BASKETBALL: Whitefish girls stay alive at Western A divisional tournament
BUTTE — The Whitefish girls kept their season alive while the rest of the Northwestern A struggled at the Western A divisional basketball tournament on Thursday at the Butte Civic Center.
The Bulldogs topped Stevensville in a loser-out game to advance to the consolation quarterfinals this afternoon against Corvallis.
The other three teams from the conference fell in their first-round games, dropping into the consolation bracket.
Losses by the Columbia Falls and Whitefish boys set up a third Cat-Dog game of the season, scheduled to tip at 8 a.m. to start today’s play.
The Polson girls also lost, remaining in the tournament to play Hamilton in a loser-out game at 9:45 a.m. in the first game of the girls bracket.
GIRLS
Whitefish 42, Stevensville 35
Dani Douglas scored 23 points on 10 of 16 shootng to lead the Bulldogs to the victory.
A close game throughout, Whitefish held a 20-17 lead at half.
The Bulldogs kept pushing in the second half, extending their lead to seven points with two minutes to play. Whitefish would maintain that lead to ice the game.
Annisa Brown had 10 rebounds for the Bulldogs and Allie Schulz and Cailyn Ross each had six points.
Mariah Hinson led Stevi with nine points.
Stevensville 7 10 9 9 – 35
Whitefish 8 12 11 11 – 42
STEVENSVILLE – Deanna Blair 7, Mariah Hinson 9, Makayla Davids 8, Payton Tillotson 7, Ashlynn Harrington 1, Angel Richards 3.
WHITEFISH – Dani Douglas 23, Coral Schulz 4, Allie Schulz 6, Haley Nicholson 1, Cailyn Ross 6, Annisa Brown 2.
Butte Central 58, Polson 24
The Polson girls struggled to score as top-seeded Butte Central won in a rout.
The Maroons held Polson to only four points in three separate quarters, bounding out to a 27-16 halftime lead. The Pirates couldn’t close after the break, scoring just eight points.
Marlee Congdon and Lauren Lefthand each had six points to lead Polson in scoring.
Kloie Thatcher had 18 points for the Maroons.
Polson 4 12 4 4 — 24
B. Central 11 16 16 15 — 58
POLSON — Marlee Congdon 6, Lauren Lefthand 6, Brenna Clarke 4, Nichole Lake 4, MaKenna Weltz 3, Kaelyn Smith 1.
BUTTE CENTRAL — Kloie Thatcher 18, Mollie Peoples 7, Sierra Pica 8, Kailee Murphy 7, Emily St. John 11, Bella Sorini 4, Tricia Joyce 1, Megan Michelotti 2.
Frenchtown 42, Hamilton 26
Frenchtown 11 11 11 9 — 42
Hamilton 8 1 12 5 — 26
Frenchtown – Megan Delaney 5, Alivia Williams 10, Kylie Willet 8, Allie Moe 5, Emilie Hinrichs 12, Lexi Statelen 2.
Hamilton – Baylie Duce 1, Rachael Ringer 3, Caitlin Gillespie 3, Dreann Duce 8, Kloie Nye 8, Avery Joyner 3.
BOYS
Dillon 69, Columbia Falls 28
All the shooting and good fortune Columbia Falls found at the end of its play-in game on Wednesday didn’t carry over against the Southwest champions.
Dillon led 38-17 at halftime and 63-23 after the third quarter in a convincing first-round victory.
The Beavers forced Columbia Falls into 31 turnovers and outrebounded the Wildcats 32-28, including 15 offensive boards.
Tanner Haverfield was 6 of 8 from the field, while shooting 75 percent from long range, to lead Dillon with 17 points. Michael Haverfield had 12 points and Nate Simkins 11 for the Beavers.
Nathan Riley led Columbia Falls with nine points. The Wildcats shot just 29 percent from the field.
C. Falls 10 7 6 5 — 28
Dillon 18 20 25 6 — 69
Columbia Falls – Nathan Riley 9, Austin Green 2, Matthew Morrison 4, Mason Tucker 3, Logan Stephens 1, Tyler Murphy 7, Steven DeCamp 2.
Dillon – Nate Simkins 11, Payton Lafrentz 2, Troy Andersen 7, Nick Huber 2, Tanner Haverfield 17, Carson Hritsco 4, Michael Haverfield 12, R.J. Fitzgerald 4, Logan Wilson 8, Clay Allison 2.
Butte Central 71, Whitefish 40
Whitefish hung with the host Maroons for eight minutes, but fell behind in the second quarter.
Butte Central scored 23 points in the second quarter, pulling away for a 36-23 lead at halftime. The Maroons held Whitefish to five points in the third quarter to take a 54-28 lead and cruise to the finish.
Jacob Henry scored a game-high 17 points for Whitefish and Derek Kastella had 13 points.
Tanner Kump led Butte Central with 17 points.
Whitefish will play Columbia Falls for the third time this season at 8 a.m. today. The Bulldogs won both meetings in the regular season.
Whitefish 11 12 5 12 — 40
B. Central 13 23 18 17 — 71
Whitefish – Jansen Anderson 3, Derek Kastella 13, Jacob Henry 17, Matt Brewer 7.
Butte Central – Sam Johnston 10, Nate McGree 15, Brian McGeehan 3, Cole Harper 13, Tyler Kump 2, Tanner Kump 17, Dan McCloskey 8, Archie Petritz 3.
Loser-out
Corvallis 50, Frenchtown 45
Corvallis 10 9 19 12 — 50
Frenchtown 12 11 9 13 — 45
CORVALLIS — Caleb Powell 2, Tylor Nixon 12, Justin Catanach 5, Chase Jessop 17, Dillon Lewis 10, Tannon Allred 4.
FRENCHTOWN — Jacob Prince 9, Tyson Lucier 4, Austin Menas 21, Andrew King 5, Kyle Smith 1, Parker Spadt 2, Ty Hoppie 3.