Vikings blast Columbia Falls
Bigfork’s Beau Santistevan collides with Columbia Falls’ Quintin Schriver Thursday night after Santistevan’s shot went wide. (Chris Peterson photo)
COLUMBIA FALLS — Bigfork built huge leads in the first and third quarters to overtake Columbia Falls 65-51 in a nonconference boys basketball contest on Thursday night.
The Vikings (6-1) led 21-13 in the first quarter, and after seeing their lead shring to six points at halftime, took control in the third. Bigfork held Columbia Falls to just four points in the first eight minutes after halftime, taking a 51-31 lead into the fourth quarter.
Anders Epperly had a game-high 23 points to lead Bigfork and Beau Santistevan had 12 points.
Matthew Morrison led the Wildcats (1-5) with 15 points and Dakota Bridwell had 10.
Bigfork 21 12 18 14 — 65
Col. Falls 13 14 4 20 — 51
BIGFORK — Anders Epperly 23, Clayton Reichenbach 5, Colton Reichenbach 8, Logan Taylor 9, Chase Chappuis 2, Logan Gilliard 6, Beau Santistevan 12.
COLUMBIA FALLS — Austin Green 3, Logan Stephens 6, Quintin Schriver 9, Dakota Bridwell 10, Matthew Morrison 15, DJ Shrade 8.
Glacier 66, Bozeman 62
BOZEMAN — Glacier leaned on its defense and post play down the stretch, outmuscling Bozeman for a Class AA nonconference victory.
The Wolfpack (4-1) led 15-8 after the first quarter, but had to fight with Bozeman all game, the Hawks eventually retaking the lead with less than three minutes to play.
Glacier battled in a back in forth contest down the stretch but got a major boost from senior center Jaxen Hashley, who hit a pair of three-point plays in the post to give the Wolfpack a 65-62 lead with 32 seconds to play, which the team was able to ride to the victory.
“I thought we had a subpar performance the night before (against Butte),” Glacier coach Mark Harkins said. “It’s a great testament to the kids to show resiliency and play as well as they did.”
Hashley led all scorers with 23 points and 15 rebounds.
Tadan Gilman added 14 points and Brec Raddemacher 10 points for the Wolfpack.
Kyler Ash led Bozeman (4-1) with 20 points. Lance McCutcheon had 15 points, Drew Huse 11 and Callahan O’Reilly 10.
Glacier 15 18 10 23 — 66
Bozeman 8 23 11 20 — 62
GLACIER — Caden Harkins 0-8 5-6 5, Tadan Gilman 6-12 1-2 14, Brec Rademacher 4-6 0-2 10, Kody Jarvis 2-6 0-0 6, Jaxen Hashley 8-17 6-8 23, Pat O’Connell 1-2 2-5 4, Torin Bowden 2-3 0-0 4. Totals — 23-55 14-23 66.
BOZEMAN (4-1) — Drew Huse 2-16 5-8 11, Callahan O’Reilly 2-11 4-6 10, Bailey Harlin 0-7 2-2 2, Morgan Hostetler 1-1 0-0 2, Mack Anderson 0-1 2-5 2, Lance McCutcheon 5-14 3-4 15, Kyler Ash 7-12 2-2 20. Totals — 17-62 18-27 62.
3-pointers — Bozeman 10-32 (Ash 4, Huse 2, O’Reilly 2, McCutcheon 2), Glacier 6-20 (Rademacher 2, Jarvis 2). Rebounds — Bozeman 43 (O’Reilly 10, Huse 7, McCutcheon 7), Glacier 48 (Hashley 15, Cody Hartsoch 7). Assists — Bozeman 13 (Huse 4), Glacier 9 (Harkins 3, Hashley 3). Fouls — Bozeman 19, Glacier 21.
Butte 63, Flathead 53
BUTTE — Butte dominated the third quarter to pull away in a close win over Flathead.
The Bulldogs (4-2), which led by two points at halftime, outscored Flathead 19-8 in the third quarter to build a comfortable lead. The Braves mounted a fourth quarter rally but couldn’t overcome their slump after haltime.
Wyatt Potter scored 12 points to lead Flathead (4-3) and Cade White and Tyler Johnson each scored 11.
Brock Powell led Butte with 25 points and Ryson Lovshin had 19.
Butte 16 14 19 14 - 63
Flathead 15 13 8 19 - 53
Butte—Kash Kelly 3, Evan Anderson 9, Ryson Lovshin 19, Travis Williams 1, Austin Lee 6, Brock Powell 25.
FT:10-for-14. Team Fouls: 14
Flathead— Cade White 11, Wyatt Potter 12, Bridger Johnson 8, Eric Seaman 2, Cole Gunderson 2, Tyler Johnson 11, Sam Elliot 5, Anthony Jones 2.
FT: 7-for-13. Team Fouls: 16
Thompson Falls 63, Troy 39
THOMPSON FALLS — Thompson Falls dominated Troy from the tip to win a District 7B conference contest.
Danny Hosington had 32 points to lead the Blue Hawks (1-1 7B, 1-4 overall), which led 32-19 at halftime.
Tucker Winn had a team-high 11 points for Troy (1-1, 1-2).
Troy 7 12 6 14 – 39
T. Falls 13 19 14 17 – 63
TROY – Tucker Winn 11, Jordan Day 8, Dillon Savage 6, Zach Cotten 4, Mason Chapel 3, Austin Weidman 3, Dylan Cummings 2, Hank Hartung 2.
T. FALLS – Danny Hoisington 32, McKenzie Holt 10, John Skerl 9, Dylan Beckman 6, Payton Frields 4, Michael Johnson 1, AJ Sandoval 1.