by Scott Sacry
The boys and girls basketball teams for Darby and Victor competed in the 13C District Tournament in Hamilton on Feb. 16th-18th. The Darby Boys took 2nd place and advanced to the Western C Divisionals in Butte on Feb. 23rd-25th. They will play Manhattan Chrsitian on Feb. 23rd at 5 p.m. The Darby girls took 4th and won’t be moving on. The Victor boys and girls both lost two games and completed their season.
The Darby boys were the #1 seed in the tournament and got a first round bye. On Friday, they faced Philipsburg and started quickly, leading 18-4 after one quarter and 38-15 at half. With a mix of solid offense and stingy defense, it was more of the same in the second half and Darby won, 69-45. Stevan Gabric couldn’t be stopped and scored a team-high 21 points, Cullen Duggan had 20, Hooper Reed had 13, Devyn Hundley had 9, and Will Martin added 6.
The Tigers met Drummond in the Championship game – the two teams split their regular season contests. The game was close throughout, as both teams played a high level of defense and both teams struggled to hit shots. At halftime, Darby held a slim 16-14 lead. The 3rd quarter went back and forth with lead changes and ties. With 5 minutes left in the game, Darby led, 31-30. Darby wouldn’t score another basket for the next four and a half minutes. Then, with 22 seconds left, and Drummond leading, 34-31, Darby’s Stevan Gabric rattled in a monster 3-pointer to tie the game. Drummond missed a shot on their final possession and the game went to overtime.
In overtime, it was back and forth until the end. With eight seconds left, Darby was down 42-40 and Gabric ended up with the ball and drove to the basket, got fouled and made a basket right as the buzzer went off. In the confusion that ensued, it was ruled that Gabric was fouled before the shot went up and before the clock ran out. So he had a one and one chance at the free throw line, with no time left, and Darby down, 40-42. Gabric, who had a tremendous game, was short on the first attempt, giving Drummond the victory. Hooper Reed, who was consistently double- and triple-teamed, led Darby with 16 points, Stevan Gabric was solid with 14, and Cullen Duggan added 5. The loss was tough, but their season is still alive as they advance to the Western C Divisionals in Butte Feb. 23rd-25th.
The Darby girls were the #4 seed and faced off against #5 Valley Christian on Thursday, Feb. 16 in the first round. Darby got out to a fast start and was up 14-6 after the 1st quarter and led 26-12 at halftime. Darby let Valley back in the game in the fourth quarter, but held on for the 46-37 win. Darby senior Makena Hawkinson led the way with 17 points, while Madison Nelson and Sierra Reed each added 8 points.
The Darby girls then played the #1 seed, Drummond, on Friday. Drummond is ranked in the Class C top ten and they handled Darby easily, winning 56-17. Darby played hard, but just couldn’t figure out Drummond’s full court press, which forced multiple Darby turnovers and led to easy points for Drummond. Darby’s Kylie Schlapman led with 6 points and Sierra Reed added 5.
This sent them to the loser out bracket on Saturday morning where they faced Lincoln. Darby held a 7-2 lead after a low scoring first quarter, then found their stride and rolled to a 36-22 victory. Kyleigh Flux led with 7 points, Samantha Shull and Sierra Reed each had 6, and Natalie Anderson added 5.
This sent them to the consolation game later in the day on Saturday, where they played Philipsburg and lost, 35–52. The Darby girls started slow, trailing 2-10 after one quarter and 13-28 at halftime. They stayed close in the 2nd half, but were never able to get back into the game. Natalie Anderson led Darby in scoring with 10 points, followed by Kyleigh Flux with 7 and Makena Hawkinson with 6. This ends a solid season for the Darby girls who hope to come back stronger next season.
The Victor girls were the #6 seed and played #3 Philipsburg on Thursday, Feb 16th. The Lady Pirates had a tough time breaking the Lady Prospectors’ full court press and fell down to an insurmountable 2-34 halftime deficit. They bounced back in the 2nd half, but were too far behind and lost, 14-49. Nola Smorowski led with 5 points, Kyla Tacker had 4, and Abby Kay added 3.
This sent them to the loser out bracket where they faced Lincoln on Friday, where they lost, 28-60. It just wasn’t Victor’s day as they had trouble stopping Lincoln on defense and scoring on offense. Kyla Tacker led with 7 points, Nola Smorowski had 4, and Chloe Pollan and Virginia Brown each had 4. This ended the season for the Victor girls, who have a lot of young talent and hope to come back stronger next season.
The Victor boys were the #6 seed and played #3 Seeley in the 1st round on Thursday. It was a close first half with Victor trailing by just one point, 19-20. But the Pirates went cold in the second half, getting outscored 3-16 in the 3rd quarter. They couldn’t make up the deficit in the 4th and lost, 31-55. Jordan McLane had a solid game with 14 points, and Landon Nuttall and Russell Drewien each had 6 points.
This sent them to the loser out bracket where they faced Lincoln on Friday and they lost, 44-57. The Pirates were within striking distance in the 4th quarter, but went on a cold streak to close out the game, only scoring 3 points in the final quarter. Jordan McLane had a great game with 19 points, Roan Jackson added 9, Brandon Bowen had 6 and Russell Drewien added 5. It was a tough way to end the season for Victor, but they hope the underclassmen come back even stronger next season.