by Scott Sacry
The top three boys and girls basketball teams from the Southwestern A conference received byes into the Western A Divisionals, which take place in Ronan on Feb. 23rd-25th. The #4 through #7 ranked teams played in a four team tournament to earn the #4 seed and a trip to Divisionals. The Stevensville girls won both of their games and will be the #4 seed in Divisionals and face #1 seeded Browning at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 23rd.
The Stevensville girls were the #4 seed in the Southwestern A conference and hosted #7 Corvallis on Thursday, Feb. 16th. Stevensville trailed 17-22 after one quarter, but the Lady ‘Jackets evened it up and led 34-33 at halftime. It was a four-point game early in the 4th quarter, but Stevensville was too strong down the stretch and won, 73-59.
The Stevensville girls then hosted East Helena on Saturday, Feb 18th, with the winner advancing to Divisionals. Stevensville was in control of the game throughout, leading 13-7 after one quarter and 31-19 at half. It was more of the same in the second half as they rolled to a 56-40 victory and earned a spot in Divisionals. Cambree Praast led the Lady ‘Jackets with 16 points, Claire Hutchison had 9, Dawsyn Brewer had 8, and Alexa Perez added 6.
The Stevensville boys were the #7 seed and traveled to #4 seeded Frenchtown on Thursday, Feb. 16th. This shows the strength of the conference when Frenchtown, a team with State Championship aspirations, was the #4 seed. The Stevensville boys fought hard, but Frenchtown had too many weapons and won, 65-23. Gracen Trevino led the ‘Jackets with 10 points and Kellan Beller added 7. This ends the season for Stevensville, who look to rebuild and come back stronger next season.
The Corvallis boys were the #6 seed and traveled to face #5 East Helena on Thursday, Feb. 16th. Corvallis is a team full of potential and they fulfilled it on this night as they easily handled a solid East Helena team, winning, 64-46. Corvallis led most of the game and everytime East Helena made a run, Corvallis had an answer. Ryan Hutchison had a big game with 15 points, Aaron Powell had 13, and Derek Criddle added 12.
This win sent them to Frenchtown on Saturday. Corvallis stumbled out of the gate, falling behind 1-22 after the first quarter. They outscored Frenchtown in the 2nd quarter but were never able to make up the deficit and fell, 32-68. Cameron Whiteley led Corvallis with 7 points, Tyler Weis had 6, and Ryan Hutchison and Aaron Powell each added 5. The Blue Devils failed to make Divisionals, but the team has a lot of young talent and look to have a bright future in years to come.
The Corvallis girls were the #7 seed and played at #4 Stevensville on Thursday, Feb 16th. Corvallis came out on fire and had one of their best offensive quarters of the year and led Stevensville, 22-17. The Lady ‘Jackets evened it up in the 2nd quarter and led 34-33 at halftime. Corvallis trailed 49-53 with 6 minutes left in the game, but Stevensville was too strong down the stretch and Corvallis lost, 59-73. Corvallis steadily improved over the season. By comparison, the first time they played Stevensville they only scored 29 total points, and in this game they had that total in the second quarter. So, although this is the end of their season, the future looks bright for this young team.
The Hamilton girls are the #3 seed in Divisionals and face Polson at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 23rd. The two teams met in early December and Hamilton won, 51-39. The Hamilton boys are the #2 seed in Divisionals and face Polson on Thursday, Feb. 23rd at 12 p.m. The two teams met early in the season on December 13 and Hamilton won 65-58 in a close game.