Page 57 - Flathead Beacon // 3.4.15

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SPORTS
MARCH 4, 2015 | 57 MORE MONTANA BASKETBALL
LOYOLA OUTLASTS BIGFORK IN
WESTERN B DIVISIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Kevin Swanson scored 15 points, Dan- ner Linhart added 11 points and Missoula Loyola held off Bigfork 67-55 to win the Western B boys basketball divisional championship at Flathead High School on Feb 28.
Sam Johnston added 10 points for the Rams (20-3), which made 30-of-43 free throws.
Jonathan Landon led Bigfork with 14 points and Josh Sandry had 11 points.
Loyola led 28-25 at half and dealt Big- fork only its second loss of the season.
The Vikings (21-2), the defending state champs, secured the No. 2 seed at the Class B state tournament in Great Falls, March 12-14.
Bigfork will play the top seed from Southern B at 9 a.m., March 12.
The Southern B Divisional tourna- ment is this weekend.
VALS CAPTURE DIVISIONAL
ABOVE: Winter Kemppainen blocks a shot in the first half. Columbia Falls defeated Frenchtown 53-43 to win its second consecutive Northwestern A Divisional title. More photos at flatheadbeacon.com.
Glacier, 47-46 on Jan. 15 and against one of the top Class B teams, Bigfork, 59-56 on Feb. 5.
Polson made a nice run at the six- time divisional champs on Saturday, drawing within 10 points midway through the fourth quarter. But the
Wildcats withstood Polson’s talented Matthew Rensvold and the Pirates attack, clamping down on defense and sinking clutch baskets down the stretch. It was a similar gutsy perfor- mance as the night before, when Co- lumbia Falls limited Frenchtown to 40 points and stifled top scorer Bridger Truett.
In the divisional championship, se- nior Ty Morgan scored 18 points, junior Grant Wallace had 12 and senior Jayce Fagerland chipped in 10. Rensvold led Polson with 14 points, Andrew Curley
added 12 and Tanner Wilson scored 11 for Polson, which played Frenchtown in a challenge game on Monday to de- termine a state berth.
“You’re not going to go into tourna- ments — divisionals or state — and win many games easily. You got to earn it,” Finberg said. “The boys I thought de- fensively (Feb. 27 against Frenchtown) made a statement. We didn’t play great offensively. Definitely we made a state- ment. Offense comes and goes but both games the boys played very strong de- fensively. I was very happy.”
Columbia Falls (17-3) opens up the state tournament at 2 p.m., March 12, in Bozeman against the winner of Hamilton (7-14) and Butte Central (12- 8), which played in a challenge game. Belgrade (15-5) takes on the winner of Laurel (14-6) and Miles City (9-12) at 12:30 p.m., March 12. Dillon (19-1) plays the winner of Frenchtown (9- 12) and Polson (9-11) at 6:30 p.m. Bill- ings Central (14-6) plays the winner of Havre (13-7) and Livingston (10-11) at 8 p.m.
A lot can happen, but if history is any indicator it seems destined that there will be a matchup between Co- lumbia Falls and Dillon.
Last year the two teams clashed in the title game for the fourth time in six years. Columbia Falls emerged victori- ous, 55-43, winning its fifth title since 2003 and evening the record between the two dynastic programs at 2-all.
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Matti McAnally scored 17 points, Riley Coleman and Lana Berg each added seven apiece and the Bigfork Valkyries won the Western B Divisional basketball tourna- ment, defeating Plains 43-34 on Friday night in Kalispell.
The Vals (19-4) earned a No. 1 seed at the Class B state tournament in Great Falls, March 12-15. Bigfork will play the No. 3 seed from the South at 8 p.m., March 12.
In a rematch of the District 7B title game, Bigfork outpaced Plains in the sec- ond half after leading by only two points at intermission. The Vals outscored Plains 24-17 in the final two quarters.
Miranda Campbell chipped in six points for Bigfork.
The Southern B Divisional tourna- ment is this weekend.
Fairfield defeated Malta 60-55 in over- time in last year’s championship game.
GLACIER, FLATHEAD PLAYOFFS BEGIN
The Glacier girls and boys are hosting Class AA playoff games this week while Flathead’s squads were on the road bat- tling for berths to the state tournaments.
The Glacier boys (11-9 overall) placed fourth in the Western AA standings and will host Missoula Big Sky (9-11) at 7:30 p.m., Thursday.
The Flathead boys (4-16) traveled to Helena to play Capital (15-5) on Tuesday after the Beacon went to print.
Missoula Hellgate (19-1) won the West and automatically qualified for the Class AA state tournament in Butte, March 12-14.
The Glacier girls (16-4) earned third in the West and host Missoula Hellgate (8- 12) at 6 p.m., Thursday.
Flathead (2-18) traveled to Missoula to play Sentinel (17-3) on Tuesday night.
Helena Capital (18-2) won the West and automatically qualified for the girls state tournament, which is also March 12- 14 in Butte.
TITLE, DEFEAT PLAINS
Ty Morgan tries to get past Tanner Wilson. Morgan scored 18 points in the divisional championship.