by Scott Sacry
Hamilton
The Hamilton girls and boys basketball teams went to Lockwood on December 20 & 21 for the Lockwood Tip Off Tournament where teams from the Western A played teams from the Eastern A. Lockwood High School is a Class A school located east of Billings that opened in 2020.
On Friday, the Hamilton teams played Havre. In the girls game, Hamilton was defeated by Havre 32-72. For Hamilton, Meryn Leonardi led the scoring with 17 points, Ashlynn McKern had 6, Ella Griffin had 4, Kennidi Cooper and Annalise Lewis each had 2, and Mariah Domingo added 1. In the boys game, Hamilton was defeated by Havre 53-58.
On Saturday, Hamilton played Lockwood. In the girls game, Hamilton lost 29-69. For Hamilton, Ashlynn McKern led the scoring with 15 points, Annalise Lewis and Meryn Leonardi each had 3, and Ella Griffin, Kennidi Cooper, Tricia Wilson, and Mariah Domingo each added 2. In the boys game, Hamilton lost 54-67.
Florence
The Florence basketball teams hosted St. Ignatius on Friday, December 20. The Florence boys defeated St. Ignatius 73-41. For Florence, Brody Duchien led the scoring with 19 points, Bridger Alexander and Mason Arlington each had 9, Jake Schneiter and Wes Potter each had 7, Kade Anderson had 6, Levi Winters and Mose Smith each had 5, Schoenfeld Grant had 4, and Laasch Makoa added 2.
In the girls game, Florence defeated St. Ignatius 59-50. For Florence, Maggie Schneiter led the scoring with 15 points, Emory Ralston had 13, Kenzy Pickering had 11, Jaden Fisher and Madigan Hurlbert each had 6, Ali Meinhold and Kendyl Meinhold each had 3, and Taylor Pyette added 2.
On Saturday, Florence hosted Eureka. In the girls game, Florence defeated Eureka 66-30. For Florence, Taylor Pyette led the scoring with 11 points, Jaden Fisher and Kenzy Pickering each had 10, Shelby Crocker had 8, Kendyl Meinhold had 7, Ali Meinhold had 6, Maggie Schneiter had 5, Emory Ralston had 4, Alyx Monaco had 3, and Madigan Hurlbert added 2.
In the boys game, Florence won 64-30. For Florence, Jake Schneiter led the scoring with 17 points, Brody Duchien had 12, Bridger Alexander had 11, Levi Winters had 8, Laasch Makoa had 6, Kade Anderson and Mose Smith had 4, and Schoenfeld Grant and Mason Arlington each added 2.
Darby
The Darby and Victor boys and girls basketball teams battled in Victor on Tuesday, Dec. 17 with Darby winning both games. The Darby boys won 51-9, while the Darby girls won 50-22.
The Darby boys traveled to Superior on Friday, December 20 and lost 46-60. For Darby, McCoy Townsend had a big game with 23 points, Jordan Browning had 10, Leif Nelson had 4, Oliver Long and Braydon Lundgren had 3, Colter Bennett had 2, and Ben Martin added 1.
The Darby girls hosted Superior on Friday and won 54-44. For Darby, Georgia Fisher and Hadley Heiland had big games. Fisher led the way with 24 points, while Heiland had 23. Also for Darby, Nyna Reasor had 3, Lilly Bennett had 2, and Natalie Anderson and Austin Hackel each added 1.
Corvallis
The Corvallis girls played Ronan on Tuesday, December 17 and lost 18-40. They then played Sidney on Friday, Dec. 20 and lost 40-49. Then on Saturday, Dec. 21, they defeated Livingston 52-48. Corvallis’s Ella Varner led the scoring in the Livingston game with 18 points.
The Corvallis boys played Sidney on Dec. 20 and lost 43-58. On Saturday they played Livingston and won 52-37.
Stevensville
The Stevensville boys and girls basketball teams went to Valley Christian on Tuesday, December 17. The Stevensville girls lost 34-75, while the Stevensville boys won 47-42. The ‘Jackets boys team built a 39-28 lead going into the 4th quarter and withheld a late charge by Valley Christian to get the victory.
For Stevensville, Angus Trangmoe led the scoring with 12 points, David Beames had 10, Jake Gavlak had 9, Evan Montague had 5, Kaden Wyant had 3, and Tanner Brown, Spencer Moore, Silas Seibert, and David Laufenberg each added 2.
On Saturday, December 20, the Stevensville boys and girls went to Libby. The girls fell to the Loggers 21-59, while the boys were defeated 32-36.