Overview
Butte Falls’ season ended abruptly at Columbia Christian Friday night. The Butte Falls Loggers finished their season with two loses after winning seven straight. Columbia Christian bounced back from an uncharacteristic 53-51 loss against Mannahouse Christian in the Northwest League district tournament on February 20th. Columbia’s offense and pressure defense were too much for Butte Falls who struggled to hit from outside and to contain Mariscal, Hartwich, and Razatdinov. The biggest spark for Butte Falls was Devin Malcolm who was impressive on both ends of the court. Besides Malcolm, the only other source of offense for Butte Falls came off second-chance points by Johnson.
Quarter 1:
Columbia started a different lineup than normal, and Butte Falls was able to play in a low-scoring back and forth battle for the first few minutes of the game. The Knights subbed in Antoine and Razatdinov midway through the quarter creating mismatches for the Loggers’ man defense. Butte Falls struggled to hit outside shots, but Johnson and Malcolm were tenacious on the glass, giving their team second-chance points. Columbia used a 2-3 zone for the entire game. They ran an aggressive variation to challenge the young guards for the Loggers. This led to a few transition baskets to get the points flowing for the Knights. The quarter ended 15-8; Columbia.
Quarter2:
The Knights added to their lead in the second quarter. As the starters for Butte Falls tired, the starters for Columbia found more and more success. Despite the height difference, Malcolm continued to pose a challenge to Hartwich. He routinely interrupted and stole passes, blocked shots, and pulled down rebounds. On offense, Malcolm struggled with his outside game, but he rarely struggled to get his shot off. With 1:23 to go in the quarter, Malcolm went down with a left-leg injury. With their star out for the foreseeable future and with Columbia finding their outside and inside rhythm, the Loggers looked defeated the last few minutes of the half. By the end of the half, Columbia had widened the lead to fourteen; 33-19.
Quarter 3:
Coming out of halftime, Butte Falls recognized that they needed to change things up. Malcolm was back in the lineup, but he played gingerly as he favored his right leg slightly. Butte Falls attempted a 1-3-1, 1-2-2, and 2-3 zones attempting to find some defensive success but found none. With 3:00 minutes left in the quarter, Johnson finally connected from deep for Butte Falls, but it was too little too late. Columbia hit their stride and found success inside with Hartwich and Mariscal continued to cause problems driving. Columbia put the hammer down in the third to put the game out of reach 45-25.
Quarter 4:
Despite being down by twenty, Butte Falls continued to play hard and compete. Malcolm caused troubles in transition and Johnson continued to pull down rebounds, giving the Loggers second and third chances multiple time. The final nail came when Malcolm suffered a right leg injury on a fast break. He exited the game for a few minutes but came back with 4:34 remaining. By the time he returned, it was evident the Columbia was not going to repeat the fourth quarter disaster with Mannahouse. With 1:11 to go in the game, Butte Falls officially raised the white flag and both sides subbed in their benches. Columbia dominated the game 69-36.
Takeaways:
A weakness that was exposed by Butte Falls, was the sloppy rebounding. Columbia did a poor job of boxing out, relying on their height to secure rebounds. This could cause them trouble if they do this with a team that can match their athleticism. Additionally, Columbia is only 6 or 7 players deep. In a tournament this could be a problem, especially considering the talent differential between the 7th and 8th man.
Columbia has some of the best athletes in the state, hands down. Their height is a problem for teams and their experience shows. Columbia has been in the title game in every year going back to the ’14-’15 season (except the ’16-’17 season when they won the consolation bracket). There is a culture of winning and the players and coaches are capable of living up to that high standard they have created for themselves. There is very little margin for error when playing this dynamic and talented team.
Butte Falls can feel good about their season and future. They are just three years removed from a winless season. This season they went 17-9, finished second in their conference, and ended ranked 11th in the OSAA rankings. Of their nine loses, two were forfeits and another three were decided by a single possession. They easily could have finished 21-4. They had an unfortunate draw in the playoffs but can feel good about their season as a whole.
hey have a promising Sophomore class. Their nerves and experience showed at Columbia. This was evidenced by their inability to buy a basket if one were to go on sale. Malcolm is an elite athlete that already is creating problems for opponents and he is only going to get bigger, faster, stronger, and better. Likewise, this team is not close to their ceiling they could be at their senior year. With work in the weight room and learning from experiences like Friday will add to their potential. Look out for this team in the coming years as this Sophomore class comes into their own. Lost River is graduating seven seniors, so I favor Butte Falls to win the Southern Cascade League next season, giving them a home playoff berth. I can easily see this team being an elite team in two years if they continue to grow as players.
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