Butte Central shatters C-Falls' title hopes

HAMILTON — Columbia Falls saw its state championship dreams fall short on Thursday, falling to Butte Central 49-47 in the first round of the Class A girls state basketball tournament on a last second tip in.

The Wildkats led by seven points with six minutes to play but allowed Butte Central to hang around. The Maroons rebounded with Columbia Falls the entire contest and it was their 15th offensive board that paid off.

With the game tied at 47-all with 23.1 seconds to play, Butte Central guard Emily St. John took a handoff at the top of the key and cut through lane like she had all game, splitting a pair of defenders to attempt a layup that fell off the rim to the opposite side of the basket. Sitting there waiting for it was junior forward Sierra Pica, who pulled in the rebound and went right back up for the score with five seconds to play.

Columbia Falls attempted a heave as time expired but the shot went wide, along with the Wildkats’ hope at the school’s first girls title since 1983.

“We talked in the first half, the 50-50 balls that both teams could have got, Butte Central was getting them all,” Columbia Falls coach Cary Finberg said.

“The last play was another one. They get it and they finish it with a couple seconds to go.

“We kind of put ourselves in a spot to get upset at the end. Unfortunately at tournament time if you do that, sometimes it comes back and bites you.”

Columbia Falls had trouble all game with the Maroons pressure defense in the half court. Butte Central extended its defense high and forced the Wildkat guards into tough passes and turnovers. Columbia Falls had 10 turnovers in the first half, including six in the first quarter, as it struggled to run its offense.

Even with their offensive troubles, the Wildkats’ defense remained tough enough to keep the game close.

In a back-and-forth first quarter, Columbia Falls guard Ellie Johnson hit a 3-pointer from the corner to close the period in a 11-11 tie. In the second quarter, the Wildkats held Butte Central scoreless for the final two minutes to pull ahead 22-18 at half.

The Wildkats seemed to separate themselves in the third quarter when St. John, the leading scorer for Butte Central to that point, picked up her third and fourth fouls in the first minute of the half and was forced to sit the rest of the frame.

Feeding the ball to Winter Kemppainen in the post, Columbia Falls built an eight-point lead midway through the quarter and closed the third with a 36-30 advantage and plenty of momentum.

Then Butte Central’s Mollie Peoples opened the fourth quarter with a pair of buckets surrounding a Columbia Falls turnover to cut that lead to two. Kemppainen picked up her fourth foul with more than six minutes to play and the Maroons guards started to heat up from distance.

Maroons freshman Kloie Thatcher hit a 3 to begin an 11-3 run for Butte Central to take the lead at 45-44 with 2:37 to play.

Kemppainen immediately gave the Wildkats the lead back, but fouled out on the next possession. Columbia Falls scored just one point in her absence and missed her presence at the rim, where St. John was able to tie the contest with 36 seconds to play.

The Wildkats had the ball with the opportunity to take a lead with 29.9 seconds left, but while moving the ball up court past the Maroons’ full-court pressure they threw a pass too far for senior guard Ciera Finberg to catch up.

“We didn’t execute our defensive gameplan at all,” Cary Finberg said.

“We didn’t rebound at all. Unfortunately we had (too many) turnovers in the first half. That coupled with not rebounding and not being able to contain their penetration. We let them hang around and unfortunately they got us at the end.”

Kemppainen had 15 points and eight rebounds to lead Columbia Falls.

Peoples had 13 points for Butte Central and St. John had 10. Maroons post Ryan Trudnowski had 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Columbia Falls finished the game with 18 turnovers to Butte Central’s eight.

“We weren’t attacking,” Cary Finberg said.

“We were being tentative holding the ball. When that happens all of a sudden turnovers sneak up on us.

“We were aggressive on offense all year long. You can’t come into a state tournament and not play the same way we have. That’s what we did. For us to win this game, I really thought we would be able to handle them on the boards, we didn’t do that. We didn’t contain their penetration. All the things we talked about needing to do we just didn’t execute. That falls on me.”

The Wildkats will play Lewistown at 12:30 p.m. today in loser-out play. The Eagles lost to Billings Central 42-41 in the tournament opener.

“We’ll see what we’re made of and see if we can bounce back,” he said.

Columbia Falls 11 11 14 11 — 47

Butte Central 11 7 12 19 — 49

COLUMBIA FALLS – Summer Burlage 0-2 0-0 0, Ciera Finberg 1-6 1-2 3, Sydney Grilley 0-0 0-0 0, Cydney Finberg 1-4 0-0 3, Ellie Johnson 3-4 2-2 9, Peyton Kehr 1-3 0-0 3, Winter Kemppainen 6-10 3-7 15, Miranda Livingston 1-2 0-0 2, Kiara Burlage 3-6 3-5 9, Allyson Gimbel 1-1 1-1 3. Totals: 17-38 10-17 47.

BUTTE CENTRAL – Kloie Thatcher 2-6 2-2 8, Mollie Peoples 6-19 0-0 13, Sierra Pica 3-5 0-5 6, Emily St. John 5-10 0-0 10, Kate Ossello 0-0 1-1 1, Shawnee Hjelt 0-0 0-0 0, Taylor Wahl 0-1 0-0 0, Ryan Trudnowski 4-15 3-7 11, Megan Michelotti 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 20-57 6-15 49.

3-point goals – C. Falls 3-12 (Cy. Finberg 1-2, Johnson 1-2, Kehr 1-2), Central 3-11 (Thatcher 2-5, Peoples 1-5). Total fouls – C. Falls 16, Central 16. Fouled out – Kemppainen. Rebounds – C. Falls 34 (Kemppainen 6, K. Burlage 6), Central 33 (Trudnowski 10).

Billings Central 12 5 13 12 — 42

Lewistown 9 14 10 8 — 41

BILLINGS CENTRAL – Julianna Arellano 1-7 1-5 3, Morgan Lucas 6-13 1-6 15, Mariah Wittman 3-7 0-2 7, CeCe Paharik 1-5 0-0 2, Jade Harrison 0-1 0-0 0, Skylar Rockwell 1-2 0-0 3, Natalie Ruegsegger 4-9 0-0 10, Ellie Hanser 1-3 0-0 2. Totals: 17-47 2-15 42.

LEWISTOWN – Maria Henderson 0-1 0-0 0, Sydney Wier 3-4 0-0 8, Jessica Kindzerski 2-4 3-5 7, Tara Olson 0-1 0-0 0, Carley Carpenter 4-9 1-2 9, Lexie Anderson 1-7 0-0 2, Kyra Fleharty 1-7 0-2 2, Jaree Mane 5-10 2-2 13. Totals: 16-43 6-11 41.

3-point goals – Central 6-17 (Lucas 2-5, Wittman 1-1, Rockwell 1-2), Lewistown 3-14 (Wier 2-3, Mane 1-2). Total fouls – Central 9, Lewistown 15. Fouled out – Wier. Rebounds – Central 31 (Lucas 6), Lewistown 30 (Mane 9).

Frenchtown 6 7 20 9 — 42

Hamilton 13 18 12 17 — 60

HAMILTON – McKayl Rothie 2-2 0-0 6, Taylor Goligoski 5-14 5-7 15, Jaylee Albert 5-7 0-0 14, Kloie Nye 0-0 0-0 0, Kali Hayes 4-10 0-0 9, Carlie Jessop 1-1 0-0 3, Brianna Huggans 4-8 0-0 9, Shaylan Mohn 0-0 0-0 0, Reilly Rostad 0-0 0-0 0, Caitlin Gillespie 1-1 0-0 2, Breann Duce 0-0 0-0 0, Jordan Bauder 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 23-45 5-7 60.

FRENCHTOWN – Emma Pyron 0-1 0-0 0, Haley Cyr 4-6 1-1 10, Laci Willett 0-2 0-0 0, Krista Hebnes 0-1 1-2 1, Allie Moe 1-6 0-0 2, Brooke Yarnall 3-8 0-2 7, Lexi Statelen 0-1 0-0 0, Allie Hochhalter 0-0 0-0 0, Lacey Hochhalter 5-11 0-0 10, Megan Delaney 1-4 0-0 2, Alivia Williams 5-6 0-0 10. Totals: 19-46 2-5 42.

3-point goals – Hamilton 9-21 (Albert 4-5, Rothie 2-2, Jessop 1-1, Huggans 1-4, Hayes 1-6), Frenchtown 2-9 (Cyr 1-2, Yarnall 1-3). Total fouls – Hamilton 11, Frenchtown 13. Fouled out – none. Rebounds – Hamilton 27 (Albert 8), Frenchtown 24 (L. Hochhalter 8).

Havre 13 15 13 23 — 64

Hardin 13 18 10 13 — 54

HAVRE – Ceyara Plante 0-1 0-0 0, Dani Wagner 9-20 3-3 22, Morgan Mazurkiewicz 3-6 19-21 26, Tori Mazurkiewicz 0-1 0-0 0, Naomi Terry 3-8 6-8 13, Marca Herron 0-0 2-4 2, Holly Purkett 0-1 0-0 0, Lindsey Kudma 0-2 1-4 1. Totals: 15-39 31-40 64.

HARDIN – Madisan Chavez 0-0 0-0 0, Darla Davisson 0-2 0-0 0, Narissa Reed 0-1 0-0 0, Chelsea Pretty Point 3-6 2-2 8, Nechia House 0-0 0-0 0, Evanna Wallace 4-6 4-4 12, Jael Birdinground 0-1 2-2 2, Sharmayne Hardy 0-3 0-0 0, Aubrey Meiwald 1-5 0-0 2, Darrelyn Left Hand 8-13 6-8 23, Shakoya Fredericks 3-6 0-0 7. Totals: 19-43 14-16 54.

3-point goals – Havre 3-13 (M. Mazurkiewicz 1-3, Terry 1-3, Wagner 1-4), Hardin 2-11 (Left Hand 1-2, Fredericks 1-4). Total fouls – Havre 18, Hardin 26. Fouled out – Birdinground, Hardy. Rebounds – Havre 28 (Wagner 8), Hardin 22 (Left Hand 5).

Today’s Schedule

Loser Out

12:30 p.m. — Columbia Falls vs. Lewistown

2 p.m. — Frenchtown vs. Hardin

Semifinals

6:30 p.m. — Billings Central vs. Butte Central

8 p.m. — Hamilton vs. Havre