The Wildkats basketball team took opposite paths to victory last week, building a large early lead in Bigfork to down the Valkyries Thursday before having to overcome a 14-point second-quarter deficit against Ronan at home Friday.

The Kats looked stagnant in the opening minutes against the Maidens, scoring only two first-quarter points before falling behind 18-4 with less than four minutes to play in the first half. The Kats came alive with an 8-0 run to cut the Maiden lead to 18-12 at the half before outscoring Ronan 28-9 in the second half, including holding Ronan to a single point in the fourth quarter.

“We weren’t ready to go and it just snowballed on us a bit. Ronan was playing harder than us and they had us in a position to lose. Luckily for us, we woke up just in time,” head coach Cary Finberg said. “We got caught doing a lot of standing around. We couldn’t buy a basket when we got shots and we didn’t get a lot of open looks in those opening minutes because we were standing around.”

Trista Cowan led the way for the Kats in the victory, finishing with 18 points and 10 rebounds while Josie Windauer finished with 10 points and Ryley Kehr had six points and 11 rebounds. LaKia Hill, Madysen Hoerner and Savvy Ellis also scored for the Kats in the win.

It was the complete opposite against the Valkyries in Bigfork Thursday as the Wildkats built a 30-15 lead after one quarter and never looked back on their way to a 78-47 victory.

Kehr was the leading scorer in the game with 21 points while Cowan added 20 points and 14 rebounds. In all, 10 Wildkats scored in the contest as Windauer had 10 points, Hill added nine, Hannah Schweikert scored six, Paige Berger, Lauren Falkner and Grace Gedlaman each had two and Maddie Robison scored one. The Kats will be off until Jan. 4, when they play at Libby before traveling to Polson Jan. 5

C Falls 30 15 13 20 – 78

Bigfork 15 11 12 9 – 47

C FALLS – Scoring: Ryley Kehr 21, Trista Cowan 20, Josie Windauer 10, LaKia Hill 9, Hannah Schweikert 6, Madysen Hoerner 5, Paige Berger 2, Lauren Falkner 2, Grace Gedlaman 2, Maddie Robison 1. Rebounds: NA

BIGFORK – Scoring: Emma Berreth 15, Heidi Schneller 8, Ansleigh Edgerton 8, Isabella Santistevan 3, Jordan Nelson 2, Merideth Bedford 1. Rebounds: NA

Ronan 11 7 8 1 – 27

C Falls 2 10 17 11 – 40

C FALLS – Scoring: Trista Cowan 18, Josie Windauer 10, Ryley Kehr 6, LaKia Hill 2, Madysen Horner 2, Savvy Ellis 1, Paige Berger 1. Rebounds: NA

RONAN – Scoring: Jaeleigh Gatch 9, Jaylea Lunceford 6, Tiana Ulutoa 5, Kieauna DeRoche 3, Clairmont 3, Hannah Moss 1. Rebounds: NA