Eureka boys edge Arlee at Western B
PABLO — Eureka’s Caden Vaughn and Tristan Butts combined for 45 points and fueled a fourth-quarterback comeback that pushed the Lions to a 68-67 win over Arlee Thursday, and into the semifinals of Western B boys basketball divisional.
The Lions, 17-3, face Anaconda (14-7) at 4:45 p.m. Friday. The Copperheads beat Plains 58-22 in Thursday’s late game.
In earlier action, the unbeaten and defending champion Missoula Loyola Rams swamped Mission 86-17, and Florence outlasted Thompson Falls 59-54. The Rams (20-0) and Falcons (14-9) square off at 3 p.m. Friday.
Eureka 68, Arlee 67
Things looked good for the Warriors when Ben Harlow-Old Person scored inside to put his team up 58-51 with 6:36 left in the game.
Vaughn, who had 21 points, started the Lions back with a 3-pointer, and Butts followed with two baskets to knot the game at 58-all.
Arlee took its last lead, 64-62, on Dallas Swab’s banked 3-pointer with 3:05 left; Vaughn put Eureka in front for good, 65-64, with a three with 1:33 remaining.
Butts hit single free throws at 22 and 11 seconds remaining, and Jacob Lane added another for a 68-64 Eureka lead. Arlee (17-5) then hit a three at the buzzer for the final points.
Vaughn and Butts had eight points each in the Lions’ closing 17-9 surge.
Arlee 18 20 13 16 - 67
Eureka 14 21 14 19 - 68
ARLEE — Ben Harlow-Old Person 31, Kaiden Ostby 10, Dallas Swab 9, Jake Knoll 6, Kendall O’Neill 5, Jace Arca 4, Trent Furtherford 2.
EUREKA — Tristan Butts 24, Caden Vaughn 21, Braden Casazza 12. Parker Bates 2, Jacob Lane 9.
Anaconda 58, Plains 22
Cael Mikalatos led the way for the Copperheads with a game-high 17 points. The Horsemen (14-9) were led by Aden West with nine.
Plains 4 6 3 9 - 22
Anaconda 18 18 15 7 - 58
PLAINS — Aden West 9, Darren STandeford 2, Zephaniah Dines 1, Zayden Allen 2, Anaya Loberg 1, Jacob Lulack 1, Konrad Maicher 1.
ANACONDA — Cael Mikalatos 17, River Hurley 11, Tytan Cook 8, Shane Schalk 4, Riley Kriskovich 3, Cory Galle 3, Brody Galle 2.
Loyola 86, Mission 17
Ethan Stack’s 26 points led the unbeaten Rams, who piled up 67 first-half points.
Mission 6 4 5 2 - 17
Loyola 36 31 14 5 - 86
MISSION — Lex LaFrombois 12, Vinny Shepard 4, Landon Walks Over Ice 1.
MISSOULA LOYOLA — Ethan Stack 26, Jamo Kendrick 16, Reynolds Johnston 10, Talen Reynolds 9, Declan Harrington 7, Jack Clevenger 7, Taylor Jones 3, Braeden McGuirl 5, Finn Haffey 3.
Florence 59, Thompson Falls 54
Tyler Abbott scored 19 points for the Falcons, who outscored Thompson Falls 35-25 after halftime.
T-Falls 10 19 14 11 - 54
Florence 14 10 19 16 - 59
THOMPSON FALLS — Bryson LeCoure 23, Nick Tessier 8, Braxton Dorscher 6, Braedon Ferris 6, Max Hannum 6, Kaiden Robins 2, Sam Burgess 2, Cael Thilmony 1.
FLORENCE — Tyler Abbott 19, Trapper Oster 14, Brody Duchien 13, Quintan Monaco 3, Ethan Alexander 6, Jake Schneitger 2, Bridger Alexander 2.