HAMILTON – The quarterfinals Wednesday of the Western B Divisional boys’ basketball tournament played out in seeded fashion with the top four teams advancing to the semifinals Thursday.
State No. 1 ranked Bigfork improved to 21-0 with a 71-46 thrashing of St. Ignatius behind 26 points from Christian Evans. The District 7-B Vikings will meet 6-B’s No. 2 team Loyola Sacred Heart next after the Rams (15-6) bypassed Plains, 68-46.
On the other side of the bracket, 6-B’s top seed Florence (12-9) edged Troy, 43-34, and will meet 7-B’s second team Eureka (11-10), which got a 14-point second half from Dalton Smith to help the Lions beat Deer Lodge, 69-61.
The top two teams from this tournament advance to the State B platform in two weeks in Bozeman.
Bigfork 71, St. Ignatius 46
Bigfork (21-0) looked as dominant as it has all season, jumping out to a 23-4 lead after a quarter and coasting to the first-round win.
Evans hit 12 field goals in the game and had 10 points by the end of the first quarter and 21 at halftime. Isaac Martel chipped in another 10 in the blowout win.
St. Ignatius (7-15) got a 21-point performance from Stuart Grant that included four 3-pointers. His Bulldogs face Plains in a loser-out game Thursday morning.
St. Ignatius 4 15 16 11 – 46
Bigfork 23 18 17 13 – 71
ST. IGNATIUS – Aaron Fisher-Ahenakew 1 0-0 3, Emilio Bravo 1 0-0 2, Gentry Brown 2 0-0 5, Jarred Brown 1 1-4 3, Raymond Matt 0 3-4 3, Stuart Grant 7 4-8 21, Tate Weingart 1 1-2 3, Will Powell 1 0-0 2. Totals 16 8-14 46.
BIGFORK – Kobe Boese 2 0-0 4, Adam Jordt 1 0-0 2, Cameron Nissen 2 1-1 5, Christian Evans 12 1-2 26, Isaac Martel 5 0-0 10, Jon Landon 3 2-4 8, Josh Sandry 0 6-8 6, Kyle Thomson 1 0-0 2, Ryder Trent 0 2-2 2, 3 0-6 6. Totals 29 12-17 71.
3-point goals – St. Ignatius 6 (Grant 4, Fisher-Ahenakew 1, G. Brown 1), Bigfork 1 (Evans 1). Total fouls – St. Ignatius 12, Bigfork 14. Fouled out – none.
Florence 43, Troy 34
Brad Schaff and Ryan Mangun each scored 10 points after halftime to help the Falcons come from behind.
Florence trailed 15-12 at intermission, but behind matching 13-point efforts from Schaff and Mangun, the Falcons distanced themselves from Troy (11-10) after the half.
The Horsemen’s Gabe Hickman led all scorers with 16 points. His team faces Deer Lodge in a loser-out game Thursday.
Troy 12 3 8 11 – 34
Florence 6 6 13 18 – 43
TROY – Luke Haggerty 1 0-0 2, Gabe Hickman 6 1-1 16, Gage Tallmadge 2 0-2 6, Sean Opland 2 1-2 5, Bruce Metz 0 0-0 0, Nathan Olds 2 1-1 5, Ryan Huffman 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 3-6 34.
FLORENCE – Brandon Johnson 0 2-2 2, Levi Clagett 2 2-2 6, Travern Smith 2 5-8 9, Ryan Mangun 4 5-6 13, Brad Schaff 5 3-5 13, Jake Christopherson 0 0-0 0, Brady Pickering 0 0-0 0, Tynan Heck 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 17-24 43.
3-point goals – Troy 5 (Hickman 3, Tallmadge 2), Florence 0. Total fouls – Troy 15, Florence 13. Fouled out – Tallmadge.
Eureka 69, Deer Lodge 61
Eureka made up a 10-point halftime deficit behind Smith’s second-half surge and the help of Chase and Trey Bohne. The Bohne brothers each scored seven in Eureka’s 26-point third quarter. Smith had six there and scored all of his points after the half.
Trey Bohne co-led all scorers with 18 points, along with Deer Lodge’s Tristen Clark. Both boys hit a trio of 3-pointers.
Deer Lodge 18 14 13 16 – 61
Eureka 8 14 26 21 – 69
DEER LODGE – Tristen Clark 5 5-5 18, Cade Benjamin 2 0-0 5, Logan Doiron 5 5-7 15, Andrew Pierson 2 2-2 6, Jacob Simpson 5 5-7 15, Justin Marshall 0 1-4 1, Dakota Crowe 0 1-2 1, Kahel Lowery 0 0-0 0, Ethan Johnston 0 0-0 0, Brandon Porter 0 0-0 0. totals 19 19-27 61.
EUREKA – Austin Perez 1 5-5 7, Myles Griffin 3 1-3 7, Dalton Smith 6 2-2 14, Trey Bohne 6 3-3 18, Chase Bohne 3 0-0 7, R.J. Glover 6 0-0 12, Colton Henrie 1 2-3 4, Zach Sturdevant 0 0-0 0. Totals 26 13-16 69.
3-point goals – Deer Lodge 4 (Clark 3, Benjamin), Eureka 4 (T. Bohne 3, C. Bohne). Total fouls – Deer Lodge 14, Eureka 20. Fouled out – Clark.
Loyola Sacred Heart 68, Plains 46
JJ Anderson led Loyola with 15 points – all on long-range bombs – and the Rams pulled away from Plains.
Anderson hit five 3-pointers to get to his point total. Tony Madsen added 10 points and Kevin Swanson and Stephen Sellman each chipped in nine – six of Swanson’s coming in a 21-point Loyola fourth quarter.
Plains (5-17) was led by Ryan Ovitt with 12 points. He also did most of his damage from 3-point range with three triples.
Plains 13 7 12 14 – 46
Loyola 17 17 13 21 – 68
PLAINS – Ryan Ovitt 4 1-1 12, Alec Cole 1 0-0 2, Aaron Baker 4 0-0 9, Cole Benson 0 1-2 1, Kyle Revier 2 0-0 5, James Rulison 3 3-4 9, Wyatt Winebrenner 3 0-0 6, Brenen Abromeit 1 0-0 2. Totals 18 5-7 46.
LOYOLA SACRED HEART – Tony Madsen 4 2-2 10, Brayden Burke 1 1-1 3, Kevin Swanson 4 0-1 9, Zach Hollenback 2 0-0 4, Strother Cooper 1 0-1 2, Stephen Sellman 4 1-2 9, Matt McHugh 1 4-4 6, JJ Anderson 5 0-2 15, Danner Linhart 3 1-2 7, Forestt Cooper 1 1-1 3. Totals 26 10-18 68.
3-point goals – Plains 5 (Ovitt 3, Baker 1, Revier 1), Loyola 6 (Anderson 5, Swanson 1). Total fouls – Plains 12, Loyola 9. Fouled out – none.
Western B boys
At Hamilton
Wednesday
Florence 43, Troy 34
Eureka 69, Deer Lodge 61
Bigfork 71, St. Ignatius 46
Loyola Sacred Heart 68, Plains 46
Thursday
8 a.m. – Troy (11-10) vs. Deer Lodge (9-12), loser out
9:40 a.m. – St. Ignatius (7-15) vs. Plains (5-17), loser out
7:30 p.m. – Florence (12-9) vs. Eureka (11-10), semifinal
9:15 p.m. – Bigfork (21-0) vs. Loyola Sacred Heart (15-6), semifinal
Friday
11:20 a.m. – St. Ignatius-Plains winner vs. Florence-Eureka loser, loser out
1 p.m. – Troy-Deer Lodge winner, vs. Bigfork-Loyola loser, loser out
7:30 p.m. – Third place
9:15 p.m. – Florence-Eureka winner vs. Bigfork-Loyola winner, championship