by Scott Sacry
The Darby boys cracked the 406mtsports.com top ten last week, coming in as the No 10 ranked Class C team. They played Seely-Swan on Friday, February 4th and won 52-34. Preston Smith led with 17 points, Hooper Reed added 12, and Cullin Duggan had 11. On Saturday, they played Valley Chrisian and won a close contest, 47-44. Preston Smith had 24 points, Hooper Reed had 10, Cullin Duggan had eight, and Sawyer Townsend added five. The Darby girls played undefeated Seely-Swan on Friday and lost, 18-61. Sammy Shull scored six points, followed by Amber Anderson with three, and Makena Hawkinson with two.
The Corvallis boys traveled to East Helena on Saturday, February 4th. They fell behind 8-21 after the first quarter, but rallied to a 42-34 victory. Aaron Powell led the way with 22 points, David Broch had eight, and Leif Jessop added five. The Corvallis girls also played East Helena and came away with a 54-43 victory.
The Victor boys played the Flathead Valley Home School on February 2nd and won, 48-43. Carson Varner had 22 points and Jordan Mclane added 11. On Saturday, they played Drummond and lost a close contest, 42-46. Carson Varner led the scoring with 21 points, Ben Bradshaw had eight, and Trey Phillips and Chase Goldade each scored six. The Victor girls played Drummond on Saturday and lost, 25-58. Haylie Tolley led with nine points, followed by Nola Smorowski with eight, and Kyla Tacker with three.
The Stevensville and Florence girls met for an all-valley showdown on Monday, January 31st. Stevensville led 18-15 at halftime, but Florence dominated the second half to earn a 44-34 victory. The Stevensville girls played the 406mtsports.com’s No. 3 ranked Dillon team on February 3rd and lost, 29-54. Claire Hutchison led with eight points, Shilo Lampi had seven, and Hailey Thomas added six. On February 5th, the Lady ‘Jackets played Ronan and lost, 21-42. Claire Hutchison led Stevensville with seven points, Kelti Wandler had six, and Lexy Perez and Shelby Coleman added three each.
The Stevensville boys played Dillon on February 3rd and lost, 59-21. Dillon ran out to a 33-3 halftime lead and Stevensville couldn’t recover. Kellan Beller led the Yellowjackets with 11 points, Lorenzo Grazzani, Gracen Travino, and Tad Tackes each added three. Stevensville played Ronan on February 5th and lost 34-48. Lorenzo Grazzani led Stevensville with 11 points, Gracen Trevino had nine, and Tad Tackes added six.
The Florence-Carlton girls played St. Ignatius on Thursday, February 3rd and won, 68-47. They dominated the second quarter, outscoring St. Ignatius 29-4. Kasidy Yeoman led with 24 points, Kolbi Wood added 21, and Josie Lewis had eight. On Friday, the girls played Arlee and won in a rout, 63-23. Kasidy Yeoman led with 26 points, Josie Lewis had 15, and Kolbi Wood had seven.
The Florence-Carlton boys, ranked No. 4 in the latest 406mtsports.com Class B poll, had an exciting week. They played a tough Bigfork team on Monday, January 31. They trailed by two points going into the 4th quarter, but rallied for a 59-57 victory. Beau Neal led the Falcons with 23 points, Patrick Duchien had eight, and Jace Pederson added seven. They played Arlee on Friday, February 4th and were down 25-40 late in the third quarter, but finished the game on a 29-2 run for a wild 54-42 victory. Beau Neal led with 24 points, Blake Shoupe had 12, and Levi Posey added 10. The Falcons visited No. 6 ranked St. Ignatius on Saturday. The Falcons were down 59-64 with 31 seconds left and St. Ignatius was at the line to shoot two free throws. St. Ignatius missed both foul shots and Blake Shoupe raced down the court for a layup to make it 61-64. Florence fouled immediately, but St. Ignatius got a technical foul, so both sides had two free throws. St. Ignatius missed both of theirs and Jace Pederson made both of his. With 21 seconds left Florence trailed 63-64 and had the ball. Then in dramatic fashion, Aiden Wayne nailed a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Florence the improbable win, 66-64. Beau Neal led Florence with 22 points, followed by Jace Pederson with 19 points, and Patrick Duchien with seven.