Girls hoops lose to Pirates, beat Browning
Hungry Horse News | Hungry Horse News | UPDATED 2 weeks, 5 days AGO
Rylee Sweeney drops a shot from the middle of the lane during the Wildkats win over Browning. Seth Anderson Photo.
The Columbia Falls girls basketball team lost a squeaker at home in overtime against Polson last Tuesday (Jan. 20) 58-56, but bounced back to beat Browning Friday, Jan. 23, 56-46.
Against Browning, Rylee Sweeney led a balanced Columbia Falls attack with 13 points and the Wildkats rode a dominant second quarter to a Northwest A girls basketball win.
Peyton Ross scored seven of her 11 points during the 19-4 surge in the second quarter by the Wildkats.
Against Polson, Columbia Falls got off two 3-pointers from Alexa Friske in OT, but the second rattled out at the buzzer. Onnikka Lawrence had 16 in the loss, Ross had 10, Sweeney, 12, Friske 11. The Kats had 25 turnovers and were down 10 at the break, but still managed to battle back to tie it in regulation.
The Kats are now 6-4 overall and 4-1 in league play.
Coach Jeremy Grilley was encouraged by the team coming back to beat Browning after the tough loss against Polson.
He said the team has a real balanced attack right now, with multiple players in the scoring column each night.
They traveled to Ronan Tuesday and lost a squeaker, 61-60.
Onnikka Lawrence had 27 in the loss.
Frenchtown at 7-2 overall will be a big test, as they could very well face off again come tournament time. They’re led by Mason Quinn, who averages 24.8 points per game, the best in the state.
“Frenchtown will be a good test,” Grilley noted.