Both defending champs bow out in semifinals
Mar. 15—BOZEMAN — There will be no repeats at the AA State Basketball tournament.
Billings West did the favor of eliminating both defending champions Friday evening in the semifinals with the boys taking a 40-35 decision over Gallatin.
Meeting the Golden Bears in Saturday's title game is crosstown rival Skyview, who held off Helena for a 52-48 victory.
On the girls side, Billings West downed Skyview in the semis, maintaining a one-point lead through the final minutes for a 38-37 win.
They will face off against Gallatin Saturday in the championship after the Raptors defeated Missoula Big Sky 35-31 in the other semifinal.
Boys
Billings West 40, Gallatin 35, semifinal
Saydon Randall scored 10 points and Billings West knocked out defending champions Gallatin in the semifinals.
Cash Rice added eight for the Golden Bears, who face crosstown rival Billings Skyview in the championship Saturday.
Bobby Gutzman led the Raptors with 10 points. The teams combined to go 3-26 on 3-pointers.
Gallatin 9 7 11 8 — 35
West 11 5 10 14 — 40
GALLATIN — Carter Dahlke 2 1-2 5, Kale Fasting 3 2-4 8, Mac Melin 0 0-0 0, Bobby Gutzman 4 2-4 10, Grant Vigen 2 2-5 6, Sam Kilwein 0 0-0 0, Austin Bishop 1 0-0 2, Aidden Brown 0 0-0 0, Brett Sonju 1 0-0 3. Totals 13 7-15 35.
BILLINGS WEST — Ben Erbacher 2 2-6 6, Cash Rice 2 4-6 8, Moose Ludwig 0 0-0 0, Saydon Randall 4 1-3 10, Cohen Groener 2 2-2 6, Grayson Baumann 2 0-0 4, Jaxan Walter 1 0-0 2, Colton Bush 2 0-0 4, Keegan Grossman 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 9-17 40.
3-point goals — Gallatin 2 (Bishop, Sonju), West 1 (Randall). Fouls — Gallatin 20, West 21. Fouled out — Ludwig, Dahlke.
Billings Skyview 52, Helena 48, semifinal
Zakai Owens led Billings Skyview with 16 points as the Falcons defeated Helena in the semifinals.
Willes Frederick added eight points for Skyview, who advances to play Billings West in Saturday's championship.
Eli Patterson and Mase Spaulding led the Bengals with 10 points apiece.
Skyview 11 13 11 17 — 52
Helena 8 10 9 21 — 48
BILLINGS SKYVIEW — Zakai Owens 5 3-4 16, Camble Bjornstad 2 1-2 7, Isaac Mosser 0 2-2 2, T Williams 2 3-3 7, Willes Frederick 3 2-6 8, Merek Fisher 0 1-2 1, Kaelor Jones 1 3-4 5, Winter Lonebear 2 0-0 6. Totals 15 15-23 52
HELENA — Jaxan Lieberg 3 0-0 8, Mase Spaulding 3 2-4 10, Madden Spaulding 1 0-0 2, Tevin Wetzel 3 1-1 8, Dylan Mosness 4 1-1 9, Eli Peterson 3 2-2 10, Gracen Silvonen 0 0-0 0, Pacer Lybbert 0 0-0 0, Cameron Bullock 0 1-2 1. Totals 17 7-10 48.
3-point goals — Skyview 7 (Owens 3, Bjornstad 2, Lonebear 2), Helena 7 (Lieberg 2, Mase Spaulding 2, Peterson 2, Wetzel). Fouls — Skyview 14, Helena 23. Fouled out — Madden Spaulding, Mosness.
Helena Capital 64, Billings Senior 59
Landon Levang scored 18 points and Dylan Almquist added 13 as Helena Capital downed Billings Senior in a loser out game.
Merek Mihelish tallied 11 for the Bruins, who advance to Saturday morning's loser out round.
Zak Woog led the Broncs with 15 points. Brody Allen (12), Davyn Lehfeldt (10) and Chase Bad Bear (10) reach double figures as well for Billings Senior.
Senior 15 10 13 21 — 59
Capital 13 19 11 21 — 64
BILLINGS SENIOR — Zak Woog 5 2-3 15, Rylan Jennings 0 0-0 0, Davyn Lehfeldt 4 2-3 10, Chase Bad Bear 4 0-0 10, Zynan Zilkoski 3 2-4 8, Brody Allen 4 3-4 12, Ryder Murdock 1 0-0 2, Brady Bechtold 0 0-0 0, Khiyan Stilson 1 0-0 2. Totals 22 9-14 59.
HELENA CAPITAL — Merek Mihelish 3 4-5 11, Conor Toivonen 1 0-4 2, Dylan Almquist 1 11-14 13. Landon Levang 6 2-2 18, Brenton Belzer 2 1-2 5, Drew Almquist 3 1-2 8, Wil Spotomo 0 0-0 0, Kyle Bachmeier 0 0-0 0, Joe Merganthaler 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 19-29 64,
3-point goals — Senior 6 (Woog 3, Bad Bear 2, Allen), Capital 5 (Levang 4, Mihelish). Fouls — Senior 24, Capital 17. Fouled out — none.
Missoula Sentinel 51, Missoula Hellgate 50
Lincoln Rogers scored 14 points and Missoula Hellgate's half-court heave was no good as Missoula Sentinel advanced in a loser out game.
Carson Towe added 10 for the Spartans, who advance to Saturday morning's loser out matchups.
Easton Sant led the Knights with 18 points.
Sentinel 9 12 10 20 — 51
Hellgate 12 9 11 18 — 50
MISSOULA SENTINEL — Jace Koshatka 2 0-0 6, Lincoln Rogers 6 1-2 14, Beau O'Reilly 2 2-2 7, Kade Robinson 1 0-0 2, Carson Towe 4 0-0 10, Tyler Stanton 2 1-1 6, Gavin O'Reilly 2 1-2 6, Zeke Glidewell 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 5-7 51
MISSOULA HELLGATE — Easton Sant 7 3-3 18, Parker Link 1 3-4 5, Jacob Finch 1 1-2 3, Chance McNulty 4 0-0 9, Evan Pyron 2 1-1 5, Spencer Wayland 0 1-2 1, Vince Paffhausen 1 0-0 3, Liam Dick 1 0-0 3, Sam Cohea 0 3-4 3, Brody Schneider 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 12-16 50.
3-point goals — Sentinel 8 (Koshatka 2, Towe 2, G O'Reilly, Rogers, Stanton, B O'Reilly), Hellgate 4 (Sant, McNulty, Paffhausen, Dick). Fouls — Sentinel 18, Hellgate 14. Fouled out — Rogers. Technical fouls — Rogers, Hellgate bench.
Girls
Billings West 38, Billings Skyview 37, semifinal
The Golden Bears rallied late and took a one-point victory over their crosstown rivals to advance to the championship game.
A full box score was unavailable at press time.
Gallatin 35, Missoula Big Sky 31, semifinal
Jada Davis scored 15 points and Gallatin defeated Missoula Big Sky and advanced to the AA State championship game.
Ave Odegard added nine for the Raptors, who look for their first girls basketball title.
Kaydence Couture scored 15 points to lead the Eagles.
A complete box score could not be found at press time.
Missoula Hellgate 50, Helena 42
Shannon Kane scored 15 points and grabbed 13 rebounds as Missoula Hellgate defeated Helena in a loser out game.
Paisley Johnson added 12 for the Knights, who advance to Saturday morning's loser out game.
Madi Todorovich had 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Bengals.
Helena 9 10 8 15 — 42
Hellgate 11 11 9 19 — 50
HELENA — Addi Roush 0 0-2 0, Madi Todorovich 6 3-7 16, McKenna Pipinich 0 2-2 2, Cassidy Smith 0 2-2 2, Grace Murgel 2 0-0 6, Lauryn Lieberg 2 2-8 6, Dakota Lieberg 1 0-0 3, Morgan Koch 2 2-2 7. Totals 13 11-23 42.
MISSOULA HELLGATE — Paisley Johnson 2 8-12 12, Elly Reed 2 2-3 7, Lucy Hutchins 0 0-0 0, Shannon Kane 3 9-10 15, Gianna Passuccio 1 5-6 8, Ryan Meservy 0 3-4 3, Cady Schneider 1 0-0 2, Savannah Shepherd 1 1-2 3. Totals 10 28-37 50.
3-point goals — Helena 5 (Murgel 2, Todorovich, D Lieberg, Koch), Hellgate 2 (Reed, Passuccio). Fouls — Helena 25, Hellgate 17. Fouled out — none.
Butte 50, Bozeman 26
Cadence Graham scored a game-high 22 points and Butte cruised past Bozeman in a loser out game.
Brityn Stewart added 11 points for the Bulldogs, who advance to Saturday's loser out round.
Marlee Embry led the Hawks with 10 points.
Bozeman 10 2 2 12 — 26
Butte 14 16 12 8 — 50
BOZEMAN — Zahara Willis 0 3-4 3, Marlee Embry 2 5-6 10, Lexie Colton 1 1-2 4, Nula Anderson 1 2-4 4, Rose O'Brien 0 1-2 1, Lauren Keim 2 0-0 4, Charli Scott 0 0-0 0, Nizhni Longtimesleeping 0 0-0 0, Maddy Johnson 0 0-0 0, Taylor Johnson 0 0-0 0, Sophia May 0 0-0 0. Totals 6 12-18 26.
BUTTE — Dylann Bartoletti 1 0-0 2, Cadence Graham 7 2-4 22, Brityn Stewart 4 1-7 11, Franki Salusso 2 0-0 4, Allie Becker 1 0-0 2, Emma Johnson 0 0-0 0, Ellison Graham 1 0-0 3, Autumn Clary 1 0-0 3, Sidney Whitaker 0 0-0 0, Saege Grey 1 0-0 3, Grace Jonart 0 0-0 0, Avery Barsness 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 4-6 50.
3-point goals — Bozeman 2 (Embry, Colton), Butte 10 (C Graham 6, Stewart, E Graham, Clary, Grey). Fouls — Bozeman 8, Butte 15. Fouled out — none.
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