The Florence Falcons may have needed the rest the 12 days between the Western B Divisional and the state tournament this weekend in Butte, but even though they healed up, they also lost some momentum going into the tournament. The Falcons struggled early on and never seemed to come together the way they did during the regular season.
Florence opened against Jefferson County or Boulder, on Thursday afternoon. Jefferson jumped out to an early behind the scoring of Trase Letexier. It was Letexier who provided the spark for the Panthers under the basket The future Grizzly football player held his own and the trio of Jake Christopherson, Levi Clagett and Dan Mickelson could not contain him. The clock was at 1:04 before Florence’s Clagett stepped to the charity line and sank two free throws. The Falcons’ only other score was a short bucket by Mickelson.
“They obstructed us defensively,” said coach Boone Nelson of his Falcons. “It took us a while to get going.”
Florence came back in the second quarter and started scoring while changing up their own defense to slow Jefferson down. Jefferson controlled the paint and rebounding so the Falcons shot from outside. By the end of the half, they had scored 20 more points and took a one point lead into the break. Marcus Zeiler, Clagett and Christopherson all hit three pointers in the period, which pulled the Jefferson defenders out from the basket. Midway through the second quarter, Christopherson re-injured his toe when he came down on another player’s foot.
“They told us the injury (a hyper extended toe) can’t worsen, but he re-aggravated it,” said Nelson. Christopherson left the game and had his toe re-taped. While that was happening, a scramble for a loose ball left Florence’s other big guy, Dan Mickelson, writhing on the floor and clutching his arm. He also left the game and Florence was down two starters and the sixth man, Cody Liles, was in foul trouble.
“Cody (Liles) has done a great job this season,” said Nelson. “He gets in there and is an absolute beast on the floor.”
Both Christopherson and Mickelson returned to the game without being limited much. Mickelson’s elbow was twisted a bit and he was a bit tentative when he first came back but he soon loosened up. Christopherson hit a couple of free throws and a trey midway through the third quarter to put the Falcons up by six.
“We got the momentum going our way,” said Nelson. “But every time we’d extend our lead, Trase (Letexier) would come back and hit a couple to slow us down.”
The two teams played neck and neck throughout the third and fourth quarters with Florence holding a small lead. With less than 25 seconds remaining in the game and the game tied at 47, Bo Zeiler and Clagett teamed up for a steal and Clagett made the two points. It was Clagett that sealed the 51-47 win with two free throws at the end of the game. Clagett finished with 19 points including two treys and shot five of six from the free throw line.
Florence 51, Jefferson 47
Florence – Bo Zeiler 2, Marcus Zeiler 7, Levi Clagett 19, Jake Christopherson 10, Dan Mickelson 10, Cody Liles 3.
Jefferson – A.J. Eckmann 6, Jered Padmos 13, Josh Eckmann 3, Trase Letexier 20, Josh Leary 3, Rahkei Eyer 2.
The win propelled Florence into the semi finals on Friday night against the defending state champion, Choteau. Florence began the game on fire and quickly jumped out to an early lead, catching Choteau a little off guard. But then Derrek Durocher of Choteau went to town. He hit his first trey and put the Bulldogs up by one. However Clagett answered with a steal and a bucket. Florence continued the pressure but so did Durocher. He sank another trey and a two-point field goal. But at the end of the first quarter, Florence held a six-point lead. At the break, Choteau made an adjustment on defense and went on the attack. They took the lead at 5:12 and from then on, Florence was playing catch up.
“We came out clicking and working hard and firing on all cylinders early,” said Nelson. “But we mishandled a lot of balls inside.”
Clagett and Bo Zeiler each had three fouls at the end of the first half and had to sit almost three minutes of the second quarter. Without the defense of Bo Zeiler and the shooting of Clagett, the Falcons’ game was thrown off. Add to that, Durocher had already sunk five of eight three-point shots and there didn’t seem to be a way to slow him down.
Florence stayed with Choteau, although they didn’t take the lead again, throughout the third quarter. Durocher went on to score 36 points; including 9 of 12 three point shots. Florence couldn’t find an answer for him and also had trouble slowing down Dylan Pannabecker who scored 19 points. Choteau went on to win, 81-67. Florence was paced by Clagett’s 20 points. Bo and Marcus Zeiler each had 11 points and Mickelson had 12.
“Choteau is one of the best teams I’ve ever seen, and the best team I’ve ever coached against. They might be the best team in any classification,” said Nelson.
Choteau 81, Florence 67
Florence – Bo Zeiler 11, Marcus Zeiler 11, Levi Clagett 20, Jake Christopherson 10, Dan Mickelson 12, Cody Liles 3.
Choteau – Marshall Willekes 2, Darrien Garcia 12, Collin Achenbach 8, Derrek Durocher 36, Dylan Pannabecker 19, Jonathan Moore 4.
Florence had just 12 hours to eat, sleep, and recoup before they had to play Townsend in loser out action. Nelson said the Falcons handed their loss to Choteau very well and refocused their thoughts on defeating Townsend at the 10:30 a.m. game on Saturday.
“We were off to a great start,” said Nelson. But as the game wore on, Florence’s legs didn’t want to cooperate. “Fatigue definitely was a factor.”
Again, it was another Grizzly football recruit that proved to be the thorn in Florence’s side. Jace Lewis didn’t score a lot of points but he played tough defense and when it counted, hit a three pointer that put Townsend up by one point at the beginning of the fourth quarter. A basket by Liles put Florence ahead on the next possession but that was the last time Florence led in the game. They lost to Townsend, 48-43.
“We just ran out of gas,” concluded Nelson. No matter what opportunity they had, the Falcons just couldn’t get their momentum back. Florence finished their season with a record of 22-4.
Nelson said he was so proud of his team and especially the seniors. “They’ve done so much for the program.”
Townsend 48, Florence 43
Florence – Bo Zeiler 4, Marcus Zeiler 4, Levi Clagett 14, Cody Liles 3, Dan Mickelson 7, Jake Christopherson 11.
Townsend – Jace Lewis 8, Quade McQueary 5, Austin Bessette 8, Teigan Snyder 16, Easton Hatfield 6, Jaden Graveley 3, Quinn Lelacheur 2.
Choteau went on to win the championship over Bigfork, 67-59. Townsend defeated Jefferson in double overtime, 48-36, to take third place.