Marooned, again. For the second time in as many weeks, Butte Central has beaten a Columbia Falls basketball team in their opening game at state.

The Butte Central Maroons dropped the Wildcats 56-51 on Thursday in the state Class A playoffs at the Brick Breeden Field House on the Montana State University campus in Bozeman.

The Cats had a 26-20 lead at the half, but the Maroons made a charge in the second half and took the lead 35-34 by the end of the third quarter.

Butte Central extended the lead to as many as nine. The score was 49-40 with less than three minutes left in the game.

The Wildcats mounted a comeback, cutting the Maroons’ lead to just three with 2:14 left. But Butte Central managed to hit some key free throws down the stretch, even after their top scorer, Marcus Ferriter, fouled out at the 2:23 mark.

The Cats cut it to a one-possession game, 53-50 with 53 seconds left. Grant Stenger was fouled and went to the line with a chance to cut the lead even further, but he missed both free throws.

The Cats had to foul to get the ball back, but Butte Central hit its free throws to extend the lead to 55-50 with 28 second left. Ty Morgan was fouled on the ensuing possession and hit one of two free throws to cut the lead to four. The Cats fouled the Maroons again, and Butte Central hit one of two to make it 56-51. The Cats couldn’t score with 20 seconds left, and the game ended.

Grant Wallace led the Cats with 16 points and seven rebounds. The Cats shot 39.5 percent from two-point range but were just 1 for 11 from beyond the three-point arc.

Ferriter had 17 to lead the Maroons. The Cats (17-4) face Belgrade (15-6) in loser-out action tomorrow at 12:30 p.m.