The story of the weekend was the basketball game between Butte Central and Stevensville. The game was in Butte. The Maroons led at the end of the half by 12 points. The Yellowjackets responded in the second half but time ran out before they could take the lead and fell, 64-61. It was the first loss for the defending state champions. Jared Schultz had 18 points and Jace Omlid finished with 12 points. Zach Gavlak had 11 points.
The Victor Pirates came back from a four-point deficit at the half to defeat Darby, 51-42. After struggling a bit in the first quarter, the Pirates found their stride behind the play of Nate Bishop and GP Monta to pick up the win. Bishop had 18 points and ran the Pirate offense. Monta finished with nine points and picked up a few key rebounds in the rivalry match.
Darby was paced by William Westfall and Joe Caicedo with 11 points each.
Victor ran into a tough Drummond team on Friday. Drummond defeated Victor, 61-38. The Pirates had a poor first half and couldn’t come back. Bishop finished with 12 points and Michael O’Leary had 11 points.
Darby defeated Lincoln, 61-26, on Friday. Caicedo finished 26 points. Zach McCrossin had 14 points and Dawson Jakober had 10 points.
Corvallis and Hamilton matched up in Hamilton on Friday in the first battle of the Bitterroot. The two teams were evenly matched played a physical game that had emotions running a little high at times. Corvallis had a four point lead at the end of the first half but then Hamilton came back in the third quarter. By the time the buzzer sounded to end the quarter, Hamilton had rallied to take a one-point lead. Corvallis came back and went on to take the lead in the foul-laden game. There were 48 fouls called on the two teams.
Corvallis had three players in double figures. Alma Powell had 15 points, Chaney Waldo finished with 13 and newcomer Brigham Parish had 12 points.
Hamilton also had three players in double figures. Kameron Kohn and Teague Blome each had 11 points and Josh Bauder finished with 10 points.
Hamilton defeated Polson, 62-55, in non-conference action. Hamilton trailed by one point before pulling away in the final two quarters. Josh Heath had 14 points. He was followed by Josh Bauder with 13 points and Brett Huxtable with 11 points.
Corvallis fell to Sentinel, 55-43, on Thursday. Powell finished with 12 points.
Florence picked up two wins over the weekend. They defeated Ronan, 47-28. Ryan Mangun had 20 points to pace the Falcons. Levi Clagett added 12 points. On Saturday, Florence defeated Thompson Falls, 63-53. Brandon Johnson broke loose for 24 points. Tynan Heck added 12 points.