The wrestling mats were filled this weekend as the last weekend of the regular season had the valley’s teams working overtime to get one last match in before Divisionals next week. Hamilton and Corvallis were hosts to Anaconda on Friday night while Darby had their annual Darby Invitational on Saturday with 10 teams in attendance.

Corvallis will be the scene next weekend for the Southwest A Divisional tournament on Saturday. Teams from Hamilton, Anaconda, Frenchtown and Dillon will compete for the chance to advance to the All Class Championship in Billings the following week. Class B teams from Darby and Florence will compete at Deer Lodge in the Western B/C Divisional. The top five placers from that tournament will also advance to the state championship in Billings.

Florence’s Cody Lund and Darby’s Dalton Roundy (standing) battled to the last second in their match at the Darby Invitational before Roundy got the pin to advance to the championship. Jean Schurman photo.

Darby coach Todd Ruark is pleased with where his team is at this point in the season. He says they are shooting for a top three finish at the divisional tournament. He has high hopes for Dalton Roundy, Chris Hammersmith, Caleb Caicedo and Tanner Evers to carry the Tigers in the divisional tournament.

Darby came in a half a point behind Florence at their own Invitational on Saturday. Corvallis ran away with the championship with 182.5 points. Arlee was second with 131 points, followed by Florence with 130.5 points and Darby with 130 points.

Corvallis defeated Anaconda in a dual on Friday night. They have a large number of athletes out which allows them to compete at every practice and send the best wrestler of the week to the matches. They picked up four championships at the Darby Invitational. Marcus Malone won at 105 over JT Hamblen with a 16-0 technical fall. Levi Gingerich pinned Drummond’s Jake Adler at 112 pounds. Steven Jessop defeated Roundy of Darby at 135 pounds. Jeff Markette picked up the final Blue Devil championship at the heavyweight level with a pin over Noxon’s Cody Martins.

Hamilton lost to Anaconda but came into the Darby tournament looking to improve their wrestling. The Broncs didn’t have all of their wrestlers at Darby but did pick up two championships. Troy Capp won with a technical fall over Thompson Falls’ Shawn Sacchi. Forest Fortney had a major decision over Pake Morris of Drummond at 189.

Florence had three championships. Zach Newbary pinned Austin Martell at 145 pounds. Kolter Beneitone won by decision over Morgan Williams at 152 pounds and KaCee Sutton pinned Bryce Norling of Arlee at 215 pounds.

Darby Invitational

Saturday

Team scores - Corvallis 182.5, Arlee 131, Florence 130.5, Darby 130, Drummond 105, Thompson Falls 91, Noxon 89, St. Ignatius-Charlo 80, Hamilton 74.5, Plains-Hot Springs 34.

Individuals

Championship round

98 - Tyler Wiedeger, Dar, by forfeit; 105 - Marcus Malone, Cor, tech fall JT Hamblen, Dar, 16-0; 112 - Levi Gingerich, Cor, pinned Adler, Dru, 1:35; 119 - Beech, P, dec. Caleb Caicedo, Dar, 10-7; 125 - Gilleard, SI, won by default; 130 - Bergerson, Dru, dec. Corbin Newbary, Flo, 11-4; 135 - Steven Jessop, Cor, dec. Dalton Roundy, Dar, 7-1; 140 - Rice, Arl, dec. Riley Nagel, Cor, 11-6; 145 - Zach Newbary, Flo, pinned Austen Martell, 4:34; 152 - Kolter Beneitone, Flo, dec. Morgan Williams, Cor, 8-3; 160 - Troy Capp, Ham, tech fall Sacchi, TF, 22-5; 171 - Moore, Nox, dec. Weare, Nox, 6-1; 189 - Forest Fortney, Ham, m. dec. Morris, Dru, 14-0; 215 - KaCee Sutton, Flo, pinned Norling, Arl, 1:46; Hwt - Jeff Markette, Cor, pinned Martins, Nox, 1:34.

Consolation

112 - Gunderson, TF, pinned Tim Allsop, Cor, 1:50; 119 - Tanner Lund, Flo, tech fall Dominick, Arl, 16-0; 125 - Landon Faulk, Ham, pinned Kyle Luedecke, Cor, :25; 130 - Tanner Evers, Dar, dec. Neacko Smith, Dar, 6-1; 135 - Cody Lund, Flo, m. dec. Gascon, TF, 8-0; 145 - Zach Tameler, Arl, dec. Hayden Gandy, Dar, 5-2; 189 - Matt Converse, Dar, dec. Seidel, Arl, 3-0; 215 - Fritz Robinson, Ham, dec. Austin Atkins, Cor, 1-0.

Anaconda 54, Hamilton 23

119 – Jake Stock, A, pinned Kyle Lubke, 4:20; 130 – Dalton Ueland, A, pinned Landon Faulk, :12; 152 – Logan Fulcher, A, pinned Robyn Tyronne Eno, 2:36; 160 – Troy Capp, H, pinned Joe Murphy, 1:54; 189 – Fritz Robinson, H, tech fall Mike Wigert, 18-2; 215 – Paul Donaldson, H, pinned Ross Boggs, :34.

Anaconda won 105, 112, 135, 140, 145, 171 by forfeit.

Hamilton won Hwt by forfeit.

Corvallis 69, Anaconda 9

105 – Marcus Malone, C, pin, Jake McCarthy, 5:51; 112 – Levi Gingerich, pin, Thomas Allison, 5:50; 119 – Jake Stock, A, won by injury default, James DuBose; 130 – Dalton Uliand, A, dec. Devin Williams 8-5; 135 – Steven Jessop, C, pin, Rishard Pasha, 1:49; 140 – Riley Nagel, C, pin, Joe Kelleher, 1:36; 145 – Quincy Jessop, C, pin, Greg Warner, 1:08; 152 – Morgan Williams, C, pin, Logan Fulcher, 5:51; 160 – Dustin Stevens, C, pin, Joe Murphy, :10; 171 – Austin Allen, C, dec., Mike Wigert, 10-8; 215 – Austin Adkins, C, pin, Ross Boggs, 1:42.

Corvallis won 125, 189, Hwt by forfeit.

Florence rocks Loyola

The Florence gym was filled to capacity for the game between the top-ranked Florence Falcons and the Loyola Rams. The rivalry is one of the fiercest in Western Montana and coupled with the fact that Loyola’s only conference loss has been at Florence’s hands this year, emotions were high.

Loyola jumped out to an early lead and went up by seven points late in the first quarter. But Florence seemed to turn the tide when Reid Baerlocher took a charge by Kevin Dougherty and then turned around and drained a trey on the other end of the court just as the buzzer sounded to pull the Falcons within two points of the Rams.

Although Florence stayed with Loyola throughout the second quarter, the Rams maintained a slight lead at the end of the half. Even with the Falcons’ big guys – Quinn Smith at 6’8” and Alex Mitchell at 6’6” – Loyola was controlling the paint, pulling down rebounds and making Florence miss easy shots.

Florence’s Alex Mitchell at 6’6” rises above the Loyola players for a basket during the showdown in Florence against Missoula Loyola. Florence won, 70-59, and Mitchell had 14 points. Jean Schurman photo.

Florence coach Sam Baerlocher made some adjustments at half but said that really his players just find a way to win. “I told them to do what they do best, slow down a little, make the plays.”

Mitchell said he wasn’t pleased with his game going into the break. “I wasn’t playing very good defense in the first half,” he said. “I just stepped up my defense. We knew we needed to run our offense and be patient and do what we do best which is just play basketball.”

The Falcons went to work in the third quarter and were up by eight points at the end of that period. Loyola pulled within three points early in the fourth quarter but then it was all Florence. Adam Greger came off the bench and made several key baskets to spark the Falcons. He and Brandon Lorensen each finished with 16 points to lead Florence to the 70-59 6B conference win and the undisputed top of conference. Mitchell finished with 14 points and Baerlocher with 12. Florence finished with 40 rebounds while Loyola had 28. Smith, Mitchell and Kenny Collins combined for six blocked shots as well.

Florence 70, Loyola 59

Loyola - Everett Johnston 18, Pat Jensen 18, Peter Shaughnessey 10, Carter Bermingham 6, Brandan Haggarty.

Florence – Alex Mitchell 14, Chris Benson 5, Quinn Smith 4, Brandon Lorensen 16, Reid Baerlocher 12, Adam Greger 16, Kenny Collins 2, Ross Mangun 1.

Florence topped Superior, 85-48, on Saturday. Mitchell had 15 points. Smith and Ross Mangun each had 14 points and Baerlocher 11 in the win.

Hamilton topped Polson, 90-88, in double overtime on Friday in Polson. Jeff Embree made his final shot with just over 10 seconds left in the second overtime period to clinch the win for the Broncs over the Northwestern A conference leading Polson Pirates. Tyler Pigman had a breakout game for the Broncs with 22 points. Graham Silcher finished with 16, and Beau Maus 13 points. The teams combined on 21 shots from beyond the arc, eight shots by Hamilton.

Hamilton 90, Polson 88, 2OT

Hamilton – Zach Stoeger 11, Brad Palin 11, Cody Lewis 5, Jeremy Powell 2, Beau Maus 13, Graham Silcher 16, Tyler Pigman 22, Jeff Embree 10.

Polson – DiGiallonardo 22, Bagnell 39, Laimber 2, Camel 10, Fischer 6, Davey 2, Rathe 3, Krell 4.

Stevensville defeated Polson on Saturday, 63-39. Josh Schultz tallied 29 points for the Yellowjackets and Tyler Gavlak had 11 points.

Corvallis topped Anaconda, 67-49 in more Southwest A action. The Blue Devils had 28 points in the first quarter and 22 points in the final stanza. Riley Bradshaw had 23 points, Rodee Anderson 21 and Tyler Tintzman finished with 11 points.

Although Darby held Deer Lodge to only two points in the first quarter, the Wardens came back to defeat the Tigers, 58-45, in 6B action. Sherman Smith had 14 points, Devin Thomas nine and Tyler Bergren eight points for Darby.

Victor picked up a big win in Lincoln on Thursday night, defeating the Lynx, 69-63. Using an up-tempo strategy, the Pirates held off the Lynx in the fourth quarter. Freshman Kyle Ball finished with 19 points and Dennis Mitcham had 16 points for the Pirates. Victor defeated Alberton, 54-24, on Friday. Ball had 17 points and Matt McClintick finished with 12 for Victor.

Girls Basketball roundup

It’s been a tough year for the Lady Pirates of Victor. With leading scorer Liz Taylor sidelined with an injury from volleyball, the team has been searching for a leader to step up and take command of the young team. Victor has one win for the season, over St. Regis, and is gradually improving.

The Lady Pirates lost to Lincoln, 56-28, on Thursday. Kaylene Munson had 11 points and Rachel Borowiec finished with 10 points.

Saturday, the Victor team lost to Alberton, 59-22. Brooke Hochhalter and Munson each had seven points. Shai Schaffer added six for the Lady Pirates.

The Lady Falcons of Florence split their games this weekend, defeating Superior but losing to Missoula Loyola. Florence led throughout the Superior game and cruised to a 43-26 victory. Odessa Conley had 15 points, and fellow senior Abby Mytty finished with 11 points. The Lady Falcons lost to Missoula Loyola, 49-32, on Thursday. Conley again had 15 points. Brittany Heinz and Kayla Johnson each had six in the loss.

Hamilton fell to Polson, 58-45. Annie Schultz had 18 points to lead the Lady Broncs. Kaurie Albert added 12 points and Rebecka Hood seven points.

Stevensville fell to Polson, 53-39. Blaire Brookshire had 14 points to lead the Lady ‘Jackets. Maddie Jones added nine and Kenzie Sebastian had seven. Deer Lodge defeated Darby and Anaconda defeated Corvallis.

Victor’s Brooke Hochhalter dribbles the ball past Alberton’s Lyndi Ishler on Friday night. Although Alberton defeated Victor, Hochhalter had seven points. Jean Schurman photo.

Knights of Columbus Free Throw Contest

The Knights of Columbus will have their annual Free Throw shoot on Sunday, February 7, at the Hamilton Middle School gymnasium. The event is open to all Ravalli County basketball players from ages 10 to 14. Boys will compete against each other and girls against girls. The players will compete against their own age group with eligibility determined by their age as of January 1, 2010. There is no charge to compete nor is there a charge for admission. Parents need to sign a permission form to compete. These forms have been passed out at all of the schools and there will also be forms at the gym on Sunday.

The competitors will shoot 25 free throws. Whoever makes the most, wins. Last year, Keely Ehmann of Darby was the state winner.

For more information, call Rick Borden at 363-6027.

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