Stillwater boys in MCAA basketball final
HELENA — Stillwater Christian hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer of regulation and outscored Billings’ Rimrock Christian 13-8 in overtime to advance to the Montana Christian Athletic Association boys state championship basketball game on Friday at Carroll College.
The Cougars, who trailed for most of the contest, trailed by three points with 11 seconds to play when a driving Isaac Neumann found Matt VanSomeren open for the game-tying 3.
BJ Bach, who hit another 3 just seconds earlier to make the comeback possible, finished with a game-high 25 points for the Cougars. Neumann had 22.
Stillwater will play Yellowstone County Home School in the championship game. The Knights beat Gallatin Valley Home School 64-46 in the other semifinal to advance.
Rimrock 15 15 19 17 8 — 74
Stillwater 14 14 18 20 13 — 79
RIMROCK — Jake Teske 1 2-4 4, Fau Taylor 3 5-9 11, Jacob Tompkins 4 0-0 8, Joe Waggoner 8 3-5 19, Jalen Garcie 8 4-6 25, Cody Hopkins 1 0-0 2, Chris Schwartz 2 1-3 5. Totals 27 15-27 74.
STILLWATER — Schuylar Kauffman 3 0-0 7, Clayton Hashley 3 0-0 8, Nathan Chuang 1 1-2 3, BJ Bach 12 0-2 25, Daniel Lambert 1 0-0 2, Matt Van Someren 2 0-0 5, Isaac Neumann 8 3-4 22, Alex Sulzbacher 3 1-2 7. Totals 33 5-10 79
3-point goals — SCS 8 (Kauffman, Hashley 2, Bach, VanSomeren, Neumann 3), BCS 5 (Garcia 5).
Heritage Christian 67, Flathead Vly HS 56
HELENA — Heritage Christian took a 31-23 lead by halftime and pulled away in the fourth quarter and top Flathead Valley Home School, ending the Crusaders’ season.
The Falcons outscored FVHS 24-18 in the final quarter to seal the victory.
Heritage Christian 19 12 12 24 — 67
Flathead Valley HS 15 8 15 18 — 56
GIRLS
Yellowstone Cty HS 40, Stillwater Christian 33
HELENA — The Yellowstone County Home School took an early lead on its way to an upset of Stillwater Christian in the girls semifinals of the MCAA state basketball tournament.
The Knights built an 18-11 lead at halftime, playing tough defense against the top-seeded Cougars.
Stilwater fought back to take the lead in the third quarter but was unable to hold on, missing 8 of 13 free throws in the final two quarters.
Sarah Paolini scored 14 points and had 15 rebounds to lead Stillwater.
The Cougars will play Flathead Valley Home School at 8:30 a.m. today for a chance to advance to the consolation finals and play for third place.
YCHS 10 8 5 17 — 40
Stillwater 7 4 10 12 — 33
YELLOWSTONE — Hannah Trom 1 4-6 7, Shana Icenagle 2 2-2 6, Stephanie Wilson 2 2-2 6, Rose Jones 2 1-3 6, Kaylee Icenagle 4 2-3 13, Hannah Watson 1 0-0 2. Totals 12 11-16 40.
STILLWATER — Serena Koch 1 3-6 6, Janelle Falk 3 0-0 6, Dori Smith 2 0-3 4, Sarah Paolini 6 2-6 14, LuLu Neumann 1 1-2 3. Totals: 13 6-17 33.
3-point goals — YCHS 5 (K. Icenagle 3), Stillwater 1 (Koch). Total fouls — YCHS 18, Stillwater 17. Fouled out — YCHS, K. Icenagle.
Flathead Vly HS 53, Great Falls HS 26
HELENA — Flathead Valley Home School jumped out to an eight-point lead after the first quarter and never looked back.
The Crusaders dominated the contest, leading 23-11 at half and 40-13 after three quarters.
FVHS will play crosstown rival Stillwater Christan for a spot in the consolation final this morning.
GFHS 5 6 2 13 — 26
FVHS 13 10 17 13 — 53