State B boys: Bigfork falls to Three Forks; Eureka bows out
Bigfork's Eli Thorness is hacked by Three Forks defender Owen Long during action in the State B basketball semifinals in Bozeman on Friday, March 11. (Jeremy Weber/Daily Inter Lake)
BOZEMAN — Three Forks knocked the Bigfork Vikings from the championship bracket Friday at the State B basketball tournament with a 65-54 victory in the semifinal.
Bigfork moves into loser out play, with a game against Shelby at at 10:30 a.m. today.
Three Forks got 19 points from Mikey O’Dell, who also had three boards before he fouled out.
Bigfork trailed 29-26 at the half after a 6-0 run, but Three Forks led for all but 8:09 of the game.
Bigfork’s slow start to the third quarter, where the Wolves outscored the Vikings 18-9 helped them build a lead down the stretch. They led by as much as 15 after a 14-0 run in the fourth.
The Vikings had three players score in double digits: Colin Wade with 14 points, Levi Taylor with 11, and Isak Epperly with 12. Epperly added six rebounds and two steals, and Taylor had six rebounds.
Bigfork was 20-41 from the field and Three Forks went 21-45, but it was free throws that made the difference. The Wolves were 19-27 from the line, while the Vikings were 10-19.
Three Forks got 30 points from the paint and five from fast breaks.
The Wolves had two other players reach double digits, Owen Long with 15 and Finn Tesoro with 16 points.
Long also grabbed seven boards and had two steals.
Three Forks 13 16 18 18 — 65
Bigfork 14 12 9 19 — 54
THREE FORKS — Austin Allen 2-6 5-7 9, Jacob Buchignani 0-4 0-0 0, Owen Long 6-11 2-3 15, Finn Tesoro 5-11 3-5 16, Mikey O’Dell 6-10 7-8 19, Shane Williams 2-3 2-2 6, Collin Stone 0-0 0-2 0. TOTALS 21-45 19-27 65
BIGFORK — Isak Epperly 5-9 1-2 12, Levi Taylor 5-8 1-2 11, Bryce Gilliard 1-7 1-2 4, Colin Wade 4-7 4-5 14, Nick Walker 1-3 1-2 3, Eli Thorness 0-0 1-4 1, Wyatt Johnson 1-1 1-2 3, Cole Knopik 0-2 0-0 0, George Brown 2-2 0-0 4, Jack Jensen 0-1 0-0 0, Landon Byerman 1-1 0-0 0, Ian McMann 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS 20-41 10-19 54.
3-point goals — Three Forks 4-13 (Buchignani 0-1, Long 1-4, Tesoro 3-8), Bigfork 4-15 (Epperly 1-2, Gilliard 1-6, Wade 2-5, Knopik 0-1, Jensen 0-1). Rebounds — Three Forks 23 (Allen 4, Buchignani 3, Long 7, Tesoro 1, O’Dell 3, Williams 2), Bigfork 24 (Epperly 6, Taylor 6, Gilliard 3, Wade 1, Walker 3, Johnson 1, Knopik 2, Brown 2). Fouls — Three Forks 15, Bigfork 21. Fouled out — O’Dell. Blocks — Three Forks 0, Bigfork 1. Steals — Three Forks 5 (Long 2, Tesoro 2, O’Dell 1), Bigfork 6 (Epperly 2, Taylor 1, Gilliard 1, Wade 1, Byerman 1). Turnovers — Three Forks 9, Bigfork 12.
Shelby 57, Eureka 41
BOZEMAN — A night after an overtime loss to Harlem, the Eureka Lions bowed out of the state tournament with a 57-41 loss to Shelby on Friday.
Gavin Bates led the Lions with 16 points and seven rebounds.
Shelby led 33-24 at the half and pulled away even more in the last two quarters, leading by as much as 16 points in the fourth. Eureka went on an 8-0 run before the half but would not score in double digits for the rest of the game.
Shelby’s Rhett Reynolds put on a show with his double-double, by scoring 25 points and grabbing 15 rebounds. Reynolds also sank 12 baskets on 16 attempts from the field.
Joey Kindel scored eight points and Danny Dunn added seven for the Lions. Kindel also grabbed two rebounds.
Randon Richman added 12 points for the Coyotes which included four 3-pointers. Shelby played with just six players.
Eureka 11 13 9 8 — 41
Shelby 18 15 16 18 — 57
EUREKA — Joey Kindel 3-11 0-0 8, Danny Dunn 1-2 5-7 7, Carson Komac 1-4 0-0 2, Gavin Bates 5-11 4-4 16, Tristan Butts 1-7 0-0 3, Caleb Utter 2-3 0-0 5, Braden Casazza 0-2 0-0 0 Trent Truman 0-2 0-0 0. TOTALS 13-42 9-11 41
SHELBY — Kolby Lohr 0-0 0-0 0, Taylor Parsons 3-7 1-3 10, Randon Richman 4-6 0-0 12, Kyle McDermott 2-6 0-0 5, Rhett Reynolds 12-16 1-4 25, Matteo Padroni 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS 21-35 2-7 57.
3-point goals — Eureka 6-22 (Kindel 2-9, Dunn 0-1, Bates 2-6, Butts 1-4, Utter 1-2), Shelby 8-13 (Parsons 3-5, Richman 4-4, McDermott 1-4). Rebounds — Eureka 18 (Kindel 2, Dunn 1, Komac 3, Bates 7, Butts 1, Utter 2), Shelby 23 (Lohr 3, Parsons 1, Richman 3, McDermott 1, Reynolds 15). Fouls — Eureka 11, Shelby 9. Fouled out — none. Blocks — Bigfork 0, Shelby 2. Steals — Eureka 2 (Komac 1, Bates 1), Shelby 2 Richman 1, Reynolds 1). Turnovers — Eureka 3, Shelby 6.