West speeds past Glacier; Vals, Pirates fall at state

BOZEMAN – Billings West was as fast as advertised and used a big first half to defeat Glacier 53-31 Thursday at the State AA girls’ basketball tournament in Breeden Field House.

Freshman Layla Baumann scored 14 points and Willa Albrecht added nine for the Golden Girls (19-3), who will face Missoula Sentinel in the late semifinal at 5 p.m. Thursday. Sentinel held off Bozeman 36-33 in a first-round game to improve to 17-5.

Glacier (11-12) and Bozeman (10-13) will face off in a loser-out game at 10:30 a.m.

Two other area teams fell in first-round action at state Thursday as well: The Bigfork Vals lost to Big Timber 47-35 at the State B girls’ tournament in Butte; the unbeaten Hardin boys pinned a 73-41 loss on Polson at the State A in Billings.

Billings West 53, Glacier 31

The Wolfpack didn’t find much traction until the third quarter, which was far too late. Turnovers on its first three possessions led to Billings West building an 8-0 lead.

The gap grew to 19-4 on a Laiten Lantis steal and layup near the end of the first quarter, and 33-10 on a steal and layup by Albrecht late in the second.

A pair of 3-pointers by Kenzie Williams narrowed the gap to 37-24 at 3:15 of the third quarter and Glacier had several chances to get closer but the shots didn’t fall.

West pushed the lead back to 42-27 by the end of the period.

“They’re fast,” Glacier coach Amanda Cram said of the Golden Girls. “Unfortunately our first half we didn’t put the effort into it that we needed. I’m disappointed in that the most.

“I don’t mind losing to great athletes, but I do mind when we don’t put forward the effort like we have most of the season.”

Williams led Glacier with seven points. Rademacher had six, all on free throws. Emma Andersaon added five points.

“We couldn’t get the ball in the hole,” Cram said. “We took good shots. I’m happy with the way we started the third quarter and got back to some of the fundamental things. We just couldn’t get it done today.”

Glacier 4 8 15 4 - 31

West 19 14 9 11 - 53

GLACIER – Kenzie Williams 7, Aubrie Rademacher 6, Ellie Keller 5, Jeanessa Henson 2, Sidney Gulick 2, Aubry Grame 2, Kaylee Fritz 2, Emma Anderson 5.

BILLINGS WEST – Mackenzie Rask 4, Laiten Lantis 4, Kaitlin Grossman 8, Megan Benton 2, Layla Baumann 14, Willa Albrecht 9, Maddie Albrech 6, Shauna Stene 6,

Hardin 73, Polson 41

In Billings, Cayden Redfield had 15 points and six steals to help Hardin cruise.

Trae Hugs added 14 points – including all three of Hardin’s 3-pointers – and Famous Lefthand chipped in 13 for the Bulldogs.

Polson (13-10) scored the game’s first seven points, but trailed 19-13 by the end of one quarter. Hardin then outscored the Pirates 47-13 over the next 16 minutes.

Braunson Henrikson’s 11 points led Polson, which committed 27 turnovers to Hardin’s nine.

Peyton Good Luck scored 11 points for Hardin (23-0), which faces Livingston in the semifinals at 3:30 p.m.

Polson has a 9 a.m. loser-out game against Frenchtown, which lost to Livingston 42-39 in the first round.

Polson 13 4 9 15 - 41

Hardin 19 19 28 7 - 73

POLSON – Braunson Henriksen 11; Xavier Fisher 7; Jarrett Wilson 6; Ryker Wenderoth 4; Colton Graham 3; Anton Lefthand 3; Trevor Schultz 3; Gunner Grisak 2; Trevor Lake 2.

HARDIN – Cayden Redfield 15; Trae Hugs 14; Famous Lefthand 13; Peyton Goodluck 11; Hance Three Irons 7; Kevion Ladson 7; Teivon Ramos 4; Kidd LittleLight 2.

Big Timber 47, Bigfork 35

In Butte, Bailey Finn scored 16 points and Emily Cooley had 15 points and eight rebounds to pace the Herders past Bigfork at the State A girls’ tournament.

Ansleigh Edgerton’s 13 points led Bigfork, which fell off the pace in the second quarter and trailed 25-13 at halftime.

Edgerton also had seven rebounds for the Valkyries, who lost the battle on the glass 31-20. Ashton McAnally and Emma Berreth added six points each for Bigfork (14-10), which has a 10:30 a.m. loser-out game Friday against Malta.

The Herders (23-1) advance to a 5 p.m. semifinal against Forsyth, which beat Malta 45-41.

Big Timber 9 16 6 16 - 47

Bigfork 8 5 9 13 - 35t

BIG TIMBER – Bailey Finn 16, Ella Holman 2, Haile Brandon 5, Emily Cooley 11, Alyssa Boshart 2, Darby Johnston 7, Lauren Niebur 4.

BIGFORK – Emma Berreth 6, Audrey Buenz 2, Ansleigh Edgerton 11, Isabella Santistevan 4, Ashton McAnally 6, Madison Chappuis 3, Scout Nadeau 1.