State A boys basketball: C-Falls advances; Polson out

BOZEMAN — Columbia Falls stayed in the hunt for a trophy, edging Belgrade 66-64 on Friday afternoon in loser-out play at the Class A state boys basketball tournament at Brick Breeden Field House on the campus of Montana State University.

Ty Morgan sank two free throws with less than two seconds to play to break a 64-all tie and then stole a long inbounds pass by Belgrade to end the game.

Morgan finished with 11 points. He was 7 of 10 shooting from the free-throw line.

Grant Wallace and Jayce Fagerland carried the offensive load for the Wildcats, scoring 23 and 22 points, respectively.

Fagerland was 6 of 8 from 3-point range.

Grant Stenger had a team-best 10 rebounds. Wallace was next with eight.

Columbia Falls (18-4) was 18 of 30 shooting at the free-throw line to 11 of 19 for Belgrade (15-7).

Keldon Lamb tallied 22 points and Brayden Konkol 20 for Belgrade.

Columbia Falls, the 2014 state champions, advance to a loser-out game today at 11 a.m. versus Havre.

The Wildcats still have a shot at finishing third.

Columbia Falls 10 21 17 18 — 66

Belgrade 12 19 9 24 — 64

COLUMBIA FALLS — Trevor Houston 1-3 2-2 4, Grant Stenger 1-2 4-8 6, Jayce Fagerland 8-12 0-0 22, Ty Morgan 2-9 7-10 11, Grant Wallace 9-15 5-8 23, Glenn Morden 0-0 0-2 0, Tyler Murphy 0-2 0-0 0, Logan Williams 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 21-44 18-30 66.

BELGRADE — Brayden Konkol 8-14 4-8 20, Koby Ruff 0-3 0-1 0, Ethan Turner 3-7 3-3 10, Keldon Lamb 9-13 4-7 22, Morgan Eitel 2-4 0-0 4, Dawson Fowler 2-6 0-0 6, Daniel Tanascu 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 25-48 11-19 64.

3-point goals: Columbia Falls 6-13 (Houston 0-1, Fagerland 6-8, Morgan 0-3, Murphy 0-1); Belgrade 3-12 (Ruff 0-2, Turner 1-3, Lamb 0-2, Fowler 2-5); Rebounds: Columbia Falls 29 (Stenger 10, Wallace 8); Belgrade 28 (10 Konkol); Turnovers: Columbia Falls 16, Belgrade 15; Team fouls — Columbia Falls 18, Belgrade 22; Fouled out — Eitel.

Billings Central 54,

Polson 52

BOZEMAN — Another tough, close loss for Polson.

Billings Central (15-7) held on to beat the Pirates (10-13) in a loser-out contest.

Billings Central, up 30-19 at the half, saw Polson cut into its lead in the third quarter as the Rams entered the fourth quarter holding a 41-37 advantage.

Tanner Wilson topped Polson in scoring with 14 points. Andrew Curley and Matthew Rensvold both had 12.

Jacob Hadley carried Billings Central offensively, scoring a game-high 26 points. Colin Holetz added 16.

Polson on Thursday fell to Dillon 59-56 in opening-round play.

Billings Central 18 12 11 13 — 54

Polson 10 9 18 15 — 52

BILLINGS CENTRAL — Michael Stanton 0-1 0-3 0, Jonah Studer 0-2 1-2 1, Holden Ryan 2-7 0-0 5, Colin Holetz 5-10 6-13 16, Jacob Hadley 8-11 8-12 24, Zach Hanser 0-1 0-0 1, Jesse Byorth 2-2 0-0 4, Dillon Meyer 0-1 0-0 0, Micah Holt-Seavey 2-3 0-0 4. Totals: 19-38 15-30 54.

POLSON — Payton Lefthand 1-2 0-0 3, Tanner Wilson 6-9 1-2 14, Andrew Curley 4-16 0-0 12, Joe Gallatin 1-1 0-2 2, Matthew Rensvold 4-4 4-4 12, Wyatt Ducharme 1-1 0-0 2, Grey Fitzpatrick 1-2 0-0 3, Chris McDonald 0-1 0-0 0, Derek Peel 1-9 1-2 4. Totals: 19-45 6-10 52.

3-point goals: Billings Central 1-8 (Studer 0-1, Ryan 1-1, Holetz 0-2, Hadley 0-1, Hanser 0-1, Meyer 0-1, Holt-Seavey 0-1); Polson 8-24 (Lefthand 1-1, Wilson 1-2, Curley 4-13, Fitzpatrick 1-2, Peel 1-6); Rebounds: Billings Central 30 ((Holetz 8), Polson 30 (Wilson 5, Gallatin 5, Rensvold 5, Peel 5); Turnovers: Billings Central 8, Polson 12; Team fouls: Billings Central 14, Polson 20; Fouled out: Rensvold.

Semifinals

Laurel 19 13 10 16 — 58

Central 8 11 15 21 — 55

Laurel — Tyler Thompson 2-6 2-2 7, Brandon Kubitz 2-4 0-0 4, Cooper Love 2-4 3-8 9, Zac Allen 8-13 10-17 26, Marshall Simanton 3-7 1-2 7, Christian Jones 2-5 0-0 5. Totals: 19-41 16-29 58.

Butte Central — Cal Hollow 1-2 0-0 2, Danny Peoples 7-19 18, Chad Peterson 2-9 2-2 8, Dalton Sessions 3-7 5-6 12, Marcus Ferriter 3-6 2-3 8, Nate McGree 1-1 1-2 3, Kyle Harrington 0-0 1-2 1. Totals: 18-46 11-15 55.

3-point goals: Laurel 4-10 (Thompson 1-1, Love 2-4, Golden 0-1, Allen 0-1, simanton 0-2, Jones 1-1); Butte Central 8-28 (Hollow 0-1, Peoples 4-13, Peterson 2-9, Sessions 1-3, Ferriter 0-1, Harper 1-1); Rebounds: Laurel 32 (Allen 8), Butte Central 28 (Sessions 11); Turnovers: Laurel 5, Butte Central 3; Team fouls: Laurel 12, Butte Central 23; Fouled out; Ferriter.

Dillon 14 15 15 16 — 60

Havre 18 10 14 16 — 58

DILLON — Trae Williams 5-7 6-7 17, J.D. Ferris 2-3 0-0 5, Parker Love 0-1 0-0 0, Justin Ferris 1-3 0-0 2, Jason Ferris 7-12 0-0 14, Tyler Jory 1-3 0-0 3, Nate Simkins 2-6 3-4 9, Nick Huber 0-1 0-0 0, Tanner Haverfield 3-6 0-1 6, Travis Ackerson 2-4 0-0 4. Totals: 23-46 9-12 60.

HAVRE — Jerod Boles 3-9 0-0 9, Nate Rismon 3-6 1-2 9, Dane Warp 5-8 9-9 20, Michael Bakke 4-6 2-4 10, Jase Kato 1-2 0-0 2, Jacob LaBrie 2-3 0-0 6, Wyatt Lindbloom 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 19-35 12-15 58.

3-point goals: Dillon 5-13 (Williams 1-2, JD Ferris 1-1, Love 0-1, Ju. Ferris 0-1, Jory 1-2, Simkins 2-4, Haverfield 0-1, Ackerson 0-1), Havre 8-16 (Boles 3-6, Rismon 2-5, Warp 1-1, Bakke 0-1, LaBrie 2-3); Rebounds: Dillon 22 (Love 6), Havre 21 (Warp 5); Turnovers: Dillon 8, Havre 11; Team fouls: Dillon 15, Havre 16; Fouled out: None.

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Today’s Schedule

Loser-out games

9:30 a.m. — Billings Central vs. Butte Cdentral

11 a.m. — Columbia Falls vs. Havre

Consolation Final

6:30 p.m. — 9:30 and 11 a.m. loser-out winners

Championship Game

8 p.m. — Laurel vs. Dillon