Lady Crusaders closing in on another MCAA basketball championship
The Daily Inter Lake
HELENA - Flathead Valley Home School is one victory away from a perfect season and a three-peat at the Montana Christian Athletic Association state girls basketball tournament at Carroll College.
The Lady Crusaders moved to 27-0 Friday afternoon with a 78-46 victory over Rimrock Christian High School.
Kelsey Sladek, who finished with 19 points, scored 10 in the opening quarter as the Lady Crusaders opened up a 25-8 advantage. They led 40-20 at the half.
FVHS's Janelle Sheeran led all scorers with 26 points. Charity Zemka followed with 21.
Sheeran also finished with 12 rebounds and five steals and Zemke totaled nine steals and six assists.
The Lady Cruaders will play in the championship game today at 3:15 p.m. against Stillwater Christian.
Rimrock 8 12 6 20 - 46
Flathead Valley 25 15 19 19 - 78
Rimrock - Sharla Steele 2 0-0 4, Kyragh Hoffman 4 2-4 10, Alissa Mock 1 0-0 2, Phoebe Lathrot 2 1-3 5, Jaquline Wall 2 0-0 4, Alexa Vogel 6 3-3 15, LoRae Helms 3 0-2 6. Totals: 20 6-14 46.
Flathead Valley Home School (27-0) - Charity Zemke 6 8-10 21, Danae Sheeran 4 0-0 8, Carmen VanBuren 2 0-0 4, Janelle Sheeran 11 4-7 26, Kelsey Sladek 8 3-4 19. Totals: 31 15-21 78.
3-point goals - Zemke. Team fouls - Rimrock 20, Flathead Valley 17. Fouled out - None.
Stillwater Christian 45
Yellowstone County 38
Nichole Danz and Brittany Downing combined for 23 points as Stillwater Christian School survived a tough battle with Yellowstone County in semifinal play.
Downing helped Stillwater take a 10-point lead in the final stanza and the Cougars then sank their free throws down the stretch to prevail.
Stillwater started the contest with an 11-0 run, but Yellowstone battled back to tie it at 18-all.
Danz finished with 13 points to lead all scorers. Downing scored 10.
Yellowstone County 38
Stillwater Christian 45
Quarter scores not available
Yellowstone County - Schultz 11, Duke 7, E. Hanson 7, H. Hansen 6, Flohr 3, Lund 2, Stuart 2.
Stillwater Christian School - Nichole Danz 13, Brittany Downing 10, Amanda Nichols 8, Sarah Clark 5, Abby Smith 5, Emma Miller 4.
Boys
Foothills Christian 49
Stillwater Christian 47
Stillwater Christian School's shot at a 3-peat was denied Friday night by Foothills Community Christian School in the semfinals of the MCAA state boys basketball tournament at Carroll College.
Foothills trailed 28-21 at the half, but rallied to pull out the win.
The Cougars had a chance with eight seconds remaining, but turned the ball over. Foothills inbounded the ball and ran out the clock.
Jacob Topp led Stillwater (21-7) in scoring with 12 points.
Foothills Christian will meet Helena Christian High School at 5 p.m. today for the championship.
Helena Christian advanced with a 70-55 win over Gallatin Valley Home School in Friday's other semifinal contest.
Foothills 49
Stillwater Christian 47
Quarter scores not available
Foothills Community Christian Falcons - Wood 10, Richardson 10, Johnson 9, B. Henning 2, Wiggins 10, E. Henning 8.
Stillwater Christian - Smith 9, Topp 12, Makowski 8, Konecky 6, Snyder 6, Lodien 4, Heine 2.
Flathead Valley 58,
Bozeman Christian 43
Flathead Valley Home School broke away from a 33-all tie at the half to post the victory in consolation play.
The Crusaders outscored Bozeman 25-10 in the final half.
Shae Heffernan led FVHS, and all scorers, with 22 points.
Marshall Harbour paced Bozeman with 24 points.
Crusader guard Zach Hanson hit several key field goals in the second half along with some big free throws down the stretch.
"We stepped it up in the second half," FVHS coach Mark Kenny said. "Our defense was great."
Flathead Valley will play in the consolation final today at 1:30 p.m.
FVHS NA 33 NA NA - 58
Bozeman NA 33 NA NA - 43
Flathead Valley Home School - Shae Heffernan 33, Zach Hanson 18, W. Heffernan 12, Bowerman 4, Goyer 2, Bates 2.
Bozeman Christian School - Harbour 25, Kover 12, Adams 10, Reijgers 6, Tuck 6.0