COLUMBIA FALLS — The Whitefish Bulldogs made things tough early on for host Columbia Falls Saturday afternoon but down the stretch the Wildcats pulled away for a 74-47 conference win.

In doing so the Wildcats (14-3 overall, 9-1 in league) clinched their first Northwest A conference championship since 2015.

“First time since 2015 that we’re conference champs and hopefully we can build off that and make it to state for the first time since 2015 as well,” Wildcats coach Chris Finberg said.

Wildcats guard Alihn Anderson finished with a game-high 19 points and hit three 3-pointers along the way. Hunter Goodman was next up for the Wildcats with 14 points, with most of his buckets coming around the basket or in the mid-range.

Things were tied at 15-15 after Whitefish’s Mason Kelch drained a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to end the first quarter and remained close through halftime with the Wildcats taking a 35-29 lead into the break. Finberg gave credit to the Bulldogs for challenging the Wildcats early while crediting his team for putting it together down the stretch.

“I thought in the first-half Whitefish did a good job of breaking us down on the dribble, getting in the key and getting a lot of points either by layup or free throw,” Finberg said. “In the second half we were able to take that away and force them to shoot from the outside a little bit. Once we were able to contain their penetration, take away shots in the key we were able to get out in transition and that’s where we thrive.”

Following the break, the Wildcats started flooding the passing lanes and making their presence felt on defense with a combination of traps and full-court press to disrupt the Bulldogs’ offensive flow.

This allowed Columbia Falls to outscore Whitefish 24-13 in the third to make things 59-42 entering the final frame. The Wildcats continued to bring an aggressive defensive attack to extend their lead and seal the Cat-Dog game victory.

The teams engaged in a physical battle from start to finish with players fighting for every rebound and diving for loose balls till the final buzzer.

“Fun rivalry, good crowd, it was a physical game and a good game to coach and watch,” Finberg said.

Kelch finished with 12 points to lead the Bulldogs (5-10, 4-5) and Josh Downie was next with 10.

Cody Schweikert finished with 12 for the Wildcats while going six of six at the free throw line and Jace Hill had 10 to round out the Columbia Falls scorers in double figures.

Whitefish 18 11 13 5 47

Columbia Falls 15 20 24 15 74

WHITEFISH — Mason Kelch 12, Josh Downie 10, Jack Sears 9, Carson Krack 6, Dane Hunt 5, Mason Genovese 3, CJ Thew 3, Daniel To 2.

COLUMBIA FALLS — Alihn Anderson 19, Hunter Goodman 14, Cody Schweikert 12, Jace Hill 10, Bryce Dunham 8, Mark Robison 5, Reggie Sapa 4, Silas Ypma 2.