Class A boys state basketball: C-Falls, Polson come up short

BOZEMAN — It was a rough day for Northwestern A’s two entrants at the Class A state boys basketball tournament.

Defending state champion Columbia Falls fell short against Butte Central, losing 56-51, while Polson came close before falling to Dillon 59-56 in opening-round play on Thursday at Brick Breeden Field House on the campus of Montana State University.

Butte Central outscored Columbia Falls 36-25 in the final half to earn a spot in today’s semifinal round versus Laurel at 6:30 p.m.

Columbia Falls held a 26-20 advantage at the half.

“We shoot 22 percent in the second half, their two posts combined for 26 points in the second half,” Columbia Falls coach Cary Finberg said of what spoiled the day for the Wildcats.

“I didn’t think they would hurt us (inside) as much as they did.”

Grant Wallace topped Columbia Falls (17-4) in scoring with 16 points. Ty Morgan and Trevor Houston both had 12.

Marcus Ferriter led Butte Central (14-8) with 17 points. Dalton Sessions was next with 16 and Danny Peoples had 10.

Both teams were 16 of 21 at the free-throw line. Butte Central, however, was 4 of 17 behind the arc to 1 of 11 for Columbia Falls.

“Our inability to hit shots in the second half (hurt us),” Finberg said.

“It got away from us.

“This is state basketball. If you don’t play your best, you will get beat. That was the case today.”

Dillon closed strong, outscoring Polson 14-9 in the final frame to claim its victory.

Polson and Dillon were locked up at 31-all at the half.

Matthew Rensvold and Andrew Curley both tallied 15 points to power Polson’s offense.

Dillon’s balanced attack was led by J.D. Ferris, Justin Ferris, Tyler Jory and Tanner Haverfield, all with nine points each.

Dillon advances to the other semifinal contest at 8 p.m.

Polson drops into the loser-out bracket with a 2 p.m. contest.

Columbia Falls 10 16 8 17 — 51

Butte Central 8 12 15 21 — 56

COLUMBIA FALLS (17-4): Trevor Houston 3-5 6-6 12, Grant Stenger 3-5 0-2 6, Jayce Fagerland 1-9 0-0 2, Ty Morgan 3-11 6-8 12, Grant Wallace 6-8 4-5 16, Glenn Morden 1-2 0-0 3, Tyler Murphy 0-1 0-0 0, Logan WIlliams 0-1 0-0 0, Will Johnson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 17-43 16-21 51. 3-point goals: 1-11 (Houston 0-1, Fagerland 0-3, Morgan 0-3, Wallace 0-1, Morden 1-2, Murphy 0-1). Rebounds: 31 (Morgan 10). Assists: 7 (Houston 3). Steals: 4 (Four with one). Blocks: 3 (Stenger 2). Fouls: 18. Turnovers: 16.

BUTTE CENTRAL (14-8): Cal Hollow 0-3 4-4 4, Danny Peoples 3-8 2-4 10, Chad Peterson 3-7 1-2 9, Dalton Sessions 4-11 8-9 16, Marcus Ferriter 8-14 1-2 17, Cole Harper 0-0 0-0 0, Nate McGree 0-0 0-0 0, Tanner Kump 0-0 0-0 0, Kyle Harrington 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 18-44 16-21 56. 3-point goals: 4-17 (Hollow 0-2, Peoples 2-6, Peterson 2-6, Sessions 0-1, Ferriter 0-2). Rebounds: 26 (Ferriter 9). Assists: 5 (Peterson 2). Steals: 8 (Ferriter 3). Blocks: 0. Fouls: 18. Fouled out: Ferriter. Turnovers: 12.

Laurel 10 12 14 12 — 48

Belgrade 11 9 10 16 — 46

LAUREL — Tyler Thompson 3-8 3-4 10, Brandon Kubitz 4-6 0-0 8, Cooper Love 1-3 3-4 5, Caje Golden 1-5 3-4 5, Zac Allen 3-13 0-3 6, Marshall Simanton 1-2 0-0 2, Christian Jones 5-6 2-2 12. Totals: 18-43 9-17 48.

BELGRADE — Brayden Konkol 1-6 0-1 2, Koby Ruff 6-12 0-0 14, Ethan Turner 2-4 1-1 5, Keldon Lamb 5-8 4-6 15, Morgan Eitel 3-6 0-0 6, Dawsom Fowler 0-2 0-0 0, Baxter Roys 2-4 0-0 4. Totals: 19-42 5-8 46.

3-point Goals — Laurel 3-10 (Thompson 1-2, Love 0-2, Golden 0-1, Allen 0-3, Jones 2-2). Belgrade 3-12 (Ruff 2-6, Turner 0-1, Lamb 1-3, Fowler 0-2). Rebounds — Laurel 28 (Allen 12), Belgrade 27 (Ruff 6). Assists — Laurel 6 (Love, Golden 2), Belgrade 7 (Konkol, Ruff 2). Total Fouls — Laurel 14, Belgrade 17. Fouled out — None.

Dillon 19 12 19 9 — 59

Polson 17 14 11 14 — 56

DILLON – Trae Williams 1 0-4 2, J.D. Ferris 4 1-2 9, Parker Love 1 0-0 3, Justin Ferris 3 2-4 9, Jason Ferris 3 0-0 7, Tyler Jory 3 1-1 9, Nate Simkins 1 0-0 2, Nick Huber 1 0-0 2, Tanner Haverfield 4 0-2 9, Travis Ackerson 3 1-1 7. Totals 24 5-14 59.

POLSON – Payton Lefthand 1 0-0 2, Tanner Wilson 2 3-3 7, Andrew Curley 5 0-0 15, Joe Gallatin 1 0-0 2, Matthew Rensvold 6 3-3 15, Wyatt Ducharme 1 1-2 3, Derek Peel 3 0-0 9, Shade Main 1 1-2 3. Totals 20 8-10 56.

3-point goals – Dillon 6-17 (Jory 2), Polson 8-16 (Curley 5-9). Total fouls – Dillon 15, Polson 17. Fouled out – Curley. Total rebounds – Dillon 17 (Huber 5), Polson 26 (Rensvold 8).

Billings Central 15 14 9 18 — 56

Havre 21 15 10 23 — 69

BILLINGS CENTRAL — Michael Stanton 1-2 2-4 5, Jonah Studer 2-5 0-0 6, Holden Ryan 0-1 1-4 1, Colin Holetz 5-13 0-0 10, Jacob Hadley 5-13 0-1, 12, Zach Hanser 0-1 0-0 0, Johnny Elliott 0-0 0-0 0, Steven Fisher 0-0 0-0 0, Jesse Byorth 0-0 0-0 0, Caleb Byorth 0-0 0-0, Dillon Meyer 8-14 0-0 18, Micah Holt-Seavey 2-6 0-1 4. Totals: 23-55 3-10 56. 3-point goals: 7-25 (Stanton 1-1, Studer 2-4, Holetz 0-3, Hadley 2-8, Hanser 0-1, Meyer 2-6, Holt-Seavy 0-2). Rebounds: 26 (Stanton 5). Assists: 6 (six with one). Blocks: 0. Steals: 7 (Studer 3). Fouls: 20. Turnovers: 8.

HAVRE — Jerod Boles 0-7 2-2 2, Nate Rismon 6-9 3-7 18, Dane Warp 8-15 5-5 25, Michael Bakke 2-4 3-4 7, Jase Kato 4-4 1-2 9, Nate Korb 0-0 0-0 2, Jacob LaBrie 2-3 0-0 6, Isaac Warp 0-0 0-0 0, Ryan Bakke 0-0 0-0 0, Wyatt Lindbloom 0-0 0-0 0, Zachary Hunt 0-0 0-0 0, Zjahn Skones 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 22-42 16-24 56. 3-point goals: 9-16 (Boles 0-4, Rismon 3-4, Warp 4-5, LaBrie 2-3). Rebounds: 32 (Warp 8, Kato 8). Assists: 10 (Rismon 4). Blocks: 2 (Kato, Korb). Steals: 2 (Rismon, Kato). Fouls: 7. Turnovers: 13.

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Today’s Schedule

Loser-out games

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

2 p.m. — Polson vs. Billings Central

Semifinals

6:30 p.m.— Laurel vs. Butte Central

8 p.m. — Dillon vs. Havre