The Columbia Falls boys basketball team beat Class B Eureka last week away, but it took them a while to get things going.

The Wildcats downed the Lions 81-58 on Jan. 3, but they had a slow start, with eight first-quarter turnovers and just a six-point lead at the half.

“I didn’t think we played particularly well in the first half,” coach Cary Finberg said.

The Cats came out with more intensity in the second half and racked up 49 points in two quarters.

Jared Trinastich had an excellent game with 17 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists. Ty Morgan led all scorers with 18, and Alex Presnell had six assists and five rebounds.

But the team only had 15 assists total — Trinastich and Presnell had 13 of those. That has to get better, Finberg noted.

“We’ve got to get guys buying into what we’re trying to do,” he said.

The boys will get that chance this week when they host Polson on Thursday and Bigfork on Saturday.

Polson will be a conference game, but Bigfork will be the real challenge. They beat the Cats last year in Columbia Falls, and they have the team to do it again this year — with three players at 6-foot-7.

“If we don’t play better (against Bigfork) it will be a long night for us,” Finberg said. “They need to be ready to go.”

The Polson game has a 7:30 p.m. varsity start. Bigfork will start at 6:30 p.m.

Columbia Falls    14    18    22    27    —    81

Eureka    13    13    12    20    —    58

COLUMBIA FALLS - Alex Presnell 8, Ty Morgan 18, Trevor Houston 11, Jared Trinastich 17, Austin Kimmet 7, Nakia Alexander 10, Grant Wallace 4, Grant Stenger 2, Mason Gedlaman 2, Logan Williams 2.

EUREKA - Austin Perez 8, Colton Henrie 12, RJ Glover 4, Dalton Smith 9, Trey Bohne 9, Chase Bohne 16.