Runnin' into the semis

Mar. 14—BILLINGS — Browning grinded it out and got the burst; Ronan needed a couple more boards or fewer sailed passes.

Jude Reevis scored 26 points Thursday night to lead the Runnin' Indians over Glendive 47-44 at the State A boys basketball tournament, giving the Northwest A Conference a semifinalist on Friday.

Ronan wasn't so fortunate, falling 65-50 to a big Billings Central squad that got 16 points from Howie Martin.

Browning (16-6) will play state tournament newcomer Lockwood in Fridays 8 p.m. nightcap. The Lions rallied past Frenchtown 60-55 in Thursday's late game.

The Central Rams play Dillon, which beat East Helena 70-50 Thursday, in the first semifinal at 6:30.

Ronan (16-7) fell into a noon loser-out game against the Vigilantes (11-12).

Browning 49, Glendive 44

Reevis and the rest of the Runnin' Indians got off to a slow start, as in four points in the first quarter. By the end, though — with Reevis scoring 20 second-half points — they were playing their game.

"We've been through a few games like that where we've kind of started slow, but eventually found our rhythm and got going," said Reevis, a 6-foot-3 senior.

This start was especially concerning: When Carter Amsler drove for a layup at the 2:48 mark of the second quarter, Glendive led 22-11.

Then the switch went on, or rather the nerves wore off.

"The adrenaline and jitters," Reevis began. "I felt like I couldn't dribble. My legs were heavy.

"I just had to find my head and find my rhythm."

Reevis scored six points in a closing 11-0 surge that narrowed the gap to 22-21 at halftime. With his team down 34-25 in the third, he hit a 3-pointer at the 3:05 mark that started a 14-2 burst bridging into the fourth quarter.

Glendive was a handful, with big men Cy Eaton and Levi Eaton setting screens and grabbing rebounds (Levi had 12). After leading 2-0, Browning wouldn't get ahead again until Reevis' three-play put the Indians up 37-36 with 5:57 left.

By that point the Red Devils were worn down. Starting with a foul on a 3-pointer,

Glendive — up 36-34 at the time — missed seven straight free throws. Eventually Levi Eaton hit one with 5:11 left to cut Browning's lead to 39-37. They got no closer.

Reevis hit a put-back to put his team up 41-37, and a free throw from Noah Butterly pushed the lead to five. After Amsler hit a three to bring Glendive to 44-42, Reevis banked one in from straight on to move the lead back to 47-42 with 2;30 left.

That was basically hit. Glendive, which had 25 turnovers, couldn't find the basket.

"We definitely needed to play them into their bench and get their legs from them," Browning coach DJ Fish said. "Luckily it showed when they had their free throws down the stretch. We switched our presses. The one thing is we don't allow them to comfortable once they start to break it and so we adjusted. We threw a couple difrerent presses and switched up our halfcourt defense.

"It made it tough, you know, but that's what makes it fun. That's what makes State fun."

Glendive 13 9 12 10 — 44

Browning 6 1 11 17 — 49

GLENDIVE — Levi Eaton 9-15 0-0 18, Cy Eaton 2-12 0-2 4, Shann McPherson 3-6 0-4 7, Carter Amsler 2-9 0-0 5, Ethan Rivas 4-16 1-2 10, Kason Berry 0-0 0-0 0.

BROWNING — Jude Reevis 10-20 4-5 26, Tristan Crawford 3-10 1-4 7, Shayde St. Goddard 1- 0-0 2, Joshua Skunk Cap 0-6 1-2 1, Noah Butterfly 4-8 2-4 10, Royce Mad Plume 1-4 1-2 3, Roy Mad Plume 0-0 0-0 0, Reis Reevis 0-0 0-0 0, Randy /running Rabbit 0-0 0-0 0, Rodale Dog Taking gun 0-1 0-0 0. totals 19-53 8-15 49.

3-point goals — Glendive 3-14 (McPherson 1-2, Amsler 1-6, Rivas 1-5, L.Eaton 0-1), Browning 3-11 (Reevis 2-6, Royce Mad Plume 1-2, butterfly 0-3). Rebounds — Glendive 40 (L. Eaton 12), Browning 38 (Tristan Crawford 10). Fouls — Glendive 16, Browning 10. Turnovers — Glendive 25, Browning 19.

Lockwood 60, Frenchtown 55

Like Browning, Lockwood — the boys are making their first state appearance — started slow. With Hank Smith scored eight first-half points and Cooper Michaud getting another 12, Frenchtown forged a 34-25 halftime lead.

The Eastern A champion Lions didn't lead until 5:02 was left in the game, when Kobe Blake's scoop shot put his team up 51-49. After Smith tied for the Broncs, the Lions ran off the next six points: Jude Barnett scored down low, Blake added a Euro-step bucket and Zicciah Callison-Blake — who'd dunked earlier in the quarter — got a breakaway layup off Barnett's teal.

Lockwood led 57-51 with 2:39 left and held firm. Blake had 17 points; Callison-Blake added 11 for Lockwood. Barnett had 12 rebounds to go with four points.

Michaud had a game-high 20 for the Broncs. Smith had 10 points and eight rebounds. Leighton Cyr checked in with 12 points.

Lockwood 9 16 20 15 — 60

Frenchtown 19 15 13 8 — 55

LOCKWOOD — Jude Barnett 2-4 0-0 4, Nate Davis 3-9 2-2 10, Gabe Ronquillo 2-7 5-5 10, Kobe Blake 6-15 4-5 17, Zicciah Callison-Blake 5-13 0-0 11, Kingston Hugs 1-3 3-4 6, Raider Kalfell 1-1 0-0 2. totals 20-52 14-16 60.

FRENCHTOWN — Leighton Cyr 5-7 2-3 12, Cooper Michaud 6-12 3-3 20, Jaxon Haynes 1-2 0-0 2, Brooks Day 2-4 0-0 5, Brayden Ricci 2-3 0-3 4, Cole Pfahler 1-4 0-0 2, Trevor Smith 0-0 0-0 0. totals 20-49 9-14 55.

3-point goals — Lockwood 6-17 (Davis 2-4, Hugs 1-2, Callison-Blake 1-4, Blake 1-5, Ronquillo 1-1, Barnett 0-1), Frenchtown 6-15 (Michaud 5-6, Day 1-3, Pfahler 0-1, Smith 0-4, Haynes 0-1). Rebounds — Lockwood 27 (Barnett 12), Frenchtown 38 (Smith 8, Michaud 8). Fouls — Lockwood 8, Frenchtown 14. Turnovers — Lockwood 10, Frenchtown 18.

Billings Central 65, Ronan 50

The short-handed Chiefs pushed the tempo throughout but couldn't catch the Rams, who did a lot of damage on the offensive glass.

Martin was credited with five offensive rebounds, for example, and it seemed like more. Maybe because Gunner Larson (14 points, seven rebounds) had four of them himself.

"Hard to get," Ronan coach George Sherwood said. "Our leading rebounder (Chad Higgins) rolled his ankle, so it was a little more by committee — but we definitely missed his inside presence.

"That's not to take anything away from Billings Central. They are big, tough, physical basketball players and I thought we got beat up inside all night."

The Rams took their first significant lead on a basket bay Martin, off a steal by Larsen. That made it 34-19 at 1:20 of the second quarter.

A steal led to a breakaway dunk by Darcy Merchant Jr. and a 54-34 Central lead at the end of the third quarter; another fast-break dunk from Larson came with 1:19 left and made it 63-50.

Turnovers were another thorn: Central had 20, but Ronan had 19 of its own.

"We had too many turnovers and too little rebounds," Sherwood said. "Maybe you can get away with one of those things. But two of them, when you're playing tough competition, most of the time you don't win."

Kolby Finley had 16 points and Laurance Lozeau 13 for Ronan, which beat East Helena 63-55 in a December matchup.

Merchant finished with 15 points for the Rams, who are coached by Jim Stergar. He was coaching the Chiefs the last time Ronan played Central, in the 2002 State A semifinals.

Ronan is making just its third state appearance since then and first since 2021. Last week the Chiefs fell in the first round at the Western A Divisional and recovered to take third. That's the goal now this week.

"Absolutely," Sherwood said. "The ultimate goal is now gone. However last week we battled back and won three tough games and were able to place, which is a big deal for Ronan. We plan on doing that again."

Ronan 12 13 9 16 — 50

BC Rams 17 19 18 11 — 65

RONAN — Tayen Edmo 2-8 3-4 8, Kolby Finley 7-13 1-2 16, Laurance Lozeau 3-5 6-6 13, Wade Qualtier 2-6 2-4 6, Sean Small 2-6 0-2 4, Jhett McDonald 0-5 0-0 0, Hunter Qualtier 0-0 0-0 0, Trey Samsel 0-1 0-0 0, Teddy Spotted Eagle 1-1 1-1 3, Connor Durglo 0-0 0-0 0, Tryance Matt 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 17-44 13-19 50.

BILLINGS CENTRAL — Howie Martin 5-6 6-7 16, Gunner Larsen 7-11 0-1 14, Sam Jagodzinski 0-2 0-0 0, Toby Stewart 2-8 2-2 8, Darcy Merchant Jr. 5-13 5-5 15, Cy Hanson 1-3 0-2 2, Paxon Prill 0-1 0-0 0, Ayden Salter 0-0 1-2 1, William Snell 12-23-4 7, Grady Heaney 0-0 0-0 0, Tyton Larsen 1-1 0-0 2, Kellen Reas 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-47 17-23

3-point goals — Ronan 3-15 (Edmo 1-3, Lozeau 1-3, Finley 1-4, Small 0-1, McDonald 0-4), Central 2-15 (Stewart 2-6, Hanson 0-2, Jagodzinski 0-1, Merchant 0-6). Rebounds — Ronan 26 (Finley 5), Central 30 (Martin 7, Larsen 7). Fouls — Ronan 23, Central 17. Technical foul — Ronan, delay of game. Turnovers — Ronan 19, Central 20.

Dillon 70, East Helena 50

Carter Curnow and Kyler Engellant scored 23 points for Dillon, which used a 14-0 third-quarter surge to take command.

Engellant, who had 13 rebounds, had back-to-back put-backs — one off a missed free throw by Curnow — to cap the run and put the Beavers up 53-35 with 2:00 left in the third quarter.

Curnow had 11 rebounds; he was 9 of 15 from the field as Dillon shot 64 percent.

Deon Dray Ellis scored 21 points for East Helena and Andrew Maxness added 13 — including a three that had cut Dillon's lead to 39-35. Then came the pivotal run.

Dillon 23 13 19 15 — 70

E. Helena 19 9 9 13 — 50

DILLON — Carter Curnow 9-17 5-9 23, Gabe Lemelin 1-4 0- 3, Kyler Engellant 9-15 5-6 23, Cohen Hartman 4-11 0-0 9, Braxtyn Turney 2-3 0-0 4, Ian Singleton 0-0 0-0 0, Sam Davis 4-5 0-1 8, Will Hansen 0-0 0-0 0, Canin Christiansen 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-55 10-16 70.

EAST HELENA — Talen Thatcher 3-6 0-0 8, Slade Olson 0-6 0-0 0, Jack Taylor 0-3 0-2 0, Andrew Maxness 5-6 0-0 13, Deon Dray Ellis 9-16 2-2 21, Avery Hager 2-5 4-5 8, Bearek Shuman 0-0 0-0 0, Chase Hager 0-0 0-0 0, Chase Leuthard 0-0 0-0 0, Aiden Dalton 0-0 0-0 0, Parker Taylor 0-0 0-0 0, Korren Gillespie 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-42 6-9 50.

3-point goals — Dillon 2-12 (Lemelin 1-3, Hartman 1-5, Curnow 0-1, Turney 0-1, Engellant 0-3), E. Helena 6-20 (Maxness 3-4, Dray Ellis 1-5, Thatcher 2-3, taylor 0-1, Olson 0-6). Rebounds — Dillon 42 (Engellant 13), E. Helena 10 (Maxness 3). Fouls — Dillon 10, E. Helena 15. Turnovers — Dillon 5, E. Helena 4.

State A

March 13-15, Billings

First Interstate Arena

BOYS

Thursday

Game 1: Billings Central 65, Ronan 50

Game 2: Dillon 70, East Helena 50

Game 3: Browning 49, Glendive 44

Game 4: Lockwood 60, Frenchtown 55

Friday

Game 5: Ronan (16-7) vs. East Helena (11-12), noon, loser out

Game 6: Glendive (18-5) vs. Frenchtown (16-7), 1:30 p.m., loser out

Game 7: Billings Central (17-5) vs. Dillon (21-1), 6:30 p.m., semifinal

Game 8: Browning (15-6) vs. Lockwood (20-2), 8 p.m., semifinal

Saturday

Game 9: Winner 5 vs. Loser 8, 10:30 a.m., loser out *

Game 10: Winner 6 vs. Loser 7, 10:30 a.m., loser out*

Game 11: Morning winners, 5 p.m., third

Game 12: Championship, 8 p.m.

*-site TBD.

Browning's Noah Butterfly (4) celebrates after a 49-44 win against Glendive at the Class A State Basketball Tournament at the MetraPark First Interstate Arena in Billings on Thursday, March 13. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)

Casey Kreider

Browning's Tristan Crawford (34) rises to shoot in the second half against Glendive at the Class A State Basketball Tournament at the MetraPark First Interstate Arena in Billings on Thursday, March 13. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)

Casey Kreider

Browning's Jude Reevis (2) drives to the basket for a bucket in the fourth quarter against Glendive at the Class A State Basketball Tournament at the MetraPark First Interstate Arena in Billings on Thursday, March 13. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)

Casey Kreider

Browning's Joshua Skunkcap (14) rises to shoot in the second half against Glendive at the Class A State Basketball Tournament at the MetraPark First Interstate Arena in Billings on Thursday, March 13. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)

Casey Kreider

Browning's Joshua Skunkcap (14) rises to shoot in the first half against Glendive at the Class A State Basketball Tournament at the MetraPark First Interstate Arena in Billings on Thursday, March 13. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)

Casey Kreider

Browning's Royce Mad Plume (12) rises to shoot in the second half against Glendive at the Class A State Basketball Tournament at the MetraPark First Interstate Arena in Billings on Thursday, March 13. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)

Casey Kreider

Browning's Jude Reevis (2) rises to shoot in the first half against Glendive at the Class A State Basketball Tournament at the MetraPark First Interstate Arena in Billings on Thursday, March 13. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)

Casey Kreider

Browning's Jude Reevis (2) rises to shoot in the second half against Glendive at the Class A State Basketball Tournament at the MetraPark First Interstate Arena in Billings on Thursday, March 13. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)

Casey Kreider

Browning's Tristan Crawford (34) rises to shoot in the first half guarded by Glendive's Levi Eaton (51) at the Class A State Basketball Tournament at the MetraPark First Interstate Arena in Billings on Thursday, March 13. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)

Casey Kreider

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