by Scott Sacry
The Darby boys defeated top-seeded Drummond 54-46 in Frenchtown on Saturday, February 19th to win the 13C District Championship. Darby’s only two losses of the season were to Drummond, including a 16-point loss on Feb. 12th, so this victory was extra sweet. Dominating throughout, Darby built a 28-22 halftime lead and led 46-35 starting the fourth quarter and held on for the victory and earned the championship trophy. Cullin Duggan had a big night and led the scoring with 16 points, followed by Hooper Reed with 12, Preston Smith with 10, and Jackson Hundley with eight. In the first round of districts on Thursday, the Darby boys played Lincoln. Darby led 35-21 at half and cruised to a 69-39 victory. Preston Smith led with 17 points, Sawyer Townsend had 12, and Hooper Reed added 11. In Friday’s semifinal game, they soundly defeated Seeley-Swan, 74-56. Preston Smith led with 17 points, Sawyer Townsend had 14, and Jackson Hundley and Hooper Reed each added 13.
The Darby boys advance to the Western C Divisional Tournament in Frenchtown and play Shields Valley on Thursday, Feb. 24th at 12:30 p.m.
The Darby girls played Valley Christian in the first round of the 13C District Tournament on Thursday, Feb. 17th, and won with ease, 43-22. Makena Hawkinson led with 14 points, Amber Anderson had eight, and Petra Mustafa added seven. In Friday’s semifinal game, Darby squared off against top-seeded Seeley-Swan and fell 28-68. Petra Mustafa and Sierra Reed each scored six, and Makena Hawkinson and Hadassah Wilson added four each. This sent them to the loser-out game on Saturday morning against Victor. In a low scoring, hard fought game, Darby lost, 23-26, ending their season. Amber Anderson led the scoring with 12 points, Petra Mustafa had four, and Kimmie Berry, Hadassah Wilson, and Kylie Schlapman each added two.
Victor
The Victor girls had a busy tournament, playing four games and finishing fourth in the District 13C Tournament. In the first round on Thursday, Feb. 17th, they played Drummond. Victor kept it close the first half, trailing 19-23, but got outscored 32-6 in the second half to fall, 25-55. Virginia Brown led with eight points, Bella Scichilone had seven, and America Baugus added three. In Friday’s loser out game, Victor defeated Lincoln, 37-30. Haylie Tolley and Virginia Brown led the scoring with seven points each, and Madi Bahr added six. In the loser-out game on Saturday morning, they faced Darby in a Bitterroot Valley match-up and won a close one, 26-23. Virginia Brown led with seven points, while Kyla Tacker, Abby Kay, and Haylie Tolley each scored five. Hours after this game, Victor faced Drummond in the Consolation game and fell, 28-54, finishing fourth at the tournament and ending their season.
The Victor boys squeaked out a close victory over Valley Christian in the first round of the District 13C Tournament, winning in a double overtime thriller, 62-57. In the first overtime, Victor was down 55-49 with a minute to play. Then Jordan Mclane hit a 3-pointer, the Pirates forced a turnover, and Caleb Rockwood hit another 3-pointer to tie the game at 55-55. In the second overtime, Victor outscored Valley Christian 7-2 to seal the victory. Jordan Mclane led with 16 points, Caleb Rockwood had 15, and Carson Varner added 13. They met top-seeded Drummond in the semifinals on Friday and never found their comfort zone and lost, 21-42. Varner led with 10 points, and Alec Rowlan and Canyon Parks added three each. This sent them to face Philipsburg in a loser-out game on Saturday morning. The Pirates fought hard but lost, 31-47, ending their season. Carson Varner led with 16 points, Robert Crosbie had six, and Caleb Rockwood added five.