HAMILTON — Bigfork failed to recover from a slow start, falling to Townsend 44-40 on Thursday in opening-round play of the Class B state girls basketball tournament on Dale Berry Court at Hamilton High School.

Townsend jumped out to a 16-7 lead in the opening quarter and led 22-13 at the half.

Bigfork (19-7) made a push in the third period, outscoring Townsend 16-12 to trail 34-29.

Both teams then traded scores in the final period.

Taylor Peck had a monster game for Bigfork, tossing in a game-high 22 points. McKinze Shults followed with eight.

Baylee Watson dropped in 14 points to pace Townsend and Jacy Thompson added 10.

Free-throw shooting kept Bigfork in the contest. The Vals were 14 of 16 from the charity stripe.

In the other afternoon matchup, Fairfield rolled past Columbus 67-39.

Townsend advances to semifinal play tonight at 6:30 p.m. versus Fairfield.

Bigfork drops into loser-out action with a 12:30 p.m. date today with Columbus.

Bigfork 7 6 16 11 — 40

Townsend 16 6 12 10 — 44

BIGFORK — McKinze Shults 2 4-4 8, Shelby Scoggins 1 0-0 2, Taylor Peck 6 7-8 22, Melissa VanDerveer 1 2-2 4, Tessa Robertson 0 2-2 2, Alex Dillon 1 0-0 2, Riley Coleman 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 14-16 40.

Townsend — Ciarra Hamilton 0 0-0 0, Meagan Watson 4 0-0 8, Baylee Watson 6, 1-7 14, Jacy Thompson 1 8-9 10, Bailee Dexter 1 0-2 3, Briana Anderson 3 2-4 9, Totals 15 11-22 44.

3-point goals—Bigfork 3-10 (Taylor Peck 3), Broadwater 3-17. Total fouls—Bigfork 18, Broadwater 13. Rebounds—Broadwater 26, Bigfork 32 (Tessa Robertson 8).

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Fairfield 14 26 8 19 — 67

Columbus 13 11 6 9 — 39

FAIRFIELD — Destiny Palmer 3 2-2 9, Molly Klinker 5 0-0 11, Linnea Zier 1 0-0 3, Jordyn Johnson 4 0-0 9, Kourtney Coverdell 1 0-0 2, Kaylynn Coverdell 0 0-0 0, Liz Klinker 1 0-0 2, Sydne Steinbach 4 4-4 12, Jill Barta 5 7-7 17, Allie Paddock 0 0-0 0, Cassidy Coverdell 1 0-0 2.

COLUMBUS — Sarah Pichler 2 1-4 5, Sarah Corson 0 0-0 0, Tanisha Ordahl 3 2-2 8, Rachael Ault 3 3-4 9, Chloe Russell 2 0-1 0, Kaitlin Campbell 0 1-4 1, Courtney Martinez 0 0-0 0, Kyla Rouane 0 2-3 2, Mikala Osborne 5 0-0 12, Ashtyn Aumueller 0 0-0 0, Morgan Scott 1 0-0 2, Whittney Seibert 0 0-0 0.

3-point goals - Fairfield 4-8, Columbus 2-6 (Mikala Osborne 2). Total fouls - Fairfield 18, Columbus 14. Rebounds Fairfield 24, Columbus 22.

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Malta 14 11 9 15 — 49

Three Forks 1 7 17 9 — 34

MALTA – Courtney Henry 4-12 0-0 8, Jessica Cole 4-6 0-0 19, Jayla Graham 6-9 1-2 17, Kori Kindle 3-8 0-0 7, Taylor Rankratz 1-2 0-0 2, McKenna Levesque 0-0 0-0 0, Devin Simser 0-0 0-0 0, Mercedes Stiles 1-2 0-0 2, Danielle Lett 0-0 0-0 0, Laramie Scheffelmear 0-1 0-0 0, Darby Schye 0-0 1-2 1, Brenna King 0-0 2-2 2. Totals 19-40 4-6 49.

THREE FORKS – Shayla Mack 4-17 3-5 12, Alicia Gootkin 0-2 0-0 0, Skylar Baldry 1-5 2-5 4, Ashley Malmquist 5-13 1-2 13, Sami Oakes 0-0 0-0 0, Desirww Metzger 1-1 0-0 3, Aspen Colby 0-0 0-0 0, Mariah McLeod 0-0 0-2 0, Mackenzie Oakes 0-0 2-4 2, Taylor Furguson 0-0 0-2 0, Dani Dellinger 0-0 0-2 0, Becky Bishop 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 11-38 8-22 34.

3-point goals – Malta 7-16 (Graham 4-5, Cole 2-3, Kindle 1-3), Three Forks 4-18 (Malmquist 2-4, Metzger 1-1, Mack 1-8). Total fouls – Malta 18, Three Forks 8. Fouled out – none. Rebounds – Malta 33 (Kindle 6), Three Forks 25 (Mack 4). Turnovers – Malta 9, Three Forks 9. Assists – Malta 12 (Hanry 6), Three Forks 6 (Gootkin 2). Steals – Malta 4 (Henry 2), Three Forks 6 (Mack 4). Blocks – Malta 0, Three Forks 0.

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Loyola 11 12 4 13 — 40

Manhattan 8 8 12 19 — 47

LOYOLA – Kari Tirrell 4-12 2-9 10, Sam Manley 0-2 0-0 0, Maddie Keast 3-8 6-7 12, Maddy Malsam 1-5 0-0 2, Kirenan Haggarty 1-7 5-6 7, Maggie Crippen 1-6 0-2 2, Callan Haggarty 0-1 0-0 0, Heather Huguet 0-0 0-0 0, Kenzie Reid 3-7 0-1 7. Totals 13-48 5-6 40.

MANHATTAN – Melody McCloud 6-11 7-12 19, Cierra Camp 2-2 1-7 5, Shelbi Rodriguez 1-3 6-6 9, Lacey Camp 0-0 0-0 0, Brooke Jones 2-8 3-6 7, Kira Niemi 0-6 0-0 0, Tessa Miller 0-2 2-2 2, Carlee Smith 2-4 1-2 5. Totals 13-36 20-35 47.

3-point goals – Loyola 1-16 (Reid 1-4), Manhattan 1-11 (Rodriguez 1-2). Total fouls – Loyola 21, Manhattan 19. Fouled out – Manley. Rebounds – Loyola 32 (K. Haggarty 6), Manhattan 40 (McCloud 14). Turnovers – Loyola 18, Manhattan 24. Steals – Loyola 16 (Tirrell 4, Keast 4), Manhattan 6 (McCloud 3). Assists – Loyola 7 (Crippen 3), Manhattan 6 (McCloud 2, Rodriguez 2). Blocks – Loyola 2 (Keast, Reid), Manhattan 2 (C. Camp, Jones).