C-Falls finishes third in Class A state boys basketball

BILLINGS — Columbia Falls held off Laurel 48-46 Saturday evening to claim the third-place trophy at the Class A state boys basketball tournament.

Luke Kazlauskas of Columbia Falls sank one of two free throws with 2.7 seconds remaining to complete the scoring.

He finished with 12 points.

Jared Trinastich also had 12 for the Wildcats.

It was a sweet victory for Columbia Falls, who lost to Laurel 59-50 in the tournament’s opening game Thursday afternoon.

The Wildcats won three straight after that to finish with an 18-6 overall record.

Laurel is 21-4.

Columbia Falls moved on to the consolation final with a 64-47 loser-out victory over Butte Central earlier in the day. Laurel advanced with a 55-36 triumph over Belgrade.

In the state title game, Stevensville beat Billings Central 73-59.

Consolation Final

Laurel 13 2 13 18 — 46

Columbia Falls 13 8 9 18 — 48

Laurel — Dylan Meccage 0-1 0-0 0, Taylor Maida 4-7 0-0 11, Shawn Nardella 2-4 4-5 8, Bryce Herman 2-2 0-2 4, Jake Anderson 0-3 1-2 1, Brett Thompson 4-10 4-4 13, Evan Jones 2-5 3-5 9, Zac Allen 0-0 0-0 0, Jarred Simons 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 14-32 12-18 46. 3-point goals: 6-13 (Maida 3-6, Jones 2-2, Thompson 1-4, Meccage 0-1). Fouls: 17. Fouled out: Nardella. Rebounds: 14 (Nardella 4). Assists: 8 (Heman 3). Steals: 5 (Nardella 2, Herman 2). Blocked shots: 4 (Allen 2). Turnovers: 10.

Columbia Falls — Alex Presnell 0-0 2-2 2, Austin Martin 4-5 0-0 9, Colin King 2-3 0-0 4, Luke Kazlauskas 4-9 4-7 12, Nakia Alexander 1-1 1-1 3, Ty Morgan 1-4 2-4 4, Mason Gedlaman 0-0 0-0 0, Jared Trinastich 3-5 3-5 6-7 12, Austin Kimmet 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 16-29 15-21 48. 3-point goals: 1-4 (Martin 1-2, Kazlauskas 0-1, Morgan 0-1). Fouls: 15. Rebounds: 21 (Kazlauskas 6). Assists: 5 (Kazlauskas 3). Steals: 7 (Martin 2). Blocked shots: 2 (King, Kazlauskas). Turnovers: 13.

Championship Game

Billings Central 16 15 12 16 — 59

Stevensville 16 16 17 24 — 73

Billings Central (16-7) — Jacob Stanton 5-11 8-14 18, Riley Nichols 1-4 0-0 3, Ian Byorth 0-2 0-0 0, Garrett Flaming 1-5 2-2 4, Connor Cerkovnik 2-6 1-1 6, Blayne Sandau 3-7 4-5 12, Colin Holetz 0-0 0-0 0, Daniel Meyer 3-6 1-5 7, Dylan Hanser 3-8 0-4 9. Totals: 18-49 16-31 59. 3-point goals: 7-20 (Nichols 1-4, Flaming 0-3, Cerkovnik 1-2, Sandau 2-5, Hanser 3-6). Rebounds: 32 (Stanton 12). Assists: 10 (Stanton 4, Flaming 4). Steals: 5 (Byorth 2, Hanser 2). Blocks: 4 (Meyer 2). Fouls: 28. Fouled out: Cerkovnik, Sandau, Meyer. Turnovers: 12.

Stevensville (20-3) — Jace Omlid 0-0 0-0 0, Chris Lords 0-0 0-1 0, Austin Lords 2-4 7-10 12, Kadin Beller 1-5 0-0 3, Chance Coleman 0-0 0-2 0, Zach Gavlak 7-9 7-9 21, Jesse Sims 7-10 6-7 20, Jared Schultz 3-11 9-14 17. 3-point goals: 4-14 (A. Lords 1-3, Beller 1-5, Schultz 2-6). Rebounds: 34 (Sims 10). Assists: 11 (Schultz 4). Steals: 5 (Schultz 2). Blocks: 1 (Beller). Fouls: 24. Fouled out: Beller. Turnovers: 8.

Loser-Out Games

Columbia Falls 18 14 15 17 — 64

Butte Central 14 9 13 11 — 47

Columbia Falls — Alex Presnell 4-7 2-2 10, Trevor Houston 2-2 1-1 5, Jayce Fagerland 0-0 0-0 0, Austin Martin 3-4 0-2 8, Colin King 1-2 0-0 2, Luke Kazlauskas 3-8 4-4 10, Nakia Alexander 0-0 2-2 2, Ty Morgan 4-5 0-1 11, Logan Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Mason Gedlaman 0-1 0-0 0, Jared Trinastich 2-4 4-4 8, Austin Kimmet 2-3 4-5 8. Totals: 21-36 17-21 64. 3-pointers: 5-8 (Morgan 3-3, Martin 2-3, Presnell 0-1, Kazlauskas 0-1). Fouls: 12. Rebounds: 23 (Morgan 6). Assists: 13 (Morgan 4). Steals: 6 (Marin 2). Turnovers: 10.

Butte Central — Kale Guldseth 1-8 0-0 2, Danny Peoples 1-2 0-0 3, Conner McGree 0-2 0-0 0, Emmett McCarthy 2-2 0-0 4, Brady Tippett 2-12 2-2 6, Dalton Sessions 4-5 2-2 11, Sean Burt 0-0 0-0 0, Marcus Ferriter 2-3 0-2 4, Nate Bolstad 5-9 4-4 17, Chad Peterson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 17-43 8-10 47. 3-pointers: 5-17 (Bolstad 3-5, Sessions 1-1, Peoples 1-2, Tippett 0-3, Guldseth 0-6). Fouls: 18. Fouled out: Guldseth. Rebounds: 21 (Ferriter 5). Assists: 9 (Tippett 4). Steals: 4 (Guldseth 2, Bolstad 2). Blocks: 4 (four with 1). Turnovers: 18.

Laurel 16 13 20 6 — 55

Belgrade 15 6 9 6 — 36

Laurel — Tyler Thompson 0-0 0-0 0, Taylor Maida 4-6 3-3 14, Shawn Nardella 1-5 4-4 6, Bryce Herman 2-2 0-0 4, Dylan Meccage 1-1 0-0 3, Brett Thompson 8-12 4-5 22, Jake Anderson 0-2 0-0 0, Evan Jones 1-6 0-0 2, Zac Allen 1-1 2-2 4, Jared Simons 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 18-35 13-14 55. 3-pointers: 6-10 (Maida 3-4 B. Thompson 2-3, Nardella 0-1, Jones 0-1). Fouls: 15. Rebounds: 21 (Thompson 5). Assists: 13 (Herman 5). Steals: 4 (Jones 2). Blocks: 2 (Herman 1, Simons 1). Turnovers: 7.

Belgrade — Jeremy Ragar 2-8 0-0 5, Drew Fowler 0-1 0-0 0, Brandon Stubbs 1-2 2-2 4, Ryan Townsend 3-5 2-2 8, Jared Bryant 1-3 0-5 3, Brandon Karnath 5-7 1-2 14, Shiloh Christopher 0-5 2-2 2, Trevor Mahn 0-5 0-2 0. Totals: 12-36 7-15 36. 3-pointers: 5-17 (Karnath 3-5, Bryant 1-2, Ragar 1-5, Fowler 0-1, Stubbs 0-1, Townsend 0-1, Christopher 0-1, Mahn 0-1). Fouls: 12. Rebounds: 24 (Christopher 5). Assists: 7 (Ragar 3). Steals: 2 (Ragar 1, Mahn 1). Blocks: 2 (Ragar 2). Turnovers: 10.