Hamilton basketball teams end season at divisional

by Scott Sacry

The Hamilton boys and girls basketball teams were the only Class A Bitterroot Valley teams to play in the Western A Divisional tournament in Whitefish on March 6-8.

Both teams played well, but both lost their first two games and were bumped out of the tournament. The Hamilton girls lost to Columbia Falls on Thursday and Browning on Friday, while the Hamilton boys lost to Browning on Thursday and Ronan on Friday.

Hamilton girls 37, Columbia Falls 51

The Hamilton girls were the #3 seed from the Southwest and played Columbia Falls, the #2 seed from the Northwest, in their opening round on Thursday, March 6. 

The Lady Broncs kept it close in the 1st quarter, then went cold in the 2nd quarter and were behind 11-25 at halftime. Hamilton played Columbia Falls even in the second half, but were unable to make up the difference and lost 37-51.

For Hamilton, Ashlynn McKern led the scoring with 20 points, Ella Griffin had 11 and Annalise Lewis added 6. 

Hamilton girls 42, Browning 46

This loss sent Hamilton to the loser out bracket where they met Browning on Friday morning. Hamilton jumped out to a 10-6 lead after one quarter then slowed down in the 2nd quarter and trailed 16-20 at halftime. The Lady Broncs were down 16-25 early in the 3rd quarter then went on an impressive 16-0 run to take a 37-32 lead going into the 4th quarter. Browning evened the game, but with 3:50 left to play Hamilton still led 42-41. Unfortunately for Hamilton, they went cold down the stretch and Browning scored the game’s final five points and Hamilton lost 42-46. 

For Hamilton, Ashlynn McKern led the scoring with 16 points, Ella Griffin had 8, Tricia Wilson had 7, Annalise Lewis had 5, Meryn Leonardi had 3, Mariah Domingo had 2 and Elise Carroll added 1.

This ended the season for the Hamilton girls, but the future looks bright for the Lady Broncs. They will return most of their key players from this year, as Tricia Wilson was the only senior on the team, and they have an enthusiastic head coach in Vanessa Stavish to lead them.  

Hamilton boys 41, Browning 51

The Hamilton boys were the #4 seed out of the Southwest and played Browning, the #1 team out of the Northwest, in their first round game on Thursday. 

The game was even to start and Hamilton led 20-19 with 3:15 left in the 2nd quarter. Browning then went on a 9-0 run and Hamilton trailed 20-28 at halftime. 

After the half, the Broncs scratched their way back into the game and early in the 4th quarter Hamilton’s Canaan Magness completed a three point play to tie the game at 32-32. Then with just under four minutes to play in the game, and Hamilton trailing 34-38, Magness was injured and was unavailable for the rest of the game. 

The other Hamilton players stepped up and played hard, but it was a tough time to lose their floor general, and Hamilton was out scored 13-7 from that point on. They had their chances late to close the gap, but couldn’t make it back and fell 41-51. Browning went on to take 2nd place in the tournament.

For Hamilton, Tyler Jette led with 18 points, Canaan Magness had 10, Cash Lockhart had 6, Jake McCarthy had 5 and Kaden Gum added 2.

Hamilton boys 56, Ronan 63

This loss sent Hamilton to the loser out bracket where they played Ronan (who eventually took 3rd place) on Friday morning. Hamilton was without their leader Canaan Magness, who was injured in the previous game; the Broncs were already without starter Landen Wetzel. Hamilton’s offense generally runs through Magness, so the Broncs had to adjust their offense.

Given the fact that they were without their main scorer, the Broncs played an excellent game as all the players stepped up to fill in. 

Hamilton was down 11-13 after the 1st quarter and 19-26 at the half, but rallied and took a 36-35 lead late in the 3rd quarter. It was back and forth in the 4th, and Hamilton had their chances, but they couldn’t make it over the hump and lost 56-63.  

For Hamilton, Tyler Jette had a monster game, scoring 29 points in his last high school game for Hamilton, Jake McCarthy had a solid game with 15 points, Kaden Gum had 7, Asher Griffin and Cash Lockland each had 2 and Easton Hollis added 1.

This ended the season for the Hamilton boys. They will lose talented senior Tyler Jette, but will be returning a deep and experienced group next year. This will be a team to keep an eye on.