Browning girls fall; Wildkats, Pirates stay alive
RONAN — Down one possession late, the Browning Lady Indians couldn’t close the gap and fell to Frenchtown 53-47 in the semifinals of the Western A girls basketball tournament Friday.
Frenchtown’s win, coupled with Hamilton’s 55-51 semifinal victory over Dillon, sets up a Broncs vs. Broncs championship game Saturday at 6:30 p.m., at the Ronan Events Center.
Browning, like Dillon, fell to 18-2 on the season. The Lady Indians will face Polson in a loser-out game at 9 a.m. Saturday.
Dillon will take on Columbia Falls at 9 a.m. as well, at Ronan High School.
Columbia Falls (12-7) stayed alive with a 58-52 win over Stevensville Friday; Polson (12-8) ousted Ronan 35-28.
The morning winners play for third place at 3:30 p.m.; the losers play for fifth place at 3:30, at Ronan High School. The fifth place winner will play the fourth–place team from the Eastern A for a berth into the State A tournament next week in Bozeman.
Frenchtown 53, Browning 47
Mecca Bullchild scored 16 points for Browning and Amari Calf Robe added 14. The Lady Indians cut the gap to 50-47 late, but in the final minute committed turnovers on back-to-back possessions.
After Frenchtown hit a free throw, Browning turned the ball over again and the Broncs (15-4) closed it out.
Madison Kaufman had a game-high 23 points for Frenchtown.
Browning 9 11 18 9 - 47
Frenchtown 17 12 13 11 - 53
BROWNING — Mecca Bullchild 16, Amari Calf Robe 14, Kalcie Connelly 5, Sugar Spoonhunter 5, Lish Spoonunter 4, Jerel White Grass 2, Teslin Trombley 1.
FRENCHTOWN — Madison Kaufman 23, Sadie Smith 12, Mason Quinn 12, Alexis Godin 3, Haylee Kaufman 3.
Hamilton 55, Dillon 51
Taylor McCarthy scored 17 points while Taryn Searle had 15 and Layne Kearns 13 for Hamilton in the Broncs’ semifinal win.
Sydney Petersen scored 15 points to lead the Beavers. Kenleigh Graham added 13 points and Kylie Konen, 10.
Columbia Falls 58, Stevensville 52
Taryn Borgen hit five 3-pointers and scored 23 points for the Wildkats, who overtook the Yellowjackets with a 23-point fourth quarter.
Hope McAtee checked in with three 3-pointers and 13 points for the Kats. Stevensville (9-11) got 18 points from Shilo Lampi.
Stevi 15 16 8 13 - 52
C-Falls 21 5 9 23 - 58
STEVENSVILLE — Shilo Lampi 16, Cambree Praast 12, Dawsyn Brewer 9, Claire Hutchison 9, Addi Drye 3, Alexa Perez 3.
COLUMBIA FALLS — Tayrn Borgen 23, Hope McAtee 13, Lexi Oberholtzer 8, Kya West 6, Emalee Alton 5, Kierra Kemppainen 2, Demye Rensel 1.
Polson 35, Ronan 28
The Lady Pirates had nobody score more than seven points — Nikki Kendall and Grace Simonich led the way — but still rallied past Ronan in the fourth quarter.
Leina Ulutoa scored a game-high eight for Ronan, which ended up 8-13.
Ronan 9 8 6 5 - 28
Polson 5 8 8 14 - 35
RONAN — Leina Ulutoa 8, Kylie Fetui 5, Olivia Heinder 5, Lauryn Buhr 4, Arianna Zepeda 2, Ally Luedtke 2, Isabella Devereaux-Trahan 2.
POLSON — Nikki Kendall 7, Grace Simonich 7, Julia Barnard 5, Ashtyn Wagner 4, Mila Hawk 4, Ilysia Adams 4, Natalie Adams 2, Samantha Rensvold 2.
Tournaments
Western A Girls
Feb. 23-25, Ronan Events Center
Thursday
Frenchtown 51, Columbia Falls 35
Browning 65, Stevensville 54
Hamilton 48, Polson 43
Dillon 62, Ronan 26
Friday
Columbia Falls 58, Stevensville 52, lo
Polson 35, Ronan 28, lo
Frenchtown 53, Browning 47, sf
Hamilton 55, Dillon 51, sf
Saturday
Columbia Falls (12-7) vs. Dillon (18-2), 9 a.m., Ronan High School
Polson (12-8) vs. Browning (18-2), 9 a.m.
Morning winners, third place, 3:30 p.m.
Morning losers, fifth place, 3:30 p.m., Ronan High School
Frenchtown (15-4) vs. Hamilton (14-5), championship, 8 p.m.
Western B Girls
Feb. 23-25 at Anaconda High School
GIRLS
Missoula Loyola (14-6) vs. Eureka (7-14), 8 a.m.
Florence (11-9) vs. Thompson Falls (13-5), 9:45 a.m.
Bigfork (20-0) vs. Deer Lodge (3-19), 3 p.m.
Mission (17-5) vs. Anaconda (13-4), 4:45 p.m.
Thursday
Missoula Loyola 70, Eureka 34
Thompson Falls 61, Florence 49
Bigfork 69, Deer Lodge 13
Mission 47, Anaconda 43
Friday
Florence 69, Eureka 39, lo
Anaconda 69, Deer Lodge 52, lo
Missoula Loyola 59, Thompson Falls 45, sf
Bigfork 69, Mission 25, sf
Saturday
Florence (12-10) vs. Mission (18-6), 9 a.m., lo
Anaconda (14-5) vs. Thompson Falls, 9 a.m., lo
Morning winners, third place, 3 p.m.
Missoula Loyola (16-6) vs. Bigfork (22-0), championship, 6:30 p.m.
———
Friday’s Scores
Billings West 64, Belgrade 25
Gallatin 52, Bozeman 46
Eastern A
Lewistown 51, Livingston 48, lo
Miles City 39, Glendive 34, lo
Hardin 41, Billings Central 38, sf
Havre 57, Laurel 43, sf
Northern B
Conrad 64, Choteau 44, lo
Fairfield 48, Shelby 31, lo
Malta 54, Glasgow 42, sf
Wolf Point 65, Poplar 42, sf
Northern C
Belt 56, Cascade 30, lo
North Star 59, Simms 38, lo
Fort Benton 39, Highwood 32, sf
Roy-Winifred 45, Chinook 38, sf
Western C
Alberton-Superior 51, Drummond 34, lo
Seeley-Swan 54, Charlo 46, lo
Manhattan Christian 70, Lone Peak 44, sf
Twin Bridges 42, Ennis 36, sf