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Kats hammer Bigfork, Polson, face Corvallis at home Saturday

CHRIS PETERSON | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 8 years, 10 months AGO
by CHRIS PETERSON
Chris Peterson is the editor of the Hungry Horse News. He covers Columbia Falls, the Canyon, Glacier National Park and the Bob Marshall Wilderness. All told, about 4 million acres of the best parts of the planet. He can be reached at [email protected] or 406-892-2151. | February 8, 2017 6:07 AM

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Peyton Kehr, center, looks to split the Bigfork defense.

The scoring onslaught continued last week for the Columbia Falls girls basketball team. The Wildkats dropped Class B Bigfork 63-21 at home Thursday and then followed that up Saturday at home with a 87-20 thrashing of Polson.

Against Bigfork, the Kats were led by Kiara Burlage with 19, followed by Peyton Kehr with 14 and Cydney Finberg with 13. Finberg had six assists and three steals in the game as well. Dani Douglas had six steals and Hovde also had five steals and seven rebounds.

Against Polson, Sydney Hovde had her best game of the season, tallying 16 in the rout. Burlage had 14 and Kehr had 19 against the hapless Lady Pirates.

As impressive as the offense has been, the defense has been even better. Polson only scored eight points after the first quarter and Bigfork didn’t score any in the first and just five in the fourth. Against the Pirates, the Kats had 24 steals.

Ryley Kehr came off the bench and had seven points, four rebounds and five assists in one quarter, noted coach Cary Finberg.

It’s indicative of how everyone on the team is sharing the ball on the offensive end and the burden on the defensive side, Finberg noted.

“Everyone’s giving us contributions in multiple areas,” he said.

The Kats are now 14-1 on the season with three regular season games left.

They face Corvallis at home Saturday. Game time is 4 p.m. The Lady Blue Devils are 9-5 on the season and 4-1 in conference play, tied with Dillon in the Southwest A. But even so, the Kats beat them by 20 to open the season.

Polson 12 2 4 2 — 20

Columbia Falls 20 27 26 14 — 87

POLSON — Lauren Lefthand 2, Kaelyn Smith 3, Mollie Fisher 6, Mikayla Croft 9.

COLUMBIA FALLS — Dani Douglas 10, Savvy Ellis 5, Haylie Peacock 2, Cydney Finberg 7, Peyton Kehr 19, Ryley Kehr 9, Kiara Burlage 14, Trista Cowan 5, Sydney Hovde 16.

Bigfork 0 8 8 5 — 21

Columbia Falls 19 17 16 11 — 63

BIGFORK — Shae Anderson 2, Jaime Berg 9, Emilee Park 5, Rakiah Grende 2, Abby Lembke 3.

COLUMBIA FALLS — Dani Douglas 7, Cydney Finberg 13, Peyton Kehr 14, Ryley Kehr 2, Kiara Burlage 19, Trista Cowan 2, Sydney Hovde 6.

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