Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Sports at a Glance

All stories by Jean Schurman

Falcons are 6B champs

Lady Falcons are 6B runners-up

Basketball Roundup

Divided allegiances

Open House on proposed baseball fields

Hamilton students named Academic All State

Falcons are 6B champs It was a tale of two different halves for the Florence Falcons in their opening game of the 6B tournament in Hamilton. After a first-round bye, Florence took on Deer Lodge Thursday afternoon. Florence played tough defense in the first quarter, allowing the Wardens only four points. With the twin towers of Quinn Smith at 6’8” and Alex Mitchell at 6’6”, the Wardens had to alter their shots inside. Florence continued to add baskets in the second quarter and took a 20-point lead to the locker room at the half. However, the third quarter was not one of the Falcon’s best efforts. “We didn’t really finish the game,” said senior Brandon Lorensen. “We thought it was over at halftime.” Deer Lodge pulled within 10 points after Troy Thomas hit a long trey and shortly after that, Smith was called for a technical for hanging on the rim. Florence continued to struggle somewhat throughout the quarter but a steal by Reid Baerlocher and then a free throw by Adam Greger gave Florence their momentum again. Although the Falcons didn’t look as crisp as they did in the first quarter, they cruised to a 59-45 win. Florence had four players in double figures – Reid Baerlocher with 15, Lorensen with 10, Mitchell with 13 and Smith with 11 points. Florence 59, Deer Lodge 45 Deer Lodge – Patrick Ryan 4, Drew Doiron 10, Troy Thomas 20, Nick Herrin 3, Robert Stone 4, Connor Meagher 1-1 0-2 2, Brandon Forson 1-2 0-0 2. Florence – Reid Baerlocher 15, Brandon Lorensen 10, Alex Mitchell 13, Chris Benson 2, Quinn Smith 11, Ross Mangun 3, Adam Greger 3, Kenny Collins 2.

Adam Greger of Florence makes a shot in the championship game against Loyola at the District 6B tournament in Hamilton. Florence beat Loyola, 56-48, and advances to the Western B Divisional this week in Pablo. Jean Schurman photo Sean Abrahamsen of Darby is one of the young players who will be back next year to play. Jean Schurman photo

With the win, Florence advanced to the championship game where they met up with Missoula Loyola. Although bitter rivals, the teams themselves are pretty good friends and have played a lot of ball against one another over the years. These two teams are very physical and there is a lot of fouling. The game was barely underway before Florence had been to the charity line three times. With Smith in the middle and Mitchell close by, the two Falcons altered or blocked the Rams’ shots time and time again, forcing them to move outside where Baerlocher and Lorensen kept the pressure up.

By the end of the half, Florence had a 14-point lead. But once again, the third quarter was slow for the Falcons. Coach Sam Baerlocher joked after the game that perhaps a different motivational speaker was needed at the break.

“We came out and played really well early and then we hung on,” according to Baerlocher. “You play a team three times, you start learning little things about them and they learn about you.”

Although Florence never lost the lead, Loyola did pull within six points with just under two minutes remaining in the game after the Rams’ Pat Jensen hit a trey. Florence came back with Lorensen hitting the front end of a one-and-one shot and Reid Baerlocher hitting two free throws for the 56-48 win.

“We held them under their average,” said coach Baerlocher. “And they held us down too.”

Florence will play Wednesday night at 6 o’clock at the Western B tournament in Pablo at the Joe McDonald Athletic Center at Salish Kootenai College. They will take on Plains, who finished in fourth place at the 7B tournament.

Florence 56, Loyola 48

Loyola - Carter Bermingham 5, Peter Shaughnessey 4, Pat Jensen 11, Cade Cross 19, Everett Johnston 9.

Florence - Chris Benson 5, Alex Mitchell 13, Quinn Smith 5, Reid Baerlocher 15, Brandon Lorensen 8, Ross Mangun 5, Adam Greger 5.

Darby lost to Deer Lodge in their opening game, 58-25. They took on Valley Christian in loser out action but failed to advance, losing, 80-41.

Coach Scott Marsh said that although his team struggled this year, he was very pleased with the progress they had made. “A lot of people say we are finally playing as a team. That’s a very unselfish team. The seniors put the team first and played for the team.”

Lady Falcons are 6B runners-up The Lady Falcons of Florence opened their tournament play on Thursday against Valley Christian after a first-round bye. The team entered the 6B tournament as the No. 2 seed. Florence struggled in the first half, trying to get inside to Odessa Conley but Valley Christian’s bigger girls kept them from utilizing the athletic senior. Shooting a dismal 17 percent from the field, the Lady Falcons had seven turnovers and were out-rebounded by eight boards. They were down by eight points before Florence senior Abby Mytty stepped up and sank two field goals at the end of the half to give the team some momentum going into the half. “We didn’t come out as strongly as we would have liked to but we pulled it together in the end,” said Mytty. “We showed some real heart there.” The Lady Falcons came out of the locker room and went to work in the third quarter. Rosie O’Brien picked up her third foul but she also made a steal and an assist to Brittany Heinz who made the shot good. Another Mytty shot found the bottom of the net and a steal by Conley with a bucket by Heinz and the game was tied. Florence picked up their defense with Conley crating three turnovers in a row. Florence finally pulled ahead in the fourth quarter and held on to the lead and the 42-39 victory. Mytty had 12 points and Conley finished with 15 points. Coach Neuman was pleased with Mytty’s performance but not surprised. “I see her practice everyday and I’ve just been waiting for that to happen. Odessa is our go-to girl, with Abby hitting some shots, it pulls people off of her.” Florence 42, Valley Christian 39

Abby Mytty had a couple of great games at the District 6B Tournament in Hamilton. She scored 14 points against Loyola and 12 points against Valley Christian. She and the Lady Falcons will play this week at the Western B Divisional in Pablo. Jean Schurman photo. Hailey Rennaker of Darby is one of the youngsters who will be back next year for the Tigers. Jean Schurman photo.

Florence – Brittany Heinz 11, Abby Mytty 12, Odessa Conley 15, Rosie O’Brien 2, Kayla Johnson 2.

Valley Christian – Hollyn Wittmier 4, Tessa Pearson 9, Beth Kesler 15, Heidi Cross 4, Charisa Ireland 3, Desaree Dargan.

With the win, Florence moved to the championship game against Loyola Sacred Heart. In each of their previous meetings this season, the Breakers have defeated Florence by more than 10 points. The Lady Falcons were determined that was not going to happen again.

Florence had a two-point lead at the end of the first quarter and it looked like things might go their way. They played a tough box-in-one defense on Loyola star Jordan Pfau that kept her from making any scoring runs.

“We tightened up our defense,” said Conley. “We also reversed the ball a lot more and took better shots.”

The Lady Falcons continued to push on defense and make their shots throughout the second quarter but fouls were beginning to catch up with them. O’Brien picked up her third foul before the break and Conley had two fouls. The Lady Falcons maintained the lead at the half but it was not without a price.

“I thought we had a good game plan,” said Neuman. “But you play that defense to a certain point, then you’re going to start getting negative returns because they are going to start finding out where they can hit shots.”

The Loyola team found the cracks in the third quarter took the lead while holding Florence to only four points in the third quarter. Although O’Brien picked up her fifth foul prior to the end of the third quarter, the rest of the Florence team kept chipping away at the Breakers. Kayla Johnson hit a basket and Heinz each scored with just over a minute left in the game to pull the Lady Falcons within two points. With time running out, Florence had to foul and the Breakers didn’t miss their free throws. Loyola won, 48-43. Mytty finished with 14 points and Conley added 11.

Loyola 48, Florence 43

Florence – Heinz 7, Mytty 14, Conley 11, Byrne 1, O’Brien 3, Johnson 7.

Loyola – Jordan Pfau 8, Alex Anderson 10, Kierman Haggarty 6, Emma Priddy 13, Alex Lamey 11.

Darby also competed in the District 6B tournament. They opened against Deer Lodge and lost, 44-16. Friday, the Lady Tigers took on Valley Christian in loser out action. The team, who has struggled all season, found their focus and played a tough game. They trailed by one point at the end of three quarters and refused to give up. Julie Abrahamsen sank a shot from inside the paint to give Darby the lead and then Hailey Rennaker made one of two free throws. But Hollyn Wittmier of Valley Christian came back and hit a long two point shot to tie the game. Darby had one more chance to win but Valley came back and hit another basket at the buzzer to win the game, 31-29.

“This was do or die, the senior’s last game,” said Darby coach JP McCrossin. “The kids played as hard as they could and to leave everything on the court. We got beat by 30 the first time, 20 the second time. I’m so, so proud of those kids. Those freshmen, the sophomores everybody stepped up. Valley hit a nice shot at the end, could have went in or out.”

The Corvallis Blue Devils upended the Lady Broncs of Hamilton in their final game of the season Saturday afternoon in Corvallis. The Blue Devils held off a late-charging Hamilton team to win, 39-30, even though two of their players went down with injuries. Coral Higuera sustained a sprained ankle but did come back to play. Whitney Cranmore went out with possible broken fingers and did not return. Megan Auch had 16 points to lead the Blue Devils.

“We played tough today,” said coach Barry Lemon of his Corvallis team. “We may be peaking at the right time.”

Hamilton, who has struggled with scoring all season, was led by Misha Trotter’s nine points and Annie Schultz’ eight points.

“It is a bummer to lose here,” said Hamilton coach Mark Albert. “But we always struggle here.”

The Corvallis boys’ team defeated Hamilton, 58-45. Riley Bradshaw led the Blue Devil scoring with 33 points. Hamilton was led by Graham Silcher’s 10 points.

Both the Stevensville boys and girls teams lost to Dillon.

Bernice and Mike Johnston of Florence find themselves in a dilemma every time Florence and Loyola play. The schools are rivals where spectators and students alike sometimes let their emotions take over and things can get ugly. The administrations of both schools have worked hard to make this a friendly rivalry but perhaps the Johnston’s will have even more success, at least for the friends and families of these players.

Mike and Bernice have a son, Everett, who is a junior at Loyola and plays for the Rams. They are also guardians for Quinn Smith, the junior that moved to Florence last fall. And, their daughter, Jo, graduated from Florence last year. So they find themselves sitting on the sidelines, cheering for first the Falcons and then the Rams, or vice versa.

Bernice says it is difficult because she wants both boys to do well and win. Mike often stands at the door, watching while he keeps an eye on their youngest son. No word on where he’s going to go yet, he’s only four.

There will be an open house on March 4, 2010, from 5-8pm at the Ravalli County Administrative Building in the commissioners meeting room. The three proposed plans for developing baseball fields on the Stevens Property on Kurtz Lane in Hamilton will be available for review. The County Park Board is soliciting comments, suggestions or any other ideas regarding this ground. There are nine acres that will be developed.

The following is a list of second quarter student-athletes who have achieved Academic All State while lettering in a Winter Activity. In order to attain All State status you must letter in a varsity sanctioned MHSA activity and have a cumulative 3.50 grade point average or better. This is based on a standard 4.00 GPA scale. This is a tremendous accomplishment that speaks volumes for these student-athletes work ethic and pride in their academic record. Hamilton High School is very proud of these young men and women.

Wrestling:

Kyle Lubke, Landen Faulk

The following is a list of students who have achieved Montana Forensic Educators’ Academic State Team while lettering in Speech/Debate/Drama. In order to attain State Team status you must letter in a varsity santioned MHSA Activity and have a cumulative 3.50 grade point average or better. This is based on a standard 4.00 GPA scale. This is a tremendous accomplishment that speaks volumes for these students’ work ethic and pride in their academic record. Hamilton High School is very proud of these young men and women.

Speech/Debate/Drama:

Karis Bedey, Zachary Bloom, Whitney Cleveland, Ashley Schrammeck, Tannar Crossman, Sophie Forslund, Delaney Hansen, Chrissy Dowdy, Kirtlin Jessop, Ivan Ogden, Eva Feldmann, Aaron Mead, Alyx Steadman, Aislinn Daniels, Alyssa Monson, Kaylie Strandberg, Maureen Palmersheim.