Columbia Falls totals 3 All-State picks, 1 league MVP
Columbia Falls’ Jace Hill, Libby’s Caden Williams and Polson’s Colton Graham and Jarrett Wilson were all named All-State for Class A boys’ basketball, in voting by coaches.
Maddie Robison and Hannah Schweikert of Columbia Falls, Gracie Smyley of Whitefish and Ronan’s Jaylea Lunceford were All-State girls’ basketball picks.
None of the boys’ All-State picks are seniors: Graham and Williams are juniors, Wilson is a sophomore and Hill, a freshman.
All of them are first-team all-Northwest A, along with Whitefish junior Bodie Smith. Graham, who led the league in scoring (17.6 ppg), was named the conference’s most valuable player.
Allec Knapton of Columbia Falls was named to the second team; Libby’s Jay Beagle and TJ Anderson and Whitefish senior Jayce Cripe were honorable mention picks.
Each Class A league chose five first-team players, five second-team picks and honorable mention selections less than or equal to the number of teams in the conference. Only first-team picks were eligible to be named All-State.
Polson’s Randy Kelley, who guided the Pirates to a 17-4 mark, was coach of the year for Northwest A.
Whitefish’s Bob Bolam, whose Bulldogs went 1508 and earned the school’s first state berth since 2012, was Northwest A girls’ coach of the year. The Bulldogs’ Brook Smith completed the first-team all-league selections.
Whitefish also had Ashton Ramsey on the second team and honorable mention picks in Mikenna Ells and Jadi Walburn.
The Wildkats’ Robison, a junior who averaged 12.1 points and 3.3 steals a game, was named league MVP.
LaKia Hill was second-team all-Northwest A and fellow Wildkats Madysen Hoerner and Lauren Falkner were honorable mention.
Libby’s Elise Erickson was honorable mention.
BOYS
First team
Colton Graham. Polson, jr. (MVP)*
Caden Williams, Libby, jr.*
Jarrett Wilson, Polson, soph.*
Jace Hill, Columbia Falls, fr.*
Bodie Smith, Whitefish, jr.
Second team — Girma Detwiler, sr., Ronan; Allec Knapton, sr., Columbia Falls; Leonard Burke, sr., Ronan; Cody Carlson, sr., Browning; Xavier Fisher, jr., Polson.
Honorable mention — Elijah Tonasket, so., Ronan; Jay Beagle, sr., Libby; Jayce Cripe, sr., Whitefish; Trevor Lake, sr., Polson; TJ Andersen, jr., Libby; Zarec Couture, sr., Ronan.
Coach of the Year — Randy Kelley, Polson.
GIRLS
First team
Maddie Robison, Columbia Falls, jr. (MVP)*
Hannah Schweikert, Columbia Falls, sr.*
Gracie Smyley, sr., Whitefish*
Jaylea Lunceford, Ronan, jr.*
Brook Smith, Whitefish, sr.
Second team — Tatum Running Crane, sr., Browning; LaKia Hill, sr., Columbia Falls; Ashton Ramsey, sr., Whitefish; Mecca Bullchild, so., Browning; Lareina Cordova, jr., Ronan.
Honorable mention — Mikenna Ells, sr., Whitefish; Madysen Hoener, sr., Columbia Falls; Lauren Falkner, sr., Columbia Falls; Jadi Walburn, jr., Whitefish; Walker Running Crane, sr., Browning; Elise Erickson, sr., Libby.
Coach of the Year — Bob Bolam, Whitefish
*-denotes All-State selection.