Florence girls are divisional champs

by Scott Sacry, Sports Editor

In a stunning display of defensive domination, the Florence Falcon girls basketball team routed Missoula Loyola 55-34 in Pablo on Saturday, March 7 to win the Western B Divisional championship. 

In Saturday’s championship game, Florence held Loyola to a season low 34 points, as they deployed a “box and one” defense to counter Loyola’s one-woman wrecking crew, Spencer Laird. 

The task of guarding Laird fell mainly to Florence’s Emory Ralston, Taylor Pyette and Kendyl Meinhold, who all had superb defensive performances. Laird still managed 24 points in the game, but most of these came in the second half as Florence had already built up their lead. 

“We’ve never thrown a box and one on Spencer before, and I have watched other teams try it,” said Florence head coach Shane Meinhold. “We thought with our athleticism and the way we pressure the ball, the box and one might throw their rhythm off how Loyola likes to run their offense. The girls did a great job executing it.”

Florence’s offense was crisp and effective all night and the Falcons jumped out to a 14-7 first quarter lead and a 30-14 halftime lead. It was more of the same in the second half, as Florence kept up the pressure and rolled to the 55-34 victory. 

Saturday’s meeting was the fourth time that Florence (ranked #4 in the final 406mtsports.com poll) and Loyola (ranked #2) have played this season. Florence won the first matchup 48-59, then Loyola won the next two games 67-52 and 62-57. Florence’s divisional win evened the series at two wins each. 

Offensively for Florence, Kendyl Meinhold led a balanced attack with 13 points. Ali Meinhold had 11, Maggie Schneiter and Madigan Hurlbert each had 10. Jaden Fisher had 6, Taylor Pyette had 3, and Shelby Crocker added 2. 

Falcons soar into state

With their divisional victory, Florence earned the West’s #1 seed at the Class B State Tournament in Bozeman on Thursday, March 12 to Saturday, March 14. Florence plays Huntley Project, the South’s #4 seed, bright and early on Thursday morning at 9 a.m. at the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse.

“We are feeling really good heading into state,” said Meinhold. “The girls are playing really hard and fighting for each other. I keep saying it, but our maturity compared to past years is a big difference maker for us.”

All the teams at the state tournament are talented and formidable, and Florence has two of the best Class B girls teams on their side of the bracket, as #1 Baker (23-0) takes on #3 Glasgow (22-2) in the other game in the Florence/Huntley side of the bracket. Florence and Baker played in what seems like years ago on December 6, which Baker won 74-60.

“The state tournament has a different energy and in past years our girls had a tough time playing in the moment and harnessing that energy,” said Meinhold. “This is our third year in a row being at state and I see our team having a much more business-type approach to coming home with some hardware. I’m very proud of these girls and everything they’ve accomplished. I’m hoping they have a strong run and get to play Saturday night.”

Divisional game recaps

Florence 67, St. Ignatius 32

The Florence girls played #8 St. Ignatius in their semifinal game on Friday, March 6. St. Ignatius was 18-1 heading into this game, but that lone loss was to Florence. Florence took care of business again, as they controlled the game from start to finish, leading 20-10 after the first quarter and 44-19 at halftime, en route to an impressive 67-32 victory over a top ten team. 

For Florence, Ali Meinhold led the scoring with 17 points. Maggie Schneiter had 12, Emory Ralston and Jaden Fisher each had 9, Kendyl Meinhold had 8, Madigan Hurlbert had 6, Shelby Crocker had 4, and Taylor Pyette added 2. 

Florence 61, Plains 17

The Florence girls played Plains in their opening game on Thursday, March 5. The Falcons got up early and didn’t look back as they led 40-7 at halftime and rolled to a 61-17 victory. 

For Florence, Kendyl Meinhold led the Falcons with 18 points. Maggie Schneiter had 13, Ali Meinhold had 11, Taylor Pyette had 7, Jaden Fisher had 4, and Emory Ralston and Madigan Hurlbert each added 3.