Western B Divisional Bigfork topples St. Ignatius, faces Loyola in boys final

RONAN — Defending champ Bigfork turned in a solid performance by dropping St. Ignatius 67-53 on Friday night in semifinal play at the Western B Divisional boys basketball tournament at the Ronan Event Center.

Bigfork (18-2) moves on to tonight’s final against Missoula Loyola at 8:30 p.m.

Loyola beat Bigfork 68-57 on Jan. 26 in Bigfork while Bigfork won 70-65 in Missoula on Dec. 18.

Bigfork is riding a seven-game winning streak.

Bigfork, up 38-35 at halftime, outscored St. Ignatius after that 29-18.

The Bulldogs could not contend with the one-two offensive punch of Bigfork’s Logan Gilliard, 23 points, and Colton Reichenbach, 22 points.

Luke Schmit chipped in 13 for the victors.

Jacob Hugs netted 20 points to pace St. Ignatius, which drops into loser-out play today at 10:40 a.m. versus Florence at Ronan High School.

St. Ignatius 16 19 11 7 — 53

Bigfork 20 18 17 12 — 67

ST. IGNATIUS — Lucas Vanderburg 11, Jacob Hugs 20, Jordan Matt 2, Flint McPherson 5, Wacey McClure 9, Jedi Chrisly 4, Layne Spidel 2.

BIGFORK — Anders Epperly 3, Clayton Reichenbach 6, Colton Reichenbach 22, Luke Schmit 13, Logan Gilliard 23.

Missoula Loyola 63,

Deer Lodge 34

RONAN — Missoula Loyola (17-3) was an easy semifinal winner over Deer Lodge, coasting to a 29-point victory.

Loyola put the game away in the second half, outscoring Deer Lodge 39-19.

Jack Lincoln scored 15 points for Loyola. Jacob Hollenback had 14 and Ryan Tirrell 12.

Judd Applegate and Dyllon McDermid both had nine for Deer Lodge’s high.

Loyola advances to tonight’s championship game at 8:30 p.m.

Deer Lodge falls to loser-out action at 10:40 a.m. against Anaconda.

Deer Lodge 8 7 8 11 — 34

Missoula Loyola 11 13 16 23 — 63

DEER LODGE — Ben Anderson 4, Judd Applegate 9, Greydon Nicholson 2, Dyllon McDermid 9, Ozzie King 4, L. Nicholson 2, D. Pauley 2, A. Thompson 2.

MISSOULA LOYOLA — Jack Lincoln 15, Ryan Tirrell 12, Jacob Hollenback 14, Charles Burns 9, Jeff Twite 3, Cooper Waters 2, Bucky Crippen 3, Joseph Kendrick 5.

Loser-Out Games

Florence 61,

Thompson Falls 41

RONAN — Thompson Falls never recovered from a slow start, falling to Florence.

Down 21-5 to start, the Blue Hawks trailed 30-15 at the half and 42-23 after three quarters.

Grant Lundberg topped Thompson Falls offensively with 14 points.

Brendan Bailey led Florence, and all scorers, with 18 points.

Florence moves on to more loser-out action today at 10:40 a.m. at Ronan High School.

Thompson Falls 5 10 8 19 — 41

Florence 21 9 12 19 — 61

THOMPSON FALLS — Grant Lundberg 14, Ryan Schraeder 6, Cody Burk 5, Nathan Schraeder 5, Nate Wilhite 4, Brian Henry 4, Riley Riffle 2, Trey Fisher 1.

FLORENCE — Brendan Bailey 18, JP Briney 13, Blake Shoupe 6, Beau Neal 5, Jacob Round 5, Trevyn Wood 4, Eli Pedersen 4, Levi Posey 3, Parker Hotsinpiller 3.

Anaconda 57, Eureka 41

RONAN — Eureka held a slight advantagte early, but Anaconda pulled away from there for the victory.

Tied at 25-all at the half, Anaconda outscored Eureka 32-16 after that.

AJ Pacella had 13 points and Jake Kindel 11 to lead Eureka in its final game of the season.

Kyler Gochanour tallied 16 points for Anaconda.

Anaconda continues with loser-out play today at 10:40 a.m. at the Ronan Event Center.

Eureka 9 16 8 8 — 41

Anaconda 7 18 10 22 — 57

EUREKA — AJ Pacella 13, Jake Kindel 11, Corbin Hurst 5, Cory Chaney 5, Quade Anderson 3, Alex Lowe 2, Austin Sartori 2.

ANACONDA — Kyler Gochanour 16, Michael Galle 11, Eli Saltenberger 11, Leroy Wilson 11, Dylan Smith 2, Braedon Sawyer 2.

First-Round Game

Late Thursday Evening

St. Ignatius 16 12 15 14 — 57

Eureka 10 12 6 6 — 34

ST. IGNATIUS — Jedi Christy 15, Jacob Hugs 11, Flint McPherson 11, Wacey McClure 8, Jordan Matt 4, Lucas Vanderburg 4, Lane Spidel 2, Matt Anderson 2.

EUREKA — Cory Chaney 14, Jake Kindel 6, Corbin Hurst 5, Alex Lowe 4, AJ Pacella 3, Quade Anderson 2.

Girls

Florence 59, Bigfork 39

Danielle Zahn scored 15 of her game-high 22 points in the opening half as Florence beat the defending divisional champions by 20 points at the Ronan Event Center.

Florence, winners of 17 straight, led 33-18 at the half.

Ansleigh Edgerton topped Bigfork in scoring with 11 points.

Florence will face Missoula Loyola tonight at 6:30 p.m. in the championship game.

Bigfork (11-9) has a loser-out contest today at 9 a.m. versus Eureka at Ronan High School.

Florence 18 15 10 16 — 59

Bigfork 5 13 13 8 — 39

FLORENCE — Emma Stensrud 10, Joey Janestin 3, Kasidy Yeoman 7, Rilee Mangin 14, Makenna Liles 3, Danielle Zahn 22.

BIGFORK — Emma Berreth 8, Heidi Schneller 3, Jordan Nelson 2, Rakiah Grende 4, Ansleigh Edgerton 11, Izzy Santistevan 8, Ashton McAnally 3.

Missoula Loyola 55,

Anaconda 39

RONAN — Missoula Loyola used a big second quarter to blow by Anaconda in semifinal play.

Loyola tallied 22 points in the second quarter for a 27-16 halftime lead.

Lani Walker tallied 23 points for Loyola.

Isabel Saltenberger had 14 and Logan Stetzner 10 for Anaconda.

Loyola will face Florence in the championship game tonight at 6:30.

Anaconda has a loser-out game today versus Deer Lodge at the Ronan Event Center.

Anaconda 6 10 14 9 — 39

Missoula Loyola 5 22 10 18 — 55

ANACONDA — Mia Sullivan Sanders 5, Claire Miller 1, Megan Reich 8, Isabel Saltenberger 14, Logan Stetzner 10, Alyssa Peterson 1.

MISSOLA LOYOLA — Sam Clevenger 8, Lawey Denning 5, Lani Walker 23, Syd Koppang 4, Ashton Libel 1, Kelsey Esh 3, Nat Clevenger 5, Violet Whitegrass 6.

Loser-Out Games

Eureka 48,

Thompson Falls 33

RONAN — Eureka jumped out to a 17-2 lead en route to a 15-point loser-out victory over District 7B rival Thompson Falls.

Megan Hanson, 14 points, Maggie Graves, 13, and Michelle Leonard, 11, paced Eureka.

Eureka continues with loser-out action today at 9 a.m. at Ronan High School.

Thompson Falls 2 10 10 11 — 33

Eureka 17 15 4 12 — 48

THOMPSON FALLS — Megan Baxter 10, Jody Detlaff 8, Elli Pardee 4, Danni Van Huss 4, Riley Wilson 3, Sarah Detlaff 2, Faith Fields 2.

EUREKA — Megan Hanson 14, Maggie Graves 13, Michelle Leonard 11, Sienna Utter 5, Rhianna Hawkins 3, Avory Escobar 2.

Deer Lodge 49,

St. Ignatius 44

RONAN — Rachel Nicholson knocked down a game-high 19 points to power Deer Lodge to a loser-out win over St. Ignatius.

Afton Brander topped St. Ignatius in scoring with 13 points.

Deer Lodge advances in loser-out play with a 9 a.m. game today at the Ronan Event Center.

Deer Lodge 13 11 12 13 — 49

St. Ignatius 14 12 8 10 — 44

DEER LODGE — Rachel Nicholson 19, Rilee Gray 14, Alyssa Lamb 6, Mya Wirth 5, Kamryn Scully 3, Jessie Graveley 2.

ST. IGNATIUS — Afton Brander 13, Madyson Currie 12, Addison Arlint 11, Sydney Brander 5, Olivia Garland 3.