Havre hands Wildkats first loss; Dawgs still alive

GREAT FALLS — Havre’s 3-point shooting and defense were too much for Columbia Falls and the Wildkats suffered their first loss Thursday, 59-38 at the State A girls’ basketball tournament.

Kyle Walker hit three 3-pointers and Sadie Filius hit two and both players scored 11 points to lead the Blue Ponies (16-2). Havre will face Billings Central in Saturday’s championship at 5 p.m., at Four Seasons Arena.

Billings Central beat Hardin 50-37 in the late semifinal.

Columbia Falls (20-1) falls into a loser-out game with valley rival Whitefish (14-7) at 1 p.m. Friday. The Bulldogs beat Ronan 56-49 in a loser-out game earlier Thursday.

In Thursday’s first loser-out Hamilton ousted Glendive 47-34.

Havre 59,

Columbia Falls 38

Havre hit six threes compared to Columbia Falls’ 1-for-10 performance from the arc. The Wildkats (20-1) had another off shooting night, going 14-for-45 (31 percent) from the floor.

LaKia Hill’s 13 points led Columbia Falls. Top scorer Hannah Schweikert managed four points. Grace Gedlaman had seven points off the bench for the Kats.

Loy Waid added 10 points for Havre and Filius ended with nine.

Havre 18 16 15 10 - 59

Col. Falls 11 10 3 14- 38

HAVRE — Kylie Walker 4 0-0 11, Loy Waid 5 0-0 10, Avery Carlson 1 1-2 3, Yelena Miller 3 5-5 11, Sadie Filius 3 1-2 9, Kennedy Hampton 1 2-2 4, Lizzy Haney 0 1-2 1, Quinn McDonald 2 1-4 5, Alyssa Oliver 0 0-0 0, Sydney Wilting 1 0-0 3. Totals 21 11-17 59.

COLUMBIA FALLS — Maddie Robison 1 2-2 4, LaKia Hill 6 1-4 13, Hannah Schweikert 2 0-0 4, Lauren Falkner 1 2-2 4, Madysen Hoerner 0 1-2 1, Clarissa Erb 1 0-0 3, Grace Gedlaman 2 3-6 7, Hope McAtee 1 0-2 2, Peyton Rhodes 0 0-0 0, Madelin Stutsman 0 0-0 0, Nevaeh Carlin 0 0-4 0. Totals 14-45 9-22 38.

3-point goals - Havre 6 (Walker 3, Filius 2, Wilting), Col. Falls 1 (Erb). Rebounds - Havre 34 (Hampton 6, Miller 6), Col. Falls 32 (Robison 5, Hill 5). Fouls - Havre 20, Col. Falls 15.

Billings Central 50, Hardin 37

The matchup of last year’s State A co-champions went the Rams’ way behind 17 points and eight rebounds from Mya Hansen.

Maria Stewart added 13 points and six boards for Central, which edged Havre 44-43 for the Eastern A Divisional title last week.

Kylee Old Elk and Alaina Woods scored 10 points each for the Bulldogs, who will take on Hamilton in a loser-out game today at 3:30 p.m.

Whitefish 56, Ronan 49

Brook Smith poured in 21 points, Gracie Smyley added 12 and the Bulldogs held off Ronan.

Jayleigh Gatch scored 15 points off the bench to lead the Maidens, who also had four 3-pointers and 12 points from Areanna Burke. Ronan ended up 12-10.

Jadi Walburn added eight points and 11 rebounds for Whitefish, which lost its two regular-season matchups with Columbia Falls.

Loser out

Whitefish 14 18 11 13 - 56

Ronan 12 10 10 17 - 49

WHITEFISH — Jadi Walburn 3 2-2 8, Mikenna Ells 2 4-5 9, Brook Smith 7 7-9 21, Gracie Smyley 3 4-4 12, Ashton Ramsey 0 3-4 3, Jenny Patten 1 0-0 3, Erin Wilde 0 0-0 0, Taylor Means 0 0-0 0. Totals 16-37 20-24 56.

RONAN — LaReina Cordova 1 0-0 2, Danielle Coffman 3 0-0 6, Areanna Burke 4 0-0 12, Jaylea Lunceford 3 4-4 10, Madeline McCrea 0 0-0 0, Jaeleigh Gatch 3 9-10 15, Leina Ulutoa 0 0-2 0, Olivia Heiner 1 1-2 3, Haylie Webster 0 1-2 1. Totals 15 15-22 49.

3-point goals - Whitefish 4 (Smyley 2, Patten, Ells), Ronan 4 (Burke 4). Rebounds - Whitefish 30 (Walburn 11, Smith 10), Ronan 21 (Lunceford 8). Fouls - Whitefish 16, Ronan 23.

Hamilton 47, Glendive 34

Layne Kearns scored 20 points to lead the Broncs (15-7), who stayed alive and sent Glendive home with a 9-12 record.

Jillian Litwiller scored 15 points for Glendive, but shot just 4-for-23 from the field.