by Scott Sacry
Corvallis
The Corvallis boys and girls basketball teams played Class B power Missoula Loyola on Tuesday, January 7. The Corvallis boys hosted the #1 ranked Rams, while the Corvallis girls traveled to Missoula to play the #2 ranked Breakers.
In the boys game, the young Blue Devil squad was outmanned and outgunned. They fell behind 14-53 at halftime and lost 30-77.
In the girls game, the Blue Devils kept it close early, trailing 11-17 after the first quarter, but the Breakers hit the gas and Corvallis couldn’t keep up as the Blue Devils fell 36-66. For Corvallis, Ella Varner had 18 points.
Darby
The Darby boys and girls hosted Superior on Friday, January 10.
In the girls game, Darby lost 49-68. The Tigers were hindered by a cold second quarter where they were outscored 8-22. For Darby, Hadley Heiland led the scoring with 19 points, Georgia Fisher had a solid game with 16, Austin Hackel had 6, and Natalie Anderson and Ella Bush each added 4.
In the boys game, Darby was doomed by a slow first half where they fell behind 16-41. The Tigers rallied in the second half, but fell short, losing 54-65.
For Darby, McCoy Townsend had a monster game, scoring 29 points. Leif Nelson was solid with 11, Jordan Browning had 5, Oliver Long had 3, and Daniel Stewart and Abe Atkins each added 2.
Then Saturday, January 11, both Darby teams traveled to Plains. In the girls game, Darby lost 40-41 in a heart breaker. Darby was solid in the first three quarters and led 35-27 going into the 4th quarter. But they went cold in the final frame, getting outscored 5-14 and losing by one point.
The boys game was a low scoring affair. Darby was up 16-10 at halftime and held on to get the 40-34 victory.
Hamilton
The Hamilton boys played at Bigfork on Tuesday, January 7. The Broncs stampeded out to a 30-17 halftime lead, then held on for the 52-48 victory.
For Hamilton, Canaan Magness led the way with 16 points, Asher Griffin, Landon Wetzel and Tyler Jette each had 9, Kaden Gum had 5, and Gage Bierer added 4.
On Saturday, the Hamilton boys traveled to Columbia Falls where they struggled to get it going offensively and lost 38-60.
The Hamilton girls played at Bigfork on Thursday, Jan 9 and lost 33-64 to a strong Valkyries team. For Hamilton, Meryn Leonardi led the scoring with 11 points, Nellie Dickemore had 5, Ella Griffin and Ashlynn McKern each had 4, Elise Carroll had 3, Annalise Lewis and Mariah Domingo each had 2, and Loretta Hanson and Tricia Wilson each added 1.
On Saturday, the Hamilton girls hosted Columbia Falls and lost 41-48. The Lady Broncs had an up and down game. They led 16-5 after one quarter, then went cold in the next two quarters and were behind 28-34 going into the 4th quarter where they couldn’t make up the difference and lost 41-48.
For Hamilton, Ashlynn McKern had a big game with 21 points, Meryn Leonardi had 8, Ella Griffin, Tricia Wilson and Mariah Domingo each had 3, Loretta Hanson had 2, and Annalise Lewis added 1.
Victor
The Victor boys and girls basketball teams hosted Alberton on Thursday, Jan 9. In the girls game, Victor defeated Alberton 42-19. In the boys game, Victor was defeated 35-63.
On Saturday, Jan. 11, both teams went to Pablo to play Two Eagle River. The girls game was a thriller that came down to the wire. With 18 seconds left in the game, Victor had the ball and the score was tied 55-55. Victor’s Chloe Pollan grabbed a rebound off a missed shot and was fouled with four seconds left to play. Pollan missed her first free throw, but buried the second one to give Victor a 56-55 lead. On Two Eagle’s ensuing possession, Pollan stole a pass to seal the victory for Victor.
In the boys game, Victor lost to Two Eagle River 43-83.