Wildcats, Browning fall in Western A
BUTTE — Friday’s comeback fell short for the Columbia Falls Wildcats, so they’ll try again Saturday.
Hamilton rode 25 points from Canaan Magness — including five free throws in the final 1:28 — to a 57-55 win over Columbia Falls in the Western A Divisional boys basketball semifinals at the Butte Civic Center.
The win sent the Broncs (18-2) into Saturday’s 5 p.m. championship game against Butte Central (17-3), which pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat Browning 63-51 in the late semifinal. Hamilton and Central also earned spots in the State A tournament March 7-9 on this same court.
Columbia Falls (13-7) can still get one of the four berths into state with a Saturday morning win against Frenchtown (15-7). They tip off at 9 a.m.
Browning is still alive as well, and faces Dillon at 10:30 a.m.
Earlier Friday Frenchtown eliminated Bigfork 52-35, while Dillon bounced Ronan out of the tournament, 50-42.
Hamilton 57, Columbia Falls 55
The Wildcats trailed 49-41 with 5:24 left, but closed to 51-49 on Cody Schweikert’s 3-pointer with 1:15 remaining. Down 56-49 after a Magness free throw with 31 seconds left, the Wildcats got 3-pointers from Mark Robison and Jace Hill — Hill’s banked in — to trail 56-55.
Less than 2 seconds remained, though; Cole Dickemore hit one free throw for Hamilton, and the Cats could not get a clear shot at the buzzer.
Schweikert and Hill each scored 21 points for Columbia Falls. Schweikert snared seven rebounds and Hill had three assists and three steals.
Dickemore and Tristan Koerner had 12 points each for Hamilton, and Koerner grabbed eight boards.
C-Falls 13 17 7 18 - 55
Hamilton 14 17 12 14 - 57
COLUMBIA FALLS — Dayne Tu 1-2 0-0 2, Cody Schweikert 8-18 4-6 21, Jace Hill 8-18 3-6 21, Mark Robison 1-3 0-0 3, Alihn Anderson 1-7 0-0 2, Chase Miller 0-0 0-0 0, Reggie Sapa 0-0 0-0 0, Easton Brooks 1-3 0-1 2, Hunter Goodman 1-3 2-2 4. Totals 21-54 9-15 55.
HAMILTON — Cole Dicemore 4-8 1-2 12, Tristan Koerner 5-8 1-1 12, Tyler Jette 0-6 4-6 4, Canaan Magness 7-12 10-14 25, Jackson Jessop 0-1 2-4 2, Lucas Lant 0-0 0-0 0, Landen Wetzel 0-0 0-0 0, Francesco Baruffini 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 17-36 18-27 57.
3-point goals — C-Falls 4-15 (Hill 2-7, Schweiker 1-3, Robison 1-2, Anderson 0-3), Ham 5-11 (Dickemore 3-5, Magness 1-1, Koerner 1-2, Jette 0-3). Rebounds — C-Falls 28 (Schweeikert 7), Hamilton 23 (Koerner 8). Fouls — C-Falls 23, Ham 14. Fouled out — Brooks. Turnovers — C-Falls 11, Ham 7.
Butte Central 63, Browning 51
Owen McPartland scored 29 points for the Maroons, including a 3-pointer that gave them the lead for good, 44-41, early in the fourth quarter.
Browning (15-5) hung in there, trailing just 51-48 when Joshua Skunkcap drove for a layup with 3:13 remaining. But a put-back, then two free throws by Jack Keeley (14 points, 13 rebounds) got Central back out to a 55-48 lead.
Browning couldn’t get the gap under five from there.
Tristan Crawford scored 14 points off the bench to lead the Indians; his two baskets in the post forged a 41-41 tie going to the final quarter. Maurice Redhorn III had 10 points and seven rebounds.
Butte C. 17 15 9 22 - 63
Browning 14 15 12 10 - 51
BUTTE CENTRAL — Joshua Sutton 4-7 0-0 9, Ryan Peoples 0-4 2-2 2, Jack Keeley 7-10 0-0 14, Owen McPartland 7-12 12-12 29, Zane Moodry 2-4 0-0 4, Patrick Stimatz 0-0 0-0 0, GG Fantini 1-2 0-0 3, Parker Robertson 0-0 2-4 2. Totals 21-39 16-18 63.
BROWNING — Jude Reevis 3-4 2-2 8, Tommy Running Rabbit 2-6 1-3 5, Delbert Blackman 3-8 0-0 6, Isiah Running Rabbit 0-0 0-0 0, Maurice Redhorn III 3-13 4-7 10, Mahkia Tatsey 0-1 0-0 0, Noah Butterfly 0-2 0-0 0, Joshua Skunkcap 3-7 2-4 8, Josh Horn 0-0 0-0 0, Tristan Crawford 6-8 2-5 14. Totals 20-49 11-21 51.
3-point goals — BC 5-14 (McPartland 3-6, Sutton 1-2, Fantini 1-2, Keeley 0-1, Peoples 0-3), Browning 0-5 (Redhorn 0-4, Skunkcap 0-1). Rebounds — BC 25 (Keeley 13), Browning 22 (Redhorn 7). Fouls — BC 14, Browning 22. Fouled out — T. Running Rabbit. Turnovers — BC 16, Browning 11.
Dillon 50, Ronan 42
The Chiefs cut a 37-30 deficit to 39-37 on Tayen Edmo’s 3-pointer with 3:12 left, only to see Dillon’s Carter Curnow answer with a tough baseline jumper.
After Ronan missed a pair of 3-point attempts, Max Davis drained one to put the Beavers up 44-37 with 1:24 left.
Kyler Engellant, Curnow and Davis all scored 15 points for the Beavers, and Engellant had 10 rebounds.
Kolby Finley scored 16 points for Ronan, which ended up 12-10. Marlo Tonasket, Jr. had nine points and 10 rebounds.
Ronan 16 9 7 10 - 42
Dillon 16 12 9 13 - 50
RONAN — Kolby Finley 16, Ted Coffman 9, Sean Small 3, Marlo Tonasket Jr. 9, Josiah Misa 2, Tayen Edmo 3.
DILLON — Carter Curnow 15, Kee Christiansen 1, Kyler Engellant 15, Cohen Hartman 4, Max Davis 15.
Frenchtown 52, Bigfork 35
Frenchtown’s duo of Eli Quinn and Hank Smith combined for 36 points and 21 rebounds, and the Broncs rolled to a 23-12 halftime lead.
Cole Knopik had 14 points and 13 rebounds for the Vikings, who ended up 9-11. Asher Knopik added 11 points.
Frenchtown 10 13 10 19 - 52
Bigfork 5 7 9 14 - 35
FRENCHTOWN — Leighton Cyr 3, Dugan Yonce 4, Bow Peterson 3, Eli Quinn 17, Hank Smith 19, Jaxon Haynes 4, Henry Griffin 2.
BIGFORK — Jack Jensen 2, Colin Wade 3, Cole Knopik 14, Asher Knopik 11, Austin Savik
Western A Divisional
Feb. 22-24, Butte
(4 teams advance)
Thursday
Columbia Falls 51, Dillon 49
Hamilton 59, Ronan 49
Butte Central 71, Bigfork 55
Browning 71, Frenchtown 55
6)
Friday
Dillon 50, Ronan 42, lo
Frenchtown 52, Bigfork 35, lo
Hamilton 57, Columbia Falls 55, sf
Butte Central 63, Browning 51, sf
Saturday
9 a.m. — Columbia Falls (13-7) vs. Frenchtown (15-7), loser out
10:30 a.m. — Dillon (15-5) vs. Browning (15-5), lo
3:30 .p.m. — Morning winners, third
5 p.m. — Hamilton (18-2) vs. Butte Central (17-3), first