by Scott Sacry
On Tuesday, December 20th, the boys and girls basketball teams from Florence and Stevensville squared off. The boys played in Florence while the girls played in Stevensville.
The girls’ game was evenly matched and came down to the wire with Stevensville winning, 43-41. Florence held a 34-25 lead going into the 4th quarter, but Stevensville, behind hot 3-point shooting from Cambree Praast, outscored Florence 18-7 in the final frame. Addison Drye made a short jumper to tie the game 41-41 with 30 seconds left. Florence then missed a three pointer and fouled Praast who sank two free throws to give Stevensville the lead, 43-41. Florence’s Olivia Coulter barely missed a game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer.
The Stevensville girls hosted East Helena on Monday and won, 60-47. They trailed 23-27 at the half, but outscored the Vigilantes 37-20 in the second half to get the victory. Stevensville’s Claire Hutchison led all scorers with 22 points, Shilo McLain Lampi had 11, and Kyndahl Plantz added 8. Once again the Lady ‘Jackets had a diverse scoring attack with 10 girls scoring.
In the boys’ game, Florence defeated Stevensville in a low scoring affair, 39-28. For Florence, Ethan Alexander led the way with 12 points, and Jessie Padilla and Brodie Hinsdale each added 8 points.
The Florence boys hosted the 406mtsports.com’s No. 1 ranked Class B team, Missoula Loyola, on Monday, December 19th. It was a rematch of sorts, as the two schools competed in the Class B football state championship game last month. But the outcome of this game turned out differently as Loyola dominated Florence for the win, 76-40. Tyler Abbott led the Falcons in scoring with 9 points, Trapper Oster had 7, and Brodie Hinsdale and Ethan Alexander each added 6.
The Stevensville boys traveled to East Helena on Monday, December 19th and lost a close game, 48-54. The ‘Jackets led at the half and were down by one at the start of the 4th quarter, but were outscored 11-6 in the final stanza to fall just short of their first victory of the season. Ted Tackes led the way with 14 points, Kellan Beller had 11, and Gracen Trevino added 8.
In another all Bitterroot Valley matchup, the boys and girls basketball teams from Darby and Victor met in Darby on Tuesday, December 20th.
In the girls’ game, Darby won handily, 56-18. Darby ran out to a 32-11 halftime lead and never looked back. For Darby, Makena Hawkinson had a big game and led all scorers with 24 points, and Kimmie Berry and Maya Smith each added 8 points. For Victor, Virginia Brown had 5 points and Nola Smorawski added 4.
In the boys’ game, Darby defeated Victor, 56-37. Darby cruised to the win with a big 3rd quarter, where they outscored Victor 21-6. For Darby, Cullen Duggan led with 19 points, Hooper Reed had 16 points, and Nolan Lenny added 12 points. For Victor, Brandon Bowen led the way with 23 points and Landon Nuttall added 4.
The Corvallis girls defeated Butte Central 37-34 on Tuesday, December 20. Corvallis held a 22-15 lead at halftime and held on for the victory. Ava Loren led all scorers with 17 points, while Erika Jessop and Tylin Sorensen each added 6 points. They played Frenchtown on Wednesday and lost, 37-60.
The Corvallis boys faced some fierce competition last week. On Tuesday, they played Butte Central, the 406mtsports No. 4 ranked team and the defending Class A state champions, and got beat, 57-25. Then on Wednesday they played No. 3 ranked Frenchtown and lost, 64-31. In the Frenchtown game, Derek Criddle led with 8 points, Aaron Powell had 7, and Aydan Mayn added six.