C-Falls girls 3rd at Class A state tourney
GREAT FALLS — The Columbia Falls Wildkats, winners of a state championship a year ago, are bringing home another trophy as they finished third on Saturday evening at the Class A state girls basketball tournament by defeating Hamilton 52-36 in the consolation final at Four Seasons Arena.
The Wildkats (19-5) outscored the Broncs 34-16 in the middle two quarters to pull away for the easy victory.
Dani Douglas, a senior guard, closed out her brilliant Columbia Falls career with a team-high 18 points. She went 6 for 6 from behind the arc.
Senior forward Hannah Gedlaman netted 12 points while junior forward Trista Cowan chipped in 10. Gedlaman was 5 of 7 shooting from the field and made 2 of 4 free throws.
Columbia Falls shot 53 percent (20 of 38) from the field to 33 percent for Hamilton (13 of 40).
The Wildkats had a 27-17 advantage on the boards and turned the ball over just four times.
Cowan had a team-high nine rebounds.
Cariann Kunkel led Hamilton in scoring with nine points.
Columbia Falls advanced to the third/fourth place game by beating Browning 65-47.
The Wildkats finished state play with a 3-1 record. The loss came in the first round on Thursday to Hardin, 60-34.
Columbia Falls 11 16 18 7 — 52
Hamilton 10 6 10 10 — 36
COLUMBIA FALLS — Dani Douglas 18, Savannah Ellis 3, Lakiah Hill 8, Hannah Gedlaman 12, Ryley Kehr 1, Trista Cowan 10.
HAMILTON — Tessa Della Silva 6,Tristan Searle 2, Abby Johnson 3, Ani Mason 1, Kara Nye 6, Mallory McGill 5, Cariann Kunkel 9, Lauren Ryter 4.
Columbia Falls 65, Browning 47
GREAT FALLS — Gedlaman tallied 24 points and Cowan netted 18 as Columbia Falls eliminated Browning.
The Wildkats held a 13-7 lead after the first quarter and stayed on top 26-21 at the half.
A strong second half, helped Columbia Falls pull away for the 18-point win.
Gedlaman was 9 of 18 shooting from the field and hit 6 of 9 free throws.
She shared team-high honors in rebounding with Ryley Kehr, both with six.
Kehr had a team-high five assists while Gedlaman totaled three.
Columbia Falls shot 51 percent from the field (23 of 45) and was 15 of 22 free throw shooting.
Browning shot 33 percent (18 of 54) and hit 5 of 10 free throws.
The victory gave Columbia Falls a season split with the Lady Indians (17-7). Columbia Falls won the first and fourth meetings.
Loser-Out Games
Columbia Falls 13 13 17 22 — 65
Browning 7 14 10 16 — 47
COLUMBIA FALLS — Dani Douglas 7, Savannah Ellis 2, Lakiah Hill 3, Hannah Gedlaman 24, Hannah Schweikert 2, Ryley Kehr 8, Kiera Brown 1, Trista Cowan 18.
BROWNING — Walker Running Crane 1, Lacie Goss 3, Kelsey Mad Plumme 1, Olivia Hall 6, Taylor Jordan 9, Ronnal Jordan 13, Dulci Skunkcap 12, Tamika Guardipee 2.
Hamilton 9 4 15 24 — 52
Butte Central 12 8 5 19 — 44
HAMILTON — Tristan Searle 15, Kara Nye 8, Mallory McGill 2, Cariann Kunkel 24, Lauren Ryter 3.
BUTTE CENTRAL — Kloie Thatcher 17, Olivia Bolton 5, Cassidy Strizic 1, Megan Michelotti 7, Emma Keely 3,Tricia Joyce 11.
Championship game
Hardin 9 9 5 12 — 35
Havre 8 9 7 18 — 42
Hardin — Ivery Fitzler 3, Sharmayne Hardy 1, Karissa DuShane 10, Aiyanna Ereaux 9, Bergan Realbird 2, Arena Plenty 7, Marie Five 3.
Havre — Kyndall Keller 12, Kylee Nystrom 6, Kadia Miller 4, Marca Herron 11, Danielle Wallace 7, Kyley Verploegen 2.