Gallatin boys, Skyview girls keep repeat hopes alive at State AA

BOZEMAN — One day down and both defending champions are still alive for a repeat in the AA State Basketball Tournament. 

Defending boys winners Gallatin held Missoula Hellgate to just 12 first half points en route to the victory. 

On the girls side, Billings Skyview powered past Hellgate late to win their first-round matchup 51-43. 

In all the Eastern AA teams picked up six of the eight wins Thursday, with the Helena boys and Missoula Big Sky girls the only Western teams to win. 

Boys 

Billings Skyview 53, Helena Capital 41

Camble Bjornstad scored 19 points and Tayshaun Williams added 12 as Billings Skyview (15-5) downed Helena Capital (11-10) in a first-round matchup. 

Williams led the Falcons with 13 rebounds. 

Brenton Belzer led the Bruins with 16 points, Conor Toivonen and Dylan Almquist tallied seven points apiece. 

Skyview    16    6    15    16    -    53 

Capital    11    4    12    14    -    41

BILLINGS SKYVIEW — Zakai Owens 1 0-0 2, Camble Bjornstad 5 7-10 19, Isaac Mosser 0 0-0 0, Tayshaun WIlliams 5 1-2 12, Willes Frederick 3 0-0 6, Winter Lonebear 1 0-0 3, Merek Fisher 3 0-0 6, Diz Whiteman 0 0-0 0, Kaelor Jones 1 0-0 3, Jaysun Mims 1 0-0 2. Totals 20 8-12 53. 

HELENA CAPITAL — Merek Mihelish 1 0-0 2, Conor Toivonen 3 1-2 7, Dylan ALmquist 2 3-4 7, Landon Levang 1 2-4 5, Brenton Belzer 6 0-0 16, Drew Almquist 0 0-0 0, Brett Buehler 2 0-2 4, Kyle Bachmeier 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 6-12 41. 

3-point goals — Skyview 5 (Bjornstad 2, Williams, Lonebear, Jones), Capital 5 (Belzer 4, Levang). Fouls — Skyview 7, Capital 10. Fouled out — none. 

Helena 60, Billings Senior 50 

Jaxan Lieberg scored a game-high 24 points as Helena (16-4) downed Billings Senior (12-9) in a first-round matchup. 

Tevin Wetzel added nine for the Bengals, all at the free throw line. 

Zynan Zilkoski led the Broncs with 14 points, Brody Allen had 10. 

Helena    18    16    12    14    -    60 

Senior    13    13    12    12    -    50 

HELENA — Jaxan Lieberg 7 7-8 24, Mase Spaulding 2 2-4 6, Madden Spaulding 3 0-0 6, Tevin Wetzel 0 9-10 9, Dylan Mosness 3 1-2 7, Eli Peterson 3 0-0 8, Cameron Bullock 0 0-0 0, Pacer Lybbert 0 0-0 0, Gracen Silvonen 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 19-24 60. 

BILLINGS SENIOR — Zak Woog 2 0-0 5, Rylan Jennings 1 1-2 3, Davyn Lehfeldt 3 2-2 8, Chase Bad Bear 1 102 3, Zynan Zilkoski 4 3-5 14, Brody Allen 4 1-4 10, Ryder Murdoch 1 0-2 2, Brady Bechtold 1 0-0 2, Khiyan Stilson 1 0-0 2. Totals 18 8-17 50. 

3-point goals — Helena 5 (Lieberg 3, Peterson 2), Senior 6 (Zilkoski 3, Woog, Allen, Bechtold). Fouls — Helena 18, Senior 22. Fouled out — Lehfeldt. 

Gallatin 54, Missoula Hellgate 39

Kale Fasting scored 14 points and Bobby Gutzman added 10 as Gallatin (15-6) powered past Missoula Hellgate (14-6) in a first-round game. 

Easton Sant led the Knights with 10 points, Hellgate was 2-for-22 on 3-pointers. 

Gallatin    15    12    13    14    -    54 

Hellgate    3    9    17    10    -    39

BOZEMAN GALLATIN — Carter Dahlke 1 4-4 7, Kale Fasting 5 4-8 14, Mac Melin 1 0-0 3, Bobby Gutzman 3 3-4 10, Grant Vigen 2 5-6 9, Brett Sonju 1 0-0 3, Aidden Brown 1 1-1 3, Austin Bishop 2 0-0 5, Sam Kilwein 0 0-0 0, Miler Brenton 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 17-23 54. 

MISSOULA HELLGATE — Easton Sant 3 3-3 10, Parker Link 0 0-0 0, Jacob Finch 1 0-0 2, Chance McNulty 3 2-2 8, Evan Pyron 2 2-5 6, Vince Paffhausen 0 0-0 0, Liam Dick 0 0-0 0, Spencer Wayland 1 2-2 4, Brody Schneider 0 1-2 1, Sam Cohea 2 3-3 8, Matiya Nenemay 0 0-0 0, Noah Hill 0 0-0 0. Totals 12 13-17 39. 

3-point goals — Gallatin 5 (Dahlke, Melin, Gutzman, Bishop, Sonju), Hellgate 2 (Sant, Cohea). Fouls — Gallatin 16, Hellgate 19. Fouled out — none. 

Billings West 61, Missoula Sentinel 33 

Cash Rice led Billings West (16-4) with 15 points as the Golden Bears downed Missoula Sentinel (11-10) in a first-round matchup. 

Ben Erbacher tallied 13 points and Moose Ludwig had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. 

Lincoln Rogers led the Spartans with 11 points. 

West    13    13    21    14    -    61 

Sentinel    3    12    6    12    -    33

BILLINGS WEST — Ben Erbacher 6 1-3 14, Cash Rice 5 0-0 15, Shaydon Randall 2 1-2 5, Cohen Grosner 2 0-0 4, Moose Ludwig 5 0-0 10, Jaxen Walker 0 2-4 2, Grayson Baumann 2 0-0 5, Colton Bush 1 0-0 2, Westdon Kelley 0 0-0 0, Keegan Grossman 1 0-0 3, Easton Bogner 1 0-0 2, Emmett Gibbons 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 4-9 61. 

MISSOULA SENTINEL — Lincoln Rogers 4 2-3 11, Bill O’Reilly 2 2-2 8, Kade Robinson 0 3-6 3, Jace Koshatka 1 0-0 2, Carson Towe 2 0-0 4, Tyler Stanton 1 0-0 2, Gavin O’Reilly 0 0-0 0, Zeke Glidewell 0 1-2 1, Brayden Burke 1 0-0 2. Totals 11 8-13 33. 

3-point goals — West 7 (Rice 5, Baumann, Grossman), Sentinel 3 (B O’Reilly 2, Rogers). Fouls — West 17, Sentinel 8. Fouled out — none.  

Girls 

Billings Skyview 51, Missoula Hellgate 43

Kiki Lonebear scored 24 points and Rae Smart added 18 as Billings Skyview (13-8) downed Missoula Hellgate (13-7) in a first-round game. 

Gianna Passuccio led the Knights with 15 points, Elly Reed tallied 13. 

Skyview    5    11    19    16    -    51 

Hellgate    5    10    19    9    -    43 

BILLINGS SKYVIEW — Tenley Leffler 1 102 4, Rae Smart 4 10-14 18, Taryn Salveson 1 0-0 3, Kiki Lonebear 9 3-4 24, Rylee Malcher 0 0-0 0, Kenna Pfeifle 0 0-0 0, Mylie Reiter 0 0-0 0, Kailey Stewart 0 0-0 0, Olivia Field 1 0-0 2, Ellie Wolcott 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 14-20 51. 

MISSOULA HELLGATE — Paisley Johnson 3 1-2 7, Elly Reed 6 1-2 13, Lucy Hutchins 0 0-0 0, Shannon Kane 1 3-4 6, Gianna Passuccio 5 4-5 15, Ryan Meservy 0 0-0 0, Cady Schneider 0 0-0 0, Savannah Shepherd 1 0-0 2. Totals 16 9-13 43. 

3-point goals — Skyview 5 (Lonebear 3, Salveson, Leffler), Hellgate 2 (Kane, Passuccio). Fouls — Skyview 17, Hellgate 17. Fouled out — none. 

Billings West 70, Helena 49

Reagan Soucy and Reese Enderson scored 19 points apiece and Billings West (19-1) ran away from Helena (13-8) in a first-round matchup. 

Madi Todorovich led the Bengals with 21 points. 

West    18    13    23    16    -    70 

Helena    6    19    11    13    -    49

BILLINGS WEST — Reagan Soucy 5 3-4 19, Grace Curnow 0 0-0 0, Maisie Heggem-Prinkki 3 2-2 8, Brooklyn Pierce 3 2-4 8, Reese Enderson 6 6-9 19, Kensi Dorn 1 0-0 2, Bryn Fitzgerald 1 2-2 5, Macy Crinswell 2 0-0 6, Quinn Freitag 0 0-2 0, Aidyn McKenzie 1 0-0 3, Ryan McDowell 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 15-23 70. 

HELENA — Addi Roush 0 0-0 0, Madi Todorovich 7 4-5 21, McKenna Pipinich 4 0-0 9, Cassidy Smith 1 0-1 2, Grace Murgel 1 2-2 5, Lauryn Lieberg 2 0-0 4, Morgan Koch 0 0-0 0, Ella McCarthy 0 0-0 0, Dakota Lieberg 2 2-2 8. Totals 17 8-10 49. 

3-point goals — West 9 (Soucy 4, Crinswell 2, Enderson, Fitzgerald, McKenzie), Helena 7 (Todorovich 3, D Lieberg 2, Murgel, Pipinich). Fouls — West 14, Helena 17. Technical fouls — Smith. Fouled out — Pipinich. 

Gallatin 59, Butte 41

Jada Davis scored 19 points and Gallatin (19-1) downed Butte (14-7) in a first-round matchup. 

Makayla Coleman tallied 14 points and Ave Odegard added 10 to put three Raptors in double figures. 

Cadence Graham led the Bulldogs with 11 points. 

Butte    5    11    14    11    -    41 

Gallatin    17    10    13    19    -    59

BUTTE — Dylan Bartoletti 1 0-3 2, Cadence Graham 4 2-2 11, Sidney Whitaker 0 0-0 0, Brityn Stewart 3 0-0 6, Franki Salusso 5 0-0 7, Allie becker 1 0-0 2, Ellison Graham 2 1-3 5, Emma Johnson 2 1-2 5, Addelei Hall 0 0-0 0, Autumn Clary 0 0-0 0, Saege Grey 0 0-0 0, Gracie Jonart 0 0-0 0, Kendallyn Schrader 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 4-10 41. 

GALLATIN — Jada Davis7 1-2 19, Ave Odegard 4 1-2 10, Saydey Perry 2 0-0 5, Makayla Coleman 5 3-5 14, Emma Hardman 2 0-0 4, Callie Wiseman 1 1-2 4, Llorilei Hogan 1 0-0 3, Alissa Armstrong 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 6-11 59. 

3-point goals — Butte 1 (Graham), Gallatin 9 (Davis 4, Odegard, Perry, Coleman, Wiseman, Hogan). Fouls — Butte 9, Gallatin 15. Fouled out — none. 

Missoula Big Sky 46, Bozeman 24 

A game recap was unavailable at press time.