Girls A basketball: Wildkats bow out at state

BUTTE — Aleesha LaBreche’s layup with eight seconds remaining gave Butte Central a 39-37 loser-out victory over top-ranked Columbia Falls Friday afternoon at the Class A state girls basketball tournament.

Columbia Falls (17-6) had a chance to break a 37-all tie with 25 seconds showing, but Ciera Finberg missed two free throws.

Butte Central rebounded the second miss, drove down court and scored on a putback.

The Maroons then stole the ball from Columbia Falls to end the game.

Butte Central (17-5) was led by Alysea Pica, who scored 15 points.

Danika Neumann tallied nine points and Mariah Cooney scored eight points and pulled down 12 rebounds.

Haley Belgarde was the top scorer for Columbia Falls with nine points.

Winter Kemppainen had another stellar effort in the paint with 18 rebounds. She pulled down 14 missed shots in Thursday’s opening-round loss to Billings Central.

Turnovers, again, spelled trouble for the Wildkats. They had 29 in this outing and 33 the day before.

In the other loser-out afternoon contest, Northwestern A champion Frenchtown eliminated Stevensville, 46-38.

In evening semifinal play, defending state champion Billings Central toppled Browning 50-36 while Laurel took care of Havre 46-35.

That means it will be an all-Eastern A division final as Billings Central and Laurel play in tonight’s championship game at 8.

Friday

Loser- Out Game

Butte Central 7 15 10 7 — 39

Columbia Falls 9 11 7 10 — 37

BUTTE CENTRAL (17-5) — Hannah Stojcar 2 0-2 5, Mariah Cooney 3 2-2 8, Alysea Pica 4 7-13 15, Annie Ossello 0 0-0 0, Danika Neumann 3 2-2 9, Chandra McCurdy 0 0-0 0, Teressa Piazzola 0 0-0 0, Shawnee Hjelt 0 0-0 0, Aleesha LaBreche 1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 1311-19 39.

COLUMBIA FALLS (17-6) — Haley Belgarde 4 1-3 9, Hope Burlage 1 0-2 3, Winter Kemppainen 3 1-3 7, Cierra Finberg 1 4-6 7, Tori Price 0 0-0 0, Shannon Hay 0 1-2 1, Ellie Johnson 1 0-0 2, Andrea Getts 4 0-1 8. TOTALS: 14 7-17 37

3-point field goals: Central 2-15 (Stajcar 1-6, Neumann 1-7), C-Falls 2-7 (Finberg 1-3, Burlage 1-3); Rebounds: Central 34 (Cooney 12), C-Falls 51 (Kemppainen 18); Assists: Central 7 (Stajcar 2, Neumann 2, Cooney 2), C-Falls 6 (Finberg 2, Burlage 2); Blocks: Central 2 (Cooney 2), C-Falls 5 (Belgarde 3); Steals: Central 14 (Neumann 5, Stajcar 5), C-Falls 8 (Kemppainen 4); Total Fouls: Central 18, C-Falls 17; Fouled Out: Cooney; Turnovers: Central 16, C-Falls 29.

Stevensville 5 11 6 16 — 38

Frenchtown 13 10 8 15 — 46

STEVENSVILLE (13-11) — Kyla Paulsen 3 1-2 8, Kayla Peterson 3 5-8 12, Bailey Vercruyssen 1 3-6 5, Carly Vercruyssen 0 4-4 4, Alycia Sims 2 5-6 9, Carly Sebastian 0 0-0 0, Courtney Tvedt 0 0-0 0, Lizzy Whitesell 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 9 18-26 38.

FRENCHTOWN (17-5) — Abby Indreland 1 2-2 4, Holly Jacobs 2 2-4 6, Larissa Berg 3 4-8 10, Kayla Blood 1 0-3 2, Vanessa Stavish 6 2-2 14, Haley Cyr 1 1-4 3, Kenzie Reid 0 0-0 0, Keegan Wickman 1 0-0 2, Lacey Hochhalter 0 0-0 0, Alli Moe 0 1-2 1, Brooke Yarnall 1 2-2 4. TOTALS: 16 14-27 46.

3-point field goals: Stevi 2-19 (Peterson 1-2, Pauslen 1-6), Frenchtown 0-9; Rebounds: Stevi 31 (Peterson 8, Sims 8), Frenchtown 32 (Stavish); Assists: Stevi 2 (two players with 1), Frenchtown 6 (Blood 4); Blocks: Stevi 1 (Peterson 1), Frenchtown 1 (Blood 1); Steals: Stevi 8 (B. Vercruyssen 3), Frenchtown 12 (Blood 5); Total Fouls: Stevi 20, Frenchtown 18; Fouled out: Paulsen, Peterson; Turnovers: Stevi 22, Frenchtown 21.

Semifinals

Billings Central 15 6 10 19 — 50

Browning 8 10 5 13 — 36

BILLINGS CENTRAL (16-7) — Allie Lucas 7 5-6 22, Sammy Elliot 2 3-4 7, Erika Kuehn 1 2-4 4, Justyn Juhl 5 6-7 17, Melissa Koerber 0 0-0 0, Mariah Wittman 0 0-2 0, Baylee Hadley 0 0-0 0, Skylar Rockwell 0 0-0 0, Sarina Aamold 0 0-0 0, Morgan Lucas 0 0-0 0, Allison Walter 0 0-0 0, Natalie Ruegsegger 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 15 16-23 50.

BROWNING (12-11) — Rachel Heptner 1 0-1 2, Ashley Burd 2 0-0 4, Tiara Gilham 1 0-0 2, Courtney Little Dog 2 1-3 5, Marti Eagle Feathers 4 7-12 15, Jessica Magee 0 0-1 0, Shelsey St. Goddard 2 0-0 4, Mariah Ingraham 1 0-0 2, Cyndi Sharp 0 0-0 0, Brooke Carlson 0 2-4 2, Treyanna Belcourt 0 0-0 0, Brittany Wolf Tail 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 13 10-21 36.

3-point field goals: Central 4-9 (Lucas 3-7, Juhl 1-1), Browning 0-11; Rebounds: Central 42 (Elliot 14), Browning 38 (Magee 7); Assists: Central 9 (Lucas 4), Browning 4 (four players with 1); Blocks: Central 2 (two players with 1), Browning 3 (Eagle Feathers 2); Steals: Central 10 (Juhl 3), Browning 10 (Eagle Feathers 4); Total Fouls: Central 18, Browning 20; Fouled Out: Wittman; Eagle Feathers; Turnovers: Central 20, Browning 18.

Laurel 9 10 12 15 — 46

Havre 4 7 7 17 — 35

LAUREL (18-6) — Jayde LeFevre 5 10-12 22, Leslie Gappa 1 3-6 5, Allie McGrath 0 2-2 2, Emily Smarsh 3 0-0 8, Bailey Love 0 0-0 0, Lexi Budge 0 2-2 2, Dalayna Christenson 1 0-0 2, Hailey Spitzer 0 2-2 2, Abbie Lahof 1 1-2 3. TOTALS: 11 20-26 46.

HAVRE (14-8) — Brandy Lambourne 2 0-2 6, Peyton Filius 2 1-2 5, Morgan Mazurkiewicz 4 2-4 11, Lacey Ward 3 1-3 7, Neya Bischoff 2 2-5 5, Rachel Majeres 0 0-0 0, Tori Mazurkiewicz 0 0-0 0, Haley Ohm 0 0-0 0. TOTALS:13 6-16 35.

3-point field goals: Laurel 4-17 (Smarsh 2-3, LeFevre 2-11), Havre 3-19 (Lambourne 2-8, M. Mazurkiewicz 1-6); Rebounds: Laurel 32 (LeFevre 6), Havre 30 (Filius 9); Assists: Laurel 8 (McGrath 3), Havre 7 (Lambourne 3); Blocks: Laurel 4 (Christenson 3), Havre 0; Steals: Laurel 10 (LeFevre 4), Havre 8 (Lambourne 3); Total Fouls: Laurel 17, Havre 19; Fouled Out: None; Turnovers: Laurel 14, Havre 13.

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Today’s Schedule

Loser-Out Games

9:30 a.m. — Browning vs. Frenchtown

11 a.m. — Butte Central vs. Havre

Consolation Final

6:30 p.m. — Morning loser-out winners

Championship Game

8 p.m. — Billings Central vs. Laurel