Bigfork, Eureka win early at Western B divisional
HAMILTON — Bigfork remained unbeaten as they defeated Mission 71-46 in the first round of the Western B divisional tournament on Wednesday night at Hamilton High School.
Paced by senior Christian Evans’ double-double, which included a game-high 26 points, the Vikings (19-0) outscored the Bulldogs 23-4 in the first quarter en route to a 41-19 halftime lead.
Isaac Martel added 10 points for Bigfork, and Mission’s Stuart Grant, the third player in double figure for the game scored 21 points to lead the Bulldogs.
Bigfork’s blow out the Bulldogs advances them to the semifinals where they’ll play Loyola at 9:15 tonight.
Mission 4 15 16 11 — 46
Bigfork 23 18 17 13 — 71
MISSION — Aaron Ahenakew 1 0-0 3, Emilo Bravo 1 0-0 2, Gentry Brown 2 0-0 5, Jared Brown 1 1-4 3, Raymond Matt 0 3-4 3, Stuart Grant 7 4-8 21, Tate Weingart 1 1-2 3, Will Powel 1 0-0 2, Totals 16 8-14 46.
BIGFORK — Koby Boese 2 0-0 4, Adam Jordt 1 0-0 2, Cameron Nissen 2 1-1 5, Christian Evans 12 1-2 26, Isaac Martel 5 0-0 10, Jon Landon 3 2-4 8, Josh Sandry 0 6-8 6, Kyle Thomson 1 0-0 2, Ryder Trent 0 2-2 2, 3 0-6 6, Totals 29 12-17 71.
3-point goals — Mission 6 (Grant 4, G. Brown1, Ahenakew 1), Bigfork 1 (Evans).
Florence 43, Troy 34
HAMILTON — Troy played top seeded Florence within one point in the fourth quarter but couldn’t hang on, falling in the first round of the Western B divisional.
Ryan Mangun and Brad Schaff each scored 10 of their team-high 13 points to lead Florence (12-9) in the comeback. Troy (11-10), which led by six points after the first quarter and three at halftime, was led by Gabe Hickman’s 16 points.
Florence advances to play Eureka in the championship semifinals and Troy will play Deer Lodge in a loser out game on Thursday.
Troy 12 3 8 11 — 34
Florence 6 6 13 18 — 43
TROY — Luke Haggerty 1 0-0 2, Gabe Hickman 6 1-1 16, Gage Tallmadge 2 0-2 6, Sean Opland 2 1-2 5, Bruce Metz 0 0-0 0, Nathan Olds 2 1-1 5, Ryhan Huggman 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 3-6 34.
FLORENCE — Brandon Johnson 0 2-2 2, Levi Clagett 2 2-2 6, Travern Smith 2 5-8 9, Ryan Mangun 4 5-6 13, Brad Schaff 5 3-5 13, Jake Christopherson 0 0-0 0, Brady Pickering 0 0-0 0, Tynan Heck 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 17-24 43.
3-point goals – Troy 5 (Hickman 3, Tallmadge 2), Florence 0. Total fouls – Troy 15, Florence 13. Fouled out – Tallmadge.
Eureka 69,
Deer Lodge 61
HAMILTON — Eureka completed an improbable comeback, recovering from a 12-point second half deficit to beat District 6B three seed Deer Lodge in the first round.
Led by seven points each from Chase and Trey Bohne and six points from Dalton Smith, the Lions (11-10) outscored Deer Lodge 26-13 in the third quarter and 21-16 in the fourth to edge the Wardens. Smith finished with 14 points, all in the second half, and Trey Bohne had a game-high 18 points to lead Eureka.
Tristen Clark also had 18 for Deer Lodge (9-12), which will play Troy in a loser out game on Thursday morning. Eureka will play Florence for a spot in the championship game.
Deer Lodge 18 14 13 16 — 61
Eureka 8 14 26 21 — 69
DEER LODGE — Tristen Clark 5 5-5 18, Cade Benjamin 2 0-0 5, Logan Doiron 5 5-7 15, Andrew Pierson 2 2-2 6, Jacob Simpson 5 5-7 15, Justin Marshall 0 1-4 1, Dakota Crowe 0 1-2 1, Kaehl Lowery 0 0-0 0, Ethan Johnston 0 0-0 0, Brandon Porter 0 0-0 0. totals 19 19-27 61.
EUREKA — Austin Perez 1 5-5 7, Myles Griffin 3 1-3 7, Dalton Smith 6 2-2 14, Trey Bohne 6 3-3 18, Chase Bohne 3 0-0 7, R.J. Glover 6 0-0 12, Colton Henrie 1 2-3 4, Zach Sturdevant 0 0-0 0. Totals 26 13-16 69.
3-point goals – Deer Lodge 4 (Clark 3, Benjamin), Eureka 4 (T. Bohne 3, C. Bohne). Total fouls – Deer Lodge 14, Eureka 20. Fouled out – Clark.
Loyola 68, Plains 46
HAMILTON — Missoula Loyola found its range from deep against Plains, cruising past the Horsemen in the process.
JJ Anderson scored a game-high 15 points for Loyola, all from 3-point range, as the Rams moved on to the championship semifinals. Tony Madsen also had 10 points for Loyola.
Ryan Ovitt led Plains with 12 points, nine coming from long range.
Plains 13 7 12 14 — 46
Loyola 17 17 13 21 — 68
PLAINS — Ryan Ovitt 4 1-1 12, Alec Cole 1 0-0 2, Aaron Baker 4 0-0 9, Cole Benson 0 1-2 1, Kyle Revier 2 0-0 5, James Rulison 3 3-4 9, Wyatt Winebrenner 3 0-0 6, Brenen Abromeit 1 0-0 2. Totals 18 5-7 46.
MISSOULA LOYOLA — Tony Madsen 4 2-2 10, Brayden Burke 1 1-1 3, Kevin Swanson 4 0-1 9, Zach Hollenback 2 0-0 4, Strother Cooper 1 0-1 2, Stephen Sellman 4 1-2 9, Matt McHugh 1 4-4 6, JJ Anderson 5 0-2 15, Danner Linhart 3 1-2 7, Forestt Cooper 1 1-1 3. Totals 26 10-18 68.
3-point goals – Plains 5 (Ovitt 3, Baker 1, Revier 1), Loyola 6 (Anderson 5, Swanson 1). Total fouls – Plains 12, Loyola 9. Fouled out – none.