by Scott Sacry
The Florence boys finished third place in the Western B Divisional Tournament in Ronan. But they missed out on a trip to the State tournament, since only the top two teams out of the Western B Division qualify for state. If Bigfork had lost to Eureka in Saturday night’s championship game, Florence could have challenged them for second place, but Bigfork won, thus ending Florence’s season.
In the opening round on Thursday, the Florence boys played Thompson Falls. The game was tight early but the Falcons gradually pulled away and won convincingly, 61-38. Levi Posey led the way with 18 points, Beau Neal had 14, Patrick Duchien had 10, and Aiden Wayne added seven. They met Eureka in the semifinal game on Friday night and lost 51-56 in an upset, highlighting the unpredictable nature of tournament play. Eureka was hot in the first half and Florence was uncharacteristically cold and they trailed 22-35 at halftime. At the end of the third quarter the Falcons started their comeback and eventually cut the deficit to four points, but they couldn’t make it all the way back and fell in a shocker. Beau Neal led with 18 points, Blake Shoupe had 13, and Caden Zaluski added nine. This sent them to a Saturday morning loser out contest against St. Ignatius. Florence was in top form and won, 76-62. Beau Neal had a big game with 28 points, Aiden Wayne had 12, and Caden Zaluski added 10. This propelled them to the consolation game against Missoula Loyola. Florence controlled the game throughout and won, 70-59, earning the third place trophy. Beau Neal again led the way with 18 points, Blake Shoupe had 15, Jace Pederson had 12, and Caden Zaluski added 11.
The Florence girls played St. Ignatius in the opening round of the Western B Divisionals on Thursday, Feb. 24th. After a close first half, the Lady Falcons outscored St. Ignatius by 10 points in the second half and rolled to a 54-42 victory. Kasidy Yeoman led with 17 points, Kylie Kovatch had 12, Olivia Coulter had 10, and Kolbi Wood added six. This sent them to Friday’s semifinal game against eventual champion Bigfork, where they lost 35-59 to a talented Bigfork team. Kylie Kovatch and Kasidy Yeoman each had seven points, Kolbi Wood had six, and Kenzy Pickering added five. This sent them into a Saturday morning contest with Anaconda. Basketball can be a funny game; Florence defeated Anaconda handily a week earlier, but in this game Florence lost, 31-62. The Lady Falcons led after the first quarter, but ran out of gas as the game progressed, getting outscored 41-16 in the second half. Kasidy Yeoman led with nine points, Kylie Kovatch had seven, Elise Scheiter had six, and Kolbi Wood added four.