Eureka coach Chad Dunn said.

"Four guys scored, three got in double figures.

"Chris Ibach has been struggling, but he broke that by coming up with 16."

Eureka (4-12, 4-5) plays at Polson on Thursday, then finishes up with

Troy on Saturday at home.

Plains 14 16 18 8 - 56

Eureka 18 7 24 14 - 63

PLAINS - Brandyn Smith 5, Carson Lilja 8, Rob Earhert 2, Andrew Baker

9, Jeff Revier 13, Taylor Firestone 17, Tanner Osterm 2.

EUREKA - Tanner Peterson 10, Tanner Blankers 24, Mark Good 2, Chris

Ibach 16, Bryton Guckenberg 11.

Girls

Columbia Falls 45, Polson 40

COLUMBIA FALLS - Kayla DeWit scored 23 points and Jonna Werner added

eight as the Columbia Falls Wildkats (5-0) defeated Polson in a battle

of the top teams in Northwestern A.

"I thought the girls played real hard. Polson is a solid team. Our

defense stopped their shooter, Breanne Kelley, and defensively we did

the things we needed to do," said Columbia Falls coach Dan Fairbank.

Polson hit a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer to go up 25-24, but the

Wildkats rebuilt a four-point lead in the third quarter, then held the

Pirates at bay the rest of the way.

Polson 8 17 6 9 - 40

Columbia Falls 12 12 11 10 - 45

Polson - Nina Orozco-Charlo 8, Mariah Hamel 2, Breanne Kelley 4, Riley

Kenney 13, Jonna Grant 4, Heidi Rausch 9. Totals 16 6-12.

Columbia Falls - Kayla Stratton 5, Dani Gilley 1, Kayla DeWit 23,

Allie Lampman 2, Hope Burlage 4, Jonna Werner 8, Shaun Rowe 2. Totals

15 13-21.

3-point goals: Polson 2 (Orozco-Charlo 2), Columbia Falls 2 (Stratton

1, DeWit 1). Total fouls: Polson 17, Columbia Falls 13. Fouled out:

McKenzie Banner.

Frenchtown 63, Whitefish 24

FRENCHTOWN - A quick start allowed Frenchtown to cruise to a lopsided

nonconference victory over Whitefish.

Frenchtown, up 22-3 after eight minutes of play, led 38-15 at intermission.

Sarah Lester led Frenchtown, and all scorers, with 26 points.

Simone Craft and Jessica Poe both tallied five points for Whitefish.

Whitefish 3 12 6 3 - 24

Frenchtown 22 16 15 10 - 63

WHITEFISH - Olivia Nagler 2, Ashley Millard 1, Heather Bailey 3,

Olivia Curtiss 1, Jessica Poe 5, Brooke Silliker 3, Simone Craft 5,

Ashlee Brewer 4.

FRENCHTOWN - Jaylynn Garrison 4, Vanessa Stavish 9, Sarah Lester 26,

Britnee Richardson 4, Kayla Blood 5, Jessica Tucker 2, Emma Oostdyk 6,

Abbey Indreland 3, Madison McGuire 4.

Libby 51, Ronan 29

RONAN - Jaime Gilden nearly matched Ronan's team total, scoring 23

points to lift Libby to a Northwestern A victory.

Libby (6-9, 3-3) held a five-point edge after eight minutes of play

and was in charge 26-15 at the half.

Alice Van Gunten scored 12 points for Ronan (0-6, 0-15).

Libby 15 11 13 12 - 51

Ronan 10 5 8 6 - 29

LIBBY - Alysha Martin 11, Jaime Gilden 23, Logan Best 4, Taylor Barton

7, A. Walker 2, Kim Tangen 4.

RONAN - Courtney Clairmont 6, Alice Van Gunten 12, Mariah Cheff 3,

Tailyr Irvine 8.

Plains 38, Eureka 34

EUREKA - Jessica Hanson of Plains sank two free throws with no time

remaining to tie the contest at 30-all and force overtime, then Plains

outscored Eureka 8-4 in the extra session to claim the District 7B

victory.

Hanson finished with seven points.

Eureka's Cassidy Morgan led all scorers with 10 points.

Plains 6 12 6 6 8 - 38

Eureka 5 9 6 10 4 - 34

PLAINS - Melena Sweet 2, Kelsey Beagley 8, Diamond LaDeaux 9, Kayla

Revier 6, Nikki Kunzer 4, Jessica Hanson 7, Ashley Thompson 2.

EUREKA - Alex Holland 4, Mikayla Grove 4, Alex Pecora 3, Brooke

Williams 4, Cassidy Morgan 10, Kendra Chupp 5, Carli Allen 2, Jaimie

Soderling 2.

Bigfork 47, Troy 12

TROY - Bigfork used a 30-0 first-half run to blast Troy in District 7B play.

Caitlin Charlebois scored 15 points for the fourth-ranked Valkyries

(16-1, 10-0). Mallery Knoll was next with 10.

Jackie Pepiot had 10 points for Troy.

Bigfork 21 9 6 11 - 47

Troy 0 0 9 3 - 12

BIGFORK - Mallery Knoll 10, Quinci Paine 3, Taylor Peck 2, Melissa

VanDerveer 2, Caitlin Charlebois 15, Kate Lamm 5, Shelby Scoggins 2,

McKinze Shults 8.

TROY - Jackie Pepiot 10, Jordan Williams 2.