Newell, Fils push Eureka past St. Ignatius
The Daily Inter Lake
ST. IGNATIUS - Eureka outscored St. Ignatius 17-4 in the fourth quarter to rally for a 44-38 District 8-B girls' basketball victory on Friday.
Eureka (6-6, 5-1) trailed 34-27 after three quarters.
Mariah Newell turned in another double-double for the Lions with 16 rebounds and 14 points.
"She did a great job on the boards for us tonight," Eureka coach John Hammond said.
Newell had eight rebounds on both ends of the floor.
Steph Vogelman added 12 points for Eureka.
St. Ignatius was led by Kim Christianson, 12 points, and Katie McDonald, 11 points.
"Rica Fils played pretty incredible defense on the Christianson girl," Hammond said.
"She (Christianson) was hurting us early on. She had nine of her 12 (points) at the half. Rica defender her pretty much the whole second half."
Eureka 10 7 10 17 - 44
St. Ignatius 6 14 14 4 - 38
Eureka (6-6, 5-1) - Tayler Holder 1 3-4 5, Carly Hammond 2 0-0 4, Auna Lawler 1 0-0 2, Rica Fils 3 1-3 7, Steph Vogelman 4 4-8 12, Mariah Newell 7 0-5 14. Totals: 18 8-20 44.
St. Ignatius - Kim Christianson 5 1-3 12, Jonna Grant 3 0-0 6, Rachel Jensen 2 0-0 4, Mattea Grant 0 2-9 2, Saundra Curley 1 1-2 3, Katie McDonald 5 0-0 11. Totals: 16 4-14 38.
3-point goals: Christianson, McDonald; Team fouls: Eureka 14, St. Ignatiius 15; Fouled out: None.
FV Home School 57,
Helena Home 23
HELENA - Danae Sheeran's double-double, 20 points and 12 rebounds, guided Flathead Valley Home School to an easy MCAA victory over Helena Home School at Carroll College.
Charity Zemke added 17 points for the Lady Crusaders (16-2, 4-0) and Jordanna Weimer followed with 10.
FVHS opened the contest with a 17-0 run.
FVHS 17 16 12 12 - 57
HHS 0 7 8 8 - 23
FV HOME SCHOOL (16-2, 4-0) - Charity Zemke 8 1-4 17, Danae Sheeran 9 2-2 20, Jordanna Weimer 5 0-0 10, Shelby Sladek 2 2-2 6, Hannah Rajkowski 2 0-0 4. Totals: 26 5-8 57.
HELENA HOME SCHOOL - Ann Szczepaniok 1 0-0 2, Sierra Chambers 2 0-0 4, McKenzie Chambers 1 0-0 2, Shana Kettula 5 0-0 10, Hannah Castelitto 2 1-4 5. Totals: 11 1-4 23.
3-point goals: None; Team fouls: FVHS 5, Helena Home 12; Fouled out: None.
Whitefish 54, Libby 51
WHITEFISH - Libby's Jackie Mee and Brittany Martin both missed three-point field goals in the final 30 seconds as Whitefish held on for the Northwestern A victory.
Whitefish (8-5, 6-1) did not trail in the second half.
Ashley Ferda had a strong all-around game for Whitefish with 12 points, four assists and four steals.
Amanda Ormsby pulled down seven rebounds to pace Whitefish and Kate Klundt was next with six.
Klundt also added 12 points.
Mee led all scorers with 19 points.
Libby 15 8 13 15 - 51
Whitefish 12 14 15 13 - 54
Libby - Brooke Hageness 2 1-2 5, Holly Cirian 1 0-2 2, Korey Kulbeck 3 0-1 6, Brittany Martin 3 0-0 7, Jaime Gilden 2 0-0 4, Laice Dedrick 3 0-4 6, Jackie Mee 7 4-5 19. Totals: 23 5-14 51.
Whitefish (8-5, 6-1) - Kate Klundt 2 8-11 12, Ashley Ferda 5 2-2 14, Desiree Clarke 5 1-2 11, Dana Labuda 1 2-2 4, Chelsea Ray 3 1-1 7, McCara Cullen 0 2-2 2, Amanda Ormsby 1 2-7 4. Totals: 17 18-27 54.
3-point goals: Martin, Mee; Ferda (2); Team fouls: Libby 19, Whitefish 15; Fouled out: None.
Bigfork 57,
Columbia Falls 38
BIGFORK - The Valkyries guaranteed themselves at least a No. 2 seed at next month's divisional tournament by handling the Wildkats at home.
Bigfork improved to 8-0 in Northwestern A play and 13-1 overall, while the Wildkats dropped to 1-5 in conference and 3-11 overall.
Senior post Alyssa Fierro notched a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds as Bigfork led 31-15 at halftime. Hattie Bowen also scored 13 points for the Valkyries, and Roxy Thurman added 12.
"I thought we did a good job of pushing the ball up the floor, and we got some good looks off of that," Bigfork coach Nate Hammond said. "Maybe there was a defender on us, but we were able to get down there and get good position."
Kelsey DeWitt led the Wildkats with 11 points, followed by Alyssa Ladenburg with nine.
Columbia Falls 6 9 9 14 - 38
Bigfork 19 12 13 13 - 57
COLUMBIA FALLS (3-11, 1-5) - Jylisa Fields 1 0-0 3, Alyssa Ladenburg 4 1-3 9, Cedar Smith 1 0-0 2, Sarah Marcille 3 0-0 7, Sam Ladenburg 1 0-0 2, Colyne Hislop 2 0-2 4, Kelsey DeWitt 5 1-2 11. Totals 17 2-7 38.
BIGFORK (13-1, 8-0) - Emily Hardman 0 2-2 2, Hattie Bowen 5 0-0 13, Avery Vogel 0 2-2 2, Roxy Thurman 4 4-6 12, Alyssa Fierro 6 1-2 13, Kailey Fierro 4 0-0 8, Jaylee Haveman 3 1-2 7. Totals 22 10-14 57.
3-point goals - CF 2 (Fields, Marcille), BF 3 (Bowen 3). Team fouls - CF 13, BF 8. Fouled out - none.
Stevensville 58,
Polson 49
POLSON - Blaire Brookshire tallied nine of her game-high 23 points in the fourth quarter to help Stevensville overtake Polson in nonconference play.
Polson took a 36-33 lead into the final eight minutes of the game.
Sarah Newton scored 11 points to pace Polson.
Stevensville 13 8 12 25 - 58
Polson 14 16 6 13 - 49
Stevensville - Cherry Walters 3 4-6 10, Allison Jones 5 3-5 13, Brekka Johnson 1 0-0 2, Elexa Omlid 0 3-4 3, Maddie Jones 1 5-6 7, Blaire Brookshire 7 9-11 23. Totals: 17 24-32 58.
Polson - Jessica Buckless 2 2-5 8, Amanda James 0 5-6 5, Staci Benson 0 2-2 2, Rochelle Woods 2 0-0 4, Merilee Mowbray 3 0-1 6, Nicole Davey 4 0-0 8, Sarah Newton 4 3-6 11, Cali Hislop 2 1-2 5. Totals: 17 13-22 49.
3-point goals: Buckless (2); Team fouls: Stevensville 19, Polson 23; Fouled out: Mowbray.
Boys
Capital 82, Glacier 45
HELENA - Capital used a quick start, 26-13, to cruise to an easy victory over Glacier in Western AA action.
Brian Bignell poured in 20 points for the Bruins while Matt Miller chipped in 19.
Glacier's Ben Cutler led all scorers with 22.
Glacier 13 12 5 15 - 45
Capital 26 22 14 20 - 82
Glacier - Connor Fuller 0-3 0-0 0, Shay Smithwick-Hann 3-11 0-0 7, Mike Rasmussen 0-2 0-2 0, Ben Cutler 9-15 0-0 22, Ben Sansaver 2-5 0-0 5, Josh Doty 2-6 0-0 6, Kramer Wilson 0-2 0-2 0, George Werk 0-1 0-1, Logan Quay 1-3 0-0 2, Cody Grossweiler 1-2 0-0 3. Totals - 18-50 0-5 45.
Capital - Ben Ternes 3-5 0-0 9, Matt Njos 2-3 0-0 4, Casey Lamping 1-3 2-2 4, Matt Miller 8-11 2-2 19, Brian Bignell 9-18 2-3 20, Travis Pilon 1-4 0-0 3, Kelan Farry 0-2 0-0 0, Tyler Erickson 4-6 4-4 12, Aaron Lynch 3-11 2-2 8, Carter Bignell 1-1 0-0 3, Chris Darlow 0-1 0-0 0.
3-pointers - Glacier 9-23 (Smithwick-Hann 1-8, Cutler 4-7, Sansaver 1-1, Doty 2-5, Grossweiler 1-1), Capital 6-15 (Ternes 3-5, Miller 1-2, Pilon 1-4, Bignell 1-1). Rebounds - Glacier 19 (Werk 3), Capital 50 (Erickson 10). Assists - Glacier 12 (Smithwick-Hann 4), Capital 24 (Lamping 7). Fouls - Glacier 11, Capital 11. No foul outs. No technicals.
Flathead 58,
Helena High 52
HELENA - Flathead outscored Helena High 9-3 in overtime to claim its first Western AA victory of the season.
Jake Theisen and Brock Osweiler shared scoring honors for Flathead (9-2, 1-2) with 16 points each.
Flathead led 30-26 at the half and 46-40 heading into the fourth quarter.
Flathead 16 14 16 4 9 - 58
Helena High 16 10 14 9 3 - 52
Flathead (9-2, 1-2) - Jake Theisen 6-10 0-0 16; Dan Salois 2-3 0-0 6; Brock Osweiler 7-12 2-2 16; Josh Harris 3-6 0-3 6; Austin Roehl 1-1 0-0 2; Michael Gallagher 2-3 0-0 5; Charlie Dotson 2-4 0-2 4; Conner Cavigli 1-3 0-0 3. Totals 24-42 2-7 58.
Helena High - Cornelius 4-11 1-2 11; Chamberlain 3-6 0-0 7; Fink 5-19 2-7 12; Hulse 0-1 1-2 1; Foter 4-8 0-2 8; Evans 4-9 0-0 12; Johnson 0-3 1-2 1. Total 20-58 5-15 52.
3-point shots - Helena 7 (Cornelius 2, Evans 4, Chamberlain). Flathead 8 (Theisen 4, Salois 2, Gallagher, Cavigli). Rebounds - Helena High 27 (Fink 8), Flathead 24 (Osweiler 9). Total fouls - Helena 11, Flathead 14. Fouled out - none.
Columbia Falls 79,
Bigfork 42
COLUMBIA FALLS - Columbia Falls forced Bigfork into 18 first-half turnovers and held a 14-7 edge on the boards in rolling to an easy Northwestern A victory.
Chase Grilley tallied 14 of his game-high 21 points in the opening half.
Cody Bowman and Zane Ridings also reached double figures with 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Mackey Nolan led the Wildcats with seven rebounds.
"Their confidence right now is very high," Columbia Falls coach Cary Finberg said.
"We're playing pretty good basketball right now."
Roland Benedict scored 16 points for Bigfork.
Bigfork 6 12 11 13 - 42
Columbia Falls 21 27 19 12 - 79
Bigfork - Ben Sandry 1 1-2 4, Scott Taylor 0 2-2 2, Roland Benedict 5 6-9 16, Garrett Pewe 2 1-4 5, Brock Boll 2 2-2 6, Jake Milner 2 0-0 4, Levi Dockstader 0 2-4 2, Keenan Evans 1 1-4 3. Totals: 13 15-27 42.
Columbia Falls (9-4, 5-1) - Chase Fairbank 2 2-2 7, Tanner Perry 0 1-3 1, Cody Bowman 5 2-3 12, Zane Ridings 3 2-2 10, Mackey Nolan 3 0-0 6, Matt Triplett 1 0-0 2, Austin Robbins 0 3-4 3, Chase Grilley 7 6-6 21, Mitchell Wassam 2 0-1 4, Kaleb Johnson 2 0-1 4, Grant Getts 2 2-2 7, Michael Williams 0 2-2 2. Totals: 27 20-26 79.
3-point goals: Sandry; Ridings (2), Fairbank, Grilley, Getts; Team fouls: Bigfork 19, Columbia Falls 20; Fouled out: Wassam.
Stevensville 56,
Polson 50
STEVENSVILLE - Polson outscored Stevensville 20-13 in the final frame, but it wasn't quite enough as the Yellowjackets hung on for the nonconference victory.
Nick Dahlquist had 19 points for Stevensville. Zach Langston led Polson with 12.
Polson 12 9 9 20 - 50
Stevensville 12 15 16 13 - 56
POLSON - Craig Bagnell 6, John Rausch 11, Ryan Kelley 5, Zach Langston 12, Walen Michel 8, Cody Doyle 2, Tim Rausch 6.
STEVENSVILLE - Drew Zeiler 3, Boone Chambers 5, Nick Dahlquist 19, Ethan Pateman 10, Logan Creech 10, Richie Brusia 4, Mike Thorstad 5.
St. Ignatius 43,
Eureka 30
ST. IGNATIUS - Eureka and St. Ignatius did the bulk of their scoring in the final quarter to provide a wild finish to the District 8-B matchup.
St. Ignatius scored 20 points in the last eight minutes to Eureka's 17.
Ben Dechart topped Eureka, and all scorers, with 12 points.
St. Ignatius led 15-8 at the half.
Eureka 5 3 5 17 - 30
St. Ignatius 7 8 7 21 - 43
EUREKA - Josiah Begay 3, Tanner Newell 3, Chad Price 5, Luke Truman 2, Marcus Pluid 5, Ben Dechart 12.
ST. IGNATIUS - Dallas Cordier 9, Jorren Geis 11, Lucas McDonald 11, Alex Morigeau 3, Riley Charlo 2, Raphael Okuhara 7.