The Darby Tigers finished the regular season in second place in the District 13C regular season and had a first-round bye at the district tournament in Frenchtown. They met up with Lincoln in their first game of the tournament. Darby jumped out to an early lead before Lincoln came back to reduce Darby’s lead to two points. The Tigers pulled away in the second half and went on to win, 60-47, and advanced to the championship game.
Darby 60, Lincoln 47
Lincoln – Petersen 18, Brown 14, Vossler 6, Kamps 5, Blotkamp 4.
Darby – Brandon Winter 8, Nelson Smith 18, Gabe Smith 11, Aaron Hansen 14, Daniel Muir 1, Hunter Guensthner 2, Cole Kayser 6.
Darby met up with Seeley-Swan in the championship game. The Blackhawks controlled the pace and went on to win, 48-34. Smith had 13 points to lead the Tigers. Kayser finished with eight, Hansen six, Smith four, and Winters 3.
Clark Fork, the co-op between Alberton and Superior, finished in third. Darby didn’t play them in the tournament so that set up a challenge game on Monday. The results of that game were not available at press time. Whomever wins that game will play Arlee, the No. 1 team in the state, at 1:30 in Hamilton at the Western C Divisional.
The Victor Pirates won their opening game at the district tournament with a 53-49 win over Valley Christian. Mason Agee had 17 points to lead Victor and Will Jessop added 12 more. Skyler Webberson had nine points, Jerod Halley had seven points and Tristin Chavez and Eli Rosen each had two points.
Victor advanced to the semi finals on Friday where they played Seeley-Swan. The Blackhawks won, 66-22. Webberson finished with 12 points for the Pirates.
After the loss, Victor had to play Clark Fork in loser out action. The game was very close throughout with rarely more than a couple points difference in scoring. Clark Fork won, 51-50, to bump Victor out of the tournament. Webberson had 13 points to lead the Pirates. Jessop had 10, Agee andHalley each had eight points, JD Kay had six, Chavez four, and Waylon Barta had one.
The Lady Tigers had a first round bye as the No. 2 seed in the district. They opened against Seeley Swan on Friday in the semi finals. Seeley Swan took an early lead and went on to win, 48-33. Casey Ehmann led the Lady Tigers with 12 points. Mackenzie Smith had eight points. Peyton Muir had five, Kimber Schlapman had three, Shianne Kauk andHailey Frey each had two points and Makenzie Clark had one point.
Darby played Valley Christian in loser out action Saturday morning. After a very slow first quarter, Darby went to town and rolled over Valley Christian, 47-25. Ehmann and Fry each had eight points. They were followed by Clark with seven, Muir with Six, Taylor Wohlers with five, Kauk and Schlapman with four each, Smith with three and Annie Rennaker with two.
That win put Darby into the consolation game where they played Lincoln. It was Darby’s night as they rolled over Lincoln, 69-40 and finished third. Schlapman led the team with 15 points. Kauk had 13, Ehmann 12, Gracie Lang and Smith each had seven, Clark six, Frey five, and Muir and Rennaker two points each.
The Lady Pirates lost to Seeley Swan and Lincoln.