Class A basketball postseason

by Scott Sacry

Corvallis, Hamilton and Stevensville are in the Southwestern A conference for basketball. The top three boys and girls teams automatically qualify for Divisionals, while the bottom three teams have play-in games to determine the #4 seed. 

The top three boys teams are Dillon, Frenchtown and Butte Central. The top three girls teams are Dillon, Frenchtown and Hamiton. The Western A Divisional tournament will be held in Whitefish on March 6-8. 

Boys play-in games  

The Corvallis boys host Stevensville in the first divisional play-in game on Thursday, Feb. 27. The winner will play at Hamilton on Saturday, March 1 at 1 p.m. The winner of that game will be the #4 seed in Divisionals. 

Girls play-in games

The Butte Central girls host Stevensville on Thursday, Feb. 27 in the first play-in game. The winner will play at Corvallis on Saturday, March 1. The winner of that game will be the #4 seed in Divisionals. 

Hamilton

The Hamilton boys and girls hosted Stevensville on Thursday, February 20. In the boys game, Hamilton jumped out to a 26-6 first quarter lead, and kept their foot on the gas and won 79-28.

For Hamilton, Canaan Magness had a big game with 26 points, 8 rebounds and 5 steals. Magness had a perfect shooting night, going 2 for 2 on three pointers, 9 for 9 on two pointers and 2 for 2 from the free throw line. Tyler Jette had 14 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists, Jake McCarthy had a solid game with 11 points, Landon Wetzel had 7 points, Trevyn Bakken had 6, Cash Lockhart had 4, Gage Bierer and Cartier Ferguson each had 3, Kaden Gum and Cooper Weston each had 2, and Reece Fowler added 1.

In the girls game, Hamilton got up early and never relinquished the lead and defeated Stevensville 62-20. For Hamilton, Ashlynn McKern led the scoring with 21 points, Ella Griffin had 12, Loretta Hanson had 7, Mariah Domingo had 5, Tricia Wilson had 4, and Meryn Leonardi and Bryn Cianflone each added 3.

The Hamilton boys and girls went to Dillon on Friday, Feb. 21. The Hamilton girls were defeated by #2 Dillon 29-66. The Hamilton boys were defeated by #1 Dillon 35-60. For Hamilton, Landen Wetzel led the scoring with 16 points. Canaan Magness had 7 points and 7 rebounds, Tyler Jette had 1 point, 7 rebounds and 5 assists, and freshman Cash Lockhart had 6 points. 

The last game of the regular season for both Hamilton teams was on Tuesday, Feb. 25 at Frenchtown.

Corvallis 

The Corvallis boys and girls hosted Frenchtown on Thursday, Feb. 20. The Corvallis boys played a solid game against a good Frenchtown team but were undone by a cold 2nd quarter where they were outscored 5-24 by the visiting Broncs. Despite that quarter, the game was mostly even, but the Blue Devils couldn’t overcome the deficit and lost 64-84. 

The Corvallis girls had their hands full with #5 Frenchtown. Corvallis played well but didn’t have the firepower to stay with Frenchtown, falling behind 18-39 at halftime and losing 35-62. 

The Corvallis girls traveled to Butte Central on Saturday, Feb. 22 for their final game of the regular season. The Lady Blue Devils played an excellent game and defeated the Maroons 34-30. For Corvallis, Ava Loran and Ella Varner each had 9 points, and Taryn Hochhalter added 8.

The Corvallis boys hosted Butte Central on Saturday, Feb. 22 in their final game of the regular season. Corvallis led 18-17 after the 1st quarter, then it was all Butte as the Maroons took control and Corvallis lost 50-80.

Stevensville

The boys and girls from Stevensville went to Hamilton on Thursday, Feb. 20. In the boys game, Stevensville was defeated 28-79. In the girls game, Stevensville was defeated 20-62.

The Stevensville boys played their final game of the regular season at #1 Dillon on Saturday, Feb. 22 and were defeated 20-70. The Stevensville girls hosted #2 Dillon in their final game of the regular season on Saturday, Feb. 22 and were defeated 17-74.