The Columbia Falls Wildkats opened the Class A state basketball tournament with familiar dominance.
In Butte, Sydney Hovde scored 15, Kiara Burlage added 13 and Dani Douglas scored 11 as the Kats cruised into the semifinal round with a 59-35 victory over Laurel on Thursday.
Columbia Falls (21-1) will clash with Havre (16-6) at 6:30 p.m., Friday. The winner will advance to the state championship game on Saturday at 8 p.m.
Havre defeated defending champ Butte Central 55-41 in the opening round. On the other side of the bracket, Belgrade defeated Corvallis 60-53 and Hardin defeated Hamilton 69-54.
Class A State Tournament
First Round, March 2, Butte
Columbia Falls 59, Laurel 35
Laurel 5 8 7 15 — 35
Columbia Falls 14 15 14 16 — 59
LAUREL: Rylee Clark 3, Aspen Cotter 20, Paige O’Toole 2, Dakota Boehler 2, Kaitlyn Dawes 3, Sami Spitzer 1, Riley Chapman 4.
COLUMBIA FALLS: Dani Douglas 11, Cydney Finberg 8, Peyton Kehr 8, Kiara Burlage 13, Sydney Hovde 15, Ryley Kehr 2, Trisa Cowan 2.
Havre 55, Butte Central 41
Havre 14 12 14 15 — 55
Butte Central 10 7 14 10 — 41
HAVRE: Ceyara Plante 6, Kyndall Keller 17, Naomi Terry 26, Danielle Wallace 3, Ryan Vandenbos 2, Kyley Verploegen 1.
BUTTE CENTRAL: Kloie Thatcher 13, Mollie Peoples 2, Emily St. John 8, Olivia Bolton 12, Bella Sorini 4, Corbyn Holm 2.
Belgrade 60, Corvallis 53
Belgrade 8 18 12 22 — 60
Corvallis 12 15 12 14 — 53
BELGRADE: Shania Neubauer 17, Bailey Christensen 5, Gabby Weber 15, Krista Brown 4, Hannah Gee 1, Kiah Hohenstein 16, Pipi Eitel 2.
CORVALLIS: Penny Jessop 4, Calla Haldorson 17, Emme Wanken 13, Corinne Sanderson 9, Genesis Keith 1, Lainie Albright 7, Tayler Wright 2.
Hardin 69, Hamilton 54
Hardin 21 12 12 24 — 69
Hamilton 9 19 11 15 — 54
HARDIN: Madisan Chavez 15, Sharmayne Hardy 12, Trahnea Phelan 6, Karissa Dushane 14, Aubrey Meiwald 12, Mashaya Alden 4, Arena Penty 4, Marie Five 2.
HAMILTON: Kara Nye 2, Mallory McGill 10, Reilly Rostad 15, Rachael Ringer 9, Lauren Ryter 13, Tristan Searle 5.