Browning, C-Falls make Western A girls semifinals
HAMILTON — Browning, Columbia Falls, Hamilton and Dillon punched their tickets to the Western A girls basketball divisional semifinals Thursday.
Browning defeated Butte Central 59-44, outscoring the Maroons 36-20 down the stretch after a tight first half.
Hamilton had an easier time dispatching Polson and led 34-9 at the half. The Pirates didn't put up much of a fight the rest of the way and the Broncs won 58-19.
In another blowout game, Dillon topped Ronan behind a potent offense that scored 22 points in the second quarter. The Beavers won 60-19, and will face Columbia Falls in the 8 p.m. semifinal.
The Wildkats downed Stevensville 46-36.
Hamilton and Browning meet in today’s semifinals at 6:30.
Butte Central and Polson face off at 12:30 p.m. in loser-out play today.
Browning 59, Butte Central 44
Mecca Bullchild had the hot hand with 25 points for Browning to lead all scorers in the game and Cara Guardipee added 10.
For Butte Central, Brooke Badinovac poured in 19 points, and Sophie Hatcher added 15.
Butte Central 10 14 13 7 — 44
Browning 13 10 19 17 — 59
BUTTE CENTRAL — Brooke Badovinac 19, Sofee Thatcher 15, Ella Moodry 10.
BROWNING —Mecca Bullchild 25, Cara Guardipee 10, Sugar Spoonhunter 6, Jerel WhiteGrass 6, Brailey Racine 4, Tashlynn Lazyboy 3, Kinsley Bird 2, Amari CalfRobe 2, Kalcie Connelly 2.
Hamilton 58, Polson 19
Hamilton’s Layne Kearns paced the Broncs with 17 points, and Taylor McCarthy checked in with eight.
Areanna Burke was Polson’s lead scorer with 12 points.
Hamilton 14 20 13 11 — 58
Polson 6 3 3 7 — 19
HAMILTON — Layne Kearns 17, Taylor McCarthy 9, Taryn Searle 8, Madi Nelson 6, Ayda Griffin 6, Mya Winkler 5, Lavana Wetzel 4, Lexi Brenneman 2, Harley Hansen 1.
POLSON — Areanna Burke 12, Jazlyn Dalbey 3, Ilysia Adams 2, Julia Barnard 1, Grace Simonich 1.
Dillon 60, Ronan 19
Sydney Peterson was the Beavers’ top scorer, putting in 16 points, while Zoey Morast added 10.
For Ronan, Lauryn Buhr scored five points.
Ronan 6 4 8 1 —19
Dillon 12 22 8 18 — 60
RONAN — Lauryn Buhr 5, Olivia Heiner 4, Dani Coffman 4, Margaret Cordova 2, Leina Ulutoa 2, Kylie Fetui 2.
DILLON — Sydney Petersen 16, Zoey Morast 10, Ainsley Shipman 9, Halle Fitzgerald 8, Ariel Thomas 5, Kylie Konen 4, Hailey Powell 3, Leila Stennerson 2, Jordyn Walker 2, Evey Hansen 1.
Columbia Fals 46, Stevensville 36
Maddie Robison and Hope McAtee scored 11 points each to lead the Wildkats, who led 12-2 after one quarter.
Stevi 2 8 8 18 - 36
C-Falls 12 10 9 15 - 46
STEVENSVILLE — Claire Hutchison 10, Shilo Lampi 13, Hailey Thomas 4, Kelti Wandler 4, Cambree Praast 3, Perez 2.
COLUMBIA FALLS — Maddie Robison 11, Hope McAtee 11, Grace Gedlaman 9, Alexis Green 7, Lexi Oberholtzer 5, Maddy Stutsman 3.