The Hamilton Broncs won two of their three games last week. Their only loss was at the hands of Stevensville on January 5. Thursday night, Hamilton played Frenchtown in a ‘battle of the Broncs’.
The game was tied at the end of the first quarter when Ky Burch stepped to the charity stripe after being fouled shooting a threepoint shot. He made the first, and the third to tie the game. Hamilton settled down in the second quarter. They moved the ball around the court and created problems for Frenchtown’s defense. Hamilton stepped up their defense as well and by the end of the half, they held an eightpoint lead. In the third quarter, Hamilton pulled away but then Frenchtown’s Andrew King and Austin Means made a couple of key shots to close the gap. Hamilton pulled away in the fourth, though, and went on to win, 5942. Sophomore Carter Kearns led all scoring with 18 points and freshman Hunter Omlid added 15 more for Hamilton.
Hamilton 59, Frenchtown 42
Hamilton – Josh Heath 9, Bridger Bauder 2, Bret Huxtable 7, Ky Burch 4, Hunter Omlid 15, Jaylen Taggart 4, Carter Kearns 18.
Frenchtown – Price 11, Rasor 4, Spadt 3, Means 9, King 15.
Hamilton defeated Whitefish, 6439, in Hamilton on Saturday. Hamilton jumped out to an early lead and never let up in the nonconference game. Kearns and senior Josh Heath each had 15 points. Omlid added 14.
Hamilton 64, Whitefish 39
Whitefish – Kastella 9, Henry 10, Wold 6, Brewer 6, May 4, Sliker 4.
Hamilton – Heath 15, Bauder 4, Huxtable 8, Burch 5, Chouinard 2, Omlid 14, Goligoski 1, Kearns 15.
Victor lost a heartbreaking game to the new team in the conference, the Clark Fork Wild Cats. This is a coop team between Alberton and Superior. The Wild Cats took an early lead in the first half but Victor clawed their way back to keep it close in the fourth quarter. Logan McKinley hit his only basket of the game, a trey, to pull the Pirates within one point 40 seconds left in the game. A foul on Victor’s Colt Neville put him at the free throw line. He hit the first to tie the game but couldn’t make the second. Victor had two more chances at the free throw line to pull ahead but couldn’t find the bottom of the net. A desperation shot by Clark Fork’s Aaron Kelly from almost half court gave the 3431 win to the Wild Cats. Neville had 12 points and Riley Della Silva added nine.
Clark Fork 34, Victor 31
Clark Fork – Perkins 14, Voll 6, Kelly 12, Spence 2.
Victor – Austin Lewis 1, Jared Haley 3, Riley Della Silva 9, Logan McKinley 3, Colt Neville 12, Jayce Allred 3.
Victor played Valley Christian on Saturday. The league leading Eagles poured in 23 points in the first quarter and played tough defense throughout. Valley Christian won, 6425. Neville had 10 points to lead Victor.
The match up between Anaconda and the Florence Falcons was intense and physical but the Copperheads couldn’t stop the Falcons. Anaconda pulled within nine at the end of three quarters but couldn’t stop Florence’s inside game or get past their tough defense. Florence won, 5637. Jake Christopherson nailed 21 points and Levi Clagett added 15 more. He also had nine rebounds. The Zeiler brothers had 12 assists between them.
Florence 56, Anaconda 37
Anaconda – Stetzner 2, Ungaretti 5, Mikalotos 5, Gallagher 13, K. Stetzner 2, Hill 10
Florence – Bo Zeiler 2, Marcus Zeiler 10, Levi Clagett 15, Cody Liles 2, Jake Christopherson 21, Dan Mickelson 6.
Florence continued winning on Saturday when they played Deer Lodge. Although the first quarter was close, the Falcons found their groove and went on to win, 7042. Dan Mickelson had 21 points to lead the Falcons. Christopherson added 13 and Bo Zeiler had 12. Florence is now 80.
Darby came up short against Drummond on Friday, losing 5549. The Tigers scored 25 points in the fourth quarter but it wasn’t enough to offset the second quarter where they only scored three points. Zach McCrossin had 33 points to lead the Tigers.
Drummond 55, Darby 49
Drummond – Estes 11, Parke 6, Parke 2, Estes 14, Guilherme 2, Manley 2, Gomez 4, Allen 8, Davis 4, Spencer 2.
Darby – Dylan Parks 2, Zach McCrossin 33, Zack Kline 2, John Beckers 4, Anthony Westfally 2, Andy Smith 4, Rylee Smith 2.
Darby fell to Charlo, 5739, on Saturday. McCrossin had 19 points in the nonconference game.
Stevensville fell to Dillon in Southwest A action. Tough defense by Dillon held Stevensville to only 36 points while the Beavers scored 70. Dalton Bragg had 11 points to lead the Yellowjackets. Bryce Torrey added 10 more.
Corvallis topped Frenchtown, 5641. The Blue Devils jumped out to an early lead and never let up on the Broncs. Chase Jessop had 19 points and Tylor Nixon added 15 more. Frenchtown got into some foul trouble and had to sit their big guy for quite a while.
Corvallis 56, Frenchtown 41
Corvallis – Danner Miller 1, Dillon Lewis 7, Caleb Powell 3, Tyler Nixon 15, Justin Catanach 2, Chase Jessop 19, Tannon Allred 9.
Frenchtown – Pyron 2, Price 8, Brooks 4, Smith 4, Rasor 7, Lucier 2, Means 2, King 12.
