by Scott Sacry
The boys and girls basketball teams from Stevensville and Hamilton squared off in Hamilton on Tuesday, January 3rd. The Broncs ruled the court and won both games.
The Hamilton boys defeated Stevensville, 72-19. The Broncs started quick and jumped out to a 24-1 lead in the first quarter. Stevensville picked up the pace in the second quarter, scoring 9 to Hamilton’s 13. But Hamilton ran away with it in the second half, outscoring Stevensville 35 to 9 to gain the lopsided victory.
Statistically, Hamilton dominated. They shot 55% from the field while Stevensville only shot 25%. They had 30 rebounds to Stevensville’s 15. Finally, turnovers told the tale of the game as Stevensville had 25 to Hamilton’s 5. Individually, Kellan Beller of Stevensville had a team-high 7 points, while Asher Magness of Hamilton had a game-high 12 points. Andrew Burrows and Eli Taylor of Hamilton both added 8 points each.
On Friday, the Hamilton boys traveled to Frenchtown in the battle of the Broncs. Both teams were undefeated and ranked in the top 5. The latest 406mtsports.com rankings had Hamilton at No. 2 and Frenchtown at No. 3, and in the montanasports.com poll, Hamilton was No. 4 and Frenchtown was No. 2. Frenchtown got up early and rolled to a 66-50 victory. A slow start hampered Hamilton as they were outscored 13-5 in the first quarter and were down 19-33 at halftime. The second half was mostly even, but Hamilton wasn’t able to chip away at Frenchtown’s lead. Eli Taylor led Hamilton with 14 points, followed by Canaan Magness with 13 and Liam O’Connell with 10 points.
On Friday, the Stevensville boys played Dillon and were more competitive, but fell short, 39-63. The Jackets kept it close in the first quarter, trailing 8-10, but Dillon ran away with it in the next three quarters for the win. For Stevensville, Tad Tackes led with 14 points, Gracen Trevino had 9, and Kellan Bellar added 8.
The Hamilton and Stevensville girls’ contest was a wide open, back and forth game, but Hamilton had too much firepower and won, 75-57. Hamilton came out of the gates blazing, outscoring Stevensville 21-7 in the first quarter. From then on it was fairly even, but Stevensville was never able to come back from the early deficit.
Individually for Hamilton, Taryn Searle led the scoring with 19 points and had 5 assists, Layne Kearns had 16 points and 12 rebounds, and Emilee Searle had 13 points and 3 steals. For Stevensville, Claire Hutchison and Alexia Perez had 11 points each, and Cambree Praast added 10 points.
On Friday, the Hamilton girls traveled to Frenchtown and lost, 45-57. Hamilton started strong, leading 16-8 after the first quarter, and were up 27-24 at halftime, but a weak 3rd quarter proved the difference as Hamilton was outscored 6-20 in that period. Taryn Searle led with 14 points, followed by Layne Kearns with 10, and Taylor McCarthy with 7 points.
On Friday, the Stevensville girls took on Dillon, the No. 2 ranked Class A team in the latest 406mtsports.com poll, and lost, 25-68. Claire Hutchison led Stevensville with 13 points, and Jaden Fisher added 4 points.