Bigfork, Eureka boys advance to semifinals
Bigfork's Levi Taylor pulls in a one-handed rebound against Arlee during first round action at the Western B Divisional Tournament in Ronan on Thursday, Feb. 24. (Jeremy Weber/Daily Inter Lake)
RONAN — Bigfork and Eureka’s boys marched into the semifinals while the Mission Bulldogs and Thompson Falls Blue Hawks fell in first-round action Thursday at the Western B Divisional.
Bigfork made a 30-18 halftime lead hold up for a 62-44 win over Arlee, before Mission fell to Missoula Loyola 63-49 and Florence beat Thompson Falls 61-38.
Bigfork (13-8) advanced to play Loyola (8-10) in Friday’s 3:30 p.m. semifinal at the Ronan Events Center.
Mission and Arlee square off in an 8 a.m. loser-out, with Deer Lodge and Thompson Falls squaring off at 9:45.
In the afternoon session Eureka put Deer Lodge away with a strong first half, winning 65-37. The Lions (11-11) will play Florence (18-3) in the 5 p.m. semifinal. Florence beat Thompson Falls to advance.
Bigfork 62, Arlee 44
Bryce Gilliard scored 13 points to lead a balanced Bigfork scoring attack; Isak Epperly and George Brown added 10 each.
Benny Harlow scored a game–high 19 points for Arlee (11-10)
Arlee 9 9 14 12 - 44
Bigfork 11 19 16 16 - 62
ARLEE — Benny Harlow 19, Levi Fullerton 6, Payton Mays 6, Kendall O’Neill 5, Jace Arca 4, Jake Knoll 2, Dallas Swab 2.
BIGFORK — Bryce Gilliard 13, Isak Epperly 10, George Brown 10, Colin Wade 8, Nick Walker 8, Eli Thorness 7, Levi Taylor 6,
Missoula Loyola 63, Mission 49
Raef Konzen scored 22 points for the Rams, seven coming in a 14-7 surge that put his team up 57-44 with 3:30 left in the game.
Noah Haffey added 12 points and some interior defense against the Bulldogs, who fell to 17-4. They beat their next opponent, Arlee, 73-56 in early January.
Mission 14 7 14 14 - 49
Loyola 13 19 11 20 - 63
MISSION — Zoran LaFrombois 14, Ross McPherson 13, Cederick McDonald 10, Kellen McClure 7, Jadence Peone 5, Justin Brown 2.
MISSOULA LOYOLA — Raef Konzen 22, Noah Haffey 12, Reynolds Johnston 9, Jack Clevenger 8, Clayton Ogilvie 4, Ethan Stack 5, Declan Harringont 3.
Florence 61, Thompson Falls 38
Levi Posey scored 18 points for Florence, which pulled away from a 25-18 halftime lead.
Beau Neal added 14 points and Patrick Duchien 10 for the Falcons (18-3), while Jesse Claridge led the Blue Hawks (12-11) with 13.
Thompson Falls will play Deer Lodge (4-17) in the 9:45 a.m. loser-out game. The Blue Hawks beat the Wardens 60-29 earlier this season.
Thompson Falls 10 8 10 10 - 38
Florence 11 14 18 18 - 61
THOMPSON FALLS — Jesse Claridge 13, Nathan Schraeder 7, Bryson LeCoure 7, Breck Ferris 5, Braxton Dorscher 4, Ben Cooper 2.
FLORENCE — Levi Posey 18, Beau Neal 14, Patrick Duchien 10, Aiden Wayne 7, Jace Pederson 4, Jesse Padilla 3, Ethan Alexander 2, Caden Zaluski 2, Blake Shoupe 1.
Eureka 65, Deer Lodge 37
Gavin Bates scored a game-high 22 points for the Lions, who forged a 34-13 halftime lead and never looked back.
Dan Dunn added 10 points for Eureka. Logan Nicholson’s 15 points led the Wardens, and Ripley Ford had 10.
Deer Lodge 7 6 10 14 - 37
Eureka 17 17 13 18 - 65
DEER LODGE — Logan Nicholson 15, Ripley Ford 10, Eli Hathaway 4, Tucker West 3, Landon Freeman 2, Alex Becker 3.
EUREKA — Gavin Bates 22, Dan Dunn 10, Tristan Butts 8, Trent Truman 6, Braden Casazza 6, Joey Kindel 6, Carson Komac 3, Caleb Utter 3, Tyson Brouillette 1.