The Columbia Falls boys basketball team split last week, dropping Ronan on the road Jan. 29, 53-50, but losing to Frenchtown at home 54-49 Saturday.

Jett Pitts led the Wildcats against Ronan with 13, while Jory Hill and Bjorn Pedersen had a dozen apiece.

The Cats had 31 rebounds in the win and 6 steals while they had just 6 turnovers.

The win against the Chiefs was big, as kept them in the hunt for a conference title as the regular season enters it second half.

Against Frenchtown, Pedersen had 15, Pitts 10 and Easton Brooks 9, but they didn’t get many rebounds, just 2 on the offensive end and 15 defensively against  the Broncs, which are a big team.

Coach Chris Finberg said the Ronan win was key.

“That was the win we wanted,” he said. The Cats ended the Ronan game on an 8-0 run to get the split with the Chiefs.

As far as Frenchtown, Finberg said rebounding was an issue as Frenchtown’s length was problematic. Still, the Cats made a run at the end but just couldn’t close the gap.

They travel to Libby Thursday and Whitefish Friday for a doubleheader with the girls. Game time is 7:30 p.m.

It’s another key conference game and a rivalry one at that. Finberg said they’ll have to play well defensively, which leads to points in transition.

“Hopefully the defense will lead the offense,” he said.

The Wildcats are now 4-2 in conference play and 8-4 overall.

Of their four losses, three were at home.