Wildcats qualify for State A

BUTTE — Columbia Falls lost two games by a total of six points at the Western A basketball basketball divisional. The good news is that was good enough to get the Wildcats to State.

Kyler Engellant hit four 3-pointers and scored 24 points in Dillon’s 63-59 consolation game win over Columbia Falls Saturday at the Butte Civic Center; the Beavers avenged a 51-49 first-round loss to the Wildcats and take a 17-5 record into the State A tournament March 7-9, also at the Civic Center.

Columbia Falls, which fell 57-55 to Hamilton in Friday’s semifinals — then walloped Frenchtown 77-47 Saturday morning behind Jace Hill’s 33 points — is 14-8 and headed to state for the second straight season.

Dillon ousted Browning with a 62-43 loser-out win Saturday morning.

Hamilton beat Butte Central 73-64 in overtime to win the Western A championship.

Dillon 63, Columbia Falls 59

Engellant’s bucket early in the fourth quarter put Dillon ahead 54-45, before the Wildcats fought back: Hill sandwiched 3-pointers around two buckets from Cody Schweikert, and the Wildcats trailed just 56-55 with 1:42 left.

Dillon kept the lead with two free throws from Carter Curnow, then a low–post bucket from Cohen Hartman. With 18 seconds left Curnow hit two more free throws to make it 62-57, sealing the outcome.

Curnow had 19 points and Hartman 13 for Dillon.

Schweikert scored 20 points and Hill added 14 for Columbia Falls. 

Third place

C-Falls    13    17    13    16    -    59

Dillon    17    19    14    13    -    63

COLUMBIA FALLS — Dayne Tu 2-4 0-2 4, Cody Schweikert 8-11 3-4 20, Alihn Anderson 3-6 0-0 8, Jace Hill 5-16 0-0 14, Mark Robison 2-2 0-0 5, Chance Miller 0-0 0-0 0, Reggie Sapa 0-1 0-0 0, Easton Brooks 0-2 0-0 0, Hunter Goodman 3-6 2-2 8. Totals 23-48 5-8 59.

DILLON — Carter Curnow 5-10 4-7 19, Kee Christiansen 0-3 0-0 0, Kyler Engellant 10-17 0-1 24, Cohen Hartman 4-6 4-6 13, Max Davis 1-3 0-0 2, Braxtyn Turnery 2-4 0-0 5, Cooper Anderson 0-0 0-2 0. Totals 22-43 11-21 63.

3-point goals — C-Falls 8-20 (Hill 4-12, Schweikert 1-1, Anderson 2-3, Robison 1-1, Tu 0-1, Sapa 0-1, Easton 0-1), Dillon 8-17 (Engellant 4-8, Curnow 2-4, Turnery 1-1, Hartman 1-3, Christiansen 0-1). Rebounds — C-Falls 27 (Goodman 6), Dillon 23 (Engellant 7). Fouls — C-Falls 14, Dillon 13. Fouled out — Schweikert. Turnovers — C-Falls 8, Dillon 5.

Columbia Falls 77, Frenchtown 47

Hill shot 7 of 9 from 3-point range — he was 13 of 15 from the floor overall — and the Wildcats shot 61 percent in the first half while building a 41-18 lead. The senior guard also had five rebounds and three steals.

Alihn Anderson added 12 points and Schweikert had 10 points and nine rebounds for Columbia Falls. 

Eli Quinn scored 31 points for the Broncs, who ended up 15-8. He hit four 3-pointers and also grabbed seven rebounds.

C-Falls    23    18    20    16    -    77

Frenchtown    9    9    18    11    -    47

COLUMBIA FALLS — Cody Schweikert 10, Mark Robison 4, Align Anderson 12, Jace Hill 33, Reggis Sapa 5, Easton Brooks 6, Silas Ypma 2, Hunter Goodman 5.

FRENCHTOWN — Leighton Cyr 1, Bow Petersen 1, Eli Quinn 31, Hank Smith 8, Henry Griffin 6.

Dillon 62, Browning 43

Carter Curnow scored 25 points — including a 15-for-15 performance at the free throw line — and grabbed nine rebounds for Dillon.. Kyler Engellant added14 points and eight boards.

Tommy Running Rabbit and Tristan Crawford each had nine points and four rebounds for Browning, which ended up 15-6.

Dillon    13    17    15    17    -    62

Browning    8    10    13    12    -    43

DILLON — Carter Curnow 25, Kee Christiansen 3, Kyler Engellant 14, Cohen Hartman 3, Max Davis 13, Will Hansen 1, Cooper Anderson 3.

BROWNING — Maurice Redhorn III 3, Delbert Blackman 4, Tommy Running Rabbit 9, Jude Reeves 6, Noah Butterfly 5, Joshua Skunkcap 2, Tristan Craawford 9, Royce Madplume 3, Rodal Dog Taking Gun 2.

Hamilton 71, Butte Central 64 OT

Hamilton’s Canaan Magness broke a 61-61 tie with a three-point play at 2:23 of overtime, and the Broncs went up 66-61 on a Tristan Koerner put-back with 1:50 left.

Magness scored 22 points, and hit both his 3-point attempts for the champion Broncs (19-2). He answered a three by Butte Central’s Parker Robertson with one of his own to knot the game at 59-all. 

Both shots came in the final minute of regulation; Owen McPartland had 31 points for the Maroons (17-4), but his short jumper just missed at the fourth-quarter buzzer, forcing OT.

Butte C.    16    10    22    11    5    -    64

Hamilton    16    14    13    16    14    -    73

BUTTE CENTRAL — Patrick Stimatz 1-1 0-0 3, Josha Sutton 1-3 1-2 4, Jack Keeley 4-14 2-2 10, Owen McPartland 11-20 2-3 29, Zane Moodry 0-0 0-0 0, Ryan Peoples 3-8 2-2 11, GG Fantini 0-0 0-0 0, Parker Robertson 3-4 0-0 7. Totals 23-50 8-9 64.

HAMILTON — Cole Dickemore 5-10 2-2 17, Asher Griffin 0-0 0-0 0, Tristan Koerner 3-4 0-1 6, Canaan Magness 8-11 4-5 22, Tyler Jette 2-6 4-4 9, Jackson Jessop 6-11 0-0 14, Lucas Lant 0-0 0-0 0, Landen Wetzel 0-0 0-0 0, Francesco Baruffini 2-4 0-0 5. Totals 26-46 73.

3-point goals — BC 10-24 (McPartland 5-10, Peoples 3-7, Robertson 1-1, Stimatz 1-1), Ham 11-21 (Dickemore 5-9, Magness 2-2, Jessop 2-4, Baruffini 1-2, Jette 1-4). Rebounds — BC 18 (Keeley 8), Ham 30 (Koerner 12). Fouls — BC 11, Ham 12. Turnovers — BC 10, Ham 10.