BUTTE — Bigfork used a strong finish to knock off Choteau 61-53 on Thursday in first-round action at the Class B state boys basketball tournament at the Butte Civic Center.

Bigfork, leading 45-44 after three periods, outscored the Bulldogs 16-9 in the fourth quarter.

Christian Evans led a balanced Bigfork attack with 19 points. Austin Jordt and Chris Landon added 11 points each.

Choteau (15-8) led 32-30 at the half.

Wyatt Pannabecker topped Choteau offensively with 21 points. Kyle Gollehon followed with 12.

Bigfork (19-5) moves on to face Malta in semifinal action today at 5 p.m. Malta crushed Forsyth 75-44 in first-round play on Thursday.

Florence and Whitehall were also winners on Thursday, both advancing to today’s 3:30 p.m. semifinal contest.

B State Boys Basketball Tournament

Thursday’s First-Round Boxes

Choteau 14 18 12 9 — 53

Bigfork 11 19 15 16 — 61

CHOTEAU — Wyatt Pannabecker 9-18 2-2 21, Liam Breen 0-4 1-2 1, Kyle Gollehon 3-7 4-4 12, Collin Achenbach 3-10 0-0 8, Dylan Pannabecker 2-7 0-0 5, Logan Crabtree 0-1 0-0 0, Derrek Durocher 1-3 3-3 6. Totals — 18-50 10-11 53.

BIGFORK — Austin Jordt 4-8 1-4 11, Colter Trent 2-7 1-2 5, Chris Landon 4-5 2-2 11, Tyler Kirby 0-2 1-2 1, Christian Evans 9-11 1-2 19, Seth Roessmann 3-5 0-2 6, Josh Sandry 2-4 2-4 6, Cameron Nissen 0-0 2-2 2. Totals — 24-42 10-20 61.

3-pointers — Cho. 7-26 (W. Pannabecker 1-2, Breen 0-4, Gollehon 2-5, Achenbach 2-6, D. Pannabecker 1-5, Crabtree 0-1, Durocher 1-3), Bigf. 3-8 (Jordt 2-3, Trent 0-1, Landon 1-1, Roessman 0-2, Sandry 0-1). Rebounds — Cho. 24 (D. Pannabecker 6), Bigf. 34 (Trent 6, Kirby 6). Total fouls — Cho. 16, Bigf. 16. Fouled out — D. Pannabecker, Jordt.

Malta 14 13 21 27 — 75

Forsyth 12 6 20 6 — 44

MALTA — Kendall Denham 7-14 3-4 20, Kaden Bedwell 1-2 1-2 3, Zach Handley 9-16 2-2 25, Zach Czereda 2-6 1-2 5, Tucker Schye 6-11 3-6 15, Dalton Brooke 1-3 0-0 2, Spencer Vanwichen 0-1 0-0 0, Tyson Carney 1-2 0-0 3, Troy Manoukian 1-2 0-1 2. Totals — 28-57 10-17 75.

FORSYTH — Luke Schwagler 5-11 5-7 16, Dalton Hagadone 1-6 0-0 3, Gage Adams 3-11 1-2 8, Riley Keefer 5-14 0-0 12, Blake Schwagler 2-10 0-0 5, Cody Kanta 0-2 0-0 0, TJ Scheeman 0-4 0-0 0. Totals — 16-58 6-9 44.

3-pointers — Malta 9-19 (Denham 3-7, Bedwell 0-1, Handley 5-9, Brooke 0-1, Carney 1-1), Forsyth 6-22 (L. Schwagler 1-6, Hagadone 1-4, Adams 1-3, Keefer 2-5, B. Schwagler 1-3, Scheeman 0-1). Re-bounds — Malta 47 (Schye 14), Forsyth 30 (B. Schwagler 8). Total fouls — Malta 11, Forsyth 14. Fouled out — B. Schwagler.

Whitehall 10 11 14 11 — 46

Wolf Point 23 12 6 12 — 53

Whitehall — Sean McCarthy 2-7 0-0 4, Casey McLean 8-24 3-4 21, Matt Dyson 2-4 2-2 8, Bryce Murphy 3-6 4-6 11, Bridger Ament 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 16-42 9-12 46.

Wolf Point — Easton Copenhaver 2-7 6-6 11, Hayden Hanks 0-4 3-4 3, Matthew Weeks 3-8 0-1 9, Mechiah Zilkosky 6-13 2-3 14, Patrick Laney 4-6 3-3 11, Mervin Garfield 1-2 0-0 3, Tyson Bridger 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 17-42 14-17 53.

3-point goals – Whitehall 5-17 (McCarthy 0-2, McLean 2-9, Dyson 2-4, Murphy 1-2), Wolf Point 5-12 (Copenhaver 14, Weeks 3-5, Zilkoski 0-1, Garfield 1-2). Rebounds Whitehall 24 (McLean 7), Wolf Point 31 (Zilkowski 7, Laney 7). Total fouls – Whitehall 15, Wolf Point 11.

Florence 9 12 8 27 — 56

Columbus 5 5 8 27 — 45

Florence — Ryne Baerlocher 3-9 2-2 9, Rhett Baerocher 3-8 4-7 10, Chantz Hotsinpiller 1-3 3-3 5, Mike Finlay 2-3 0-0 4, Aaron Ward 5-11 10-17 21, Tommy Shephard 0-2 0-0 0, Ryan Mangun 1-2 0-0 2, Brad Schaff 2-3 1-3 5. Totals 17-41 20-32 56.

Columbus — Anthony Panella 4-11 4-6 13, Brady Wiggs 0-8 0-0 0, Phillip Holton 4-6 0-0 10, Kade Osborne 0-3 2-2, Daniel Wiggs 0-3 4-4 4, Tyler Ostrum 1-3 0-1 3, Trey Ostrum 4-11 2-2 13. Totals 13-45 12-15 45.

3-point goals – Florence 2-11 (Ryne Baerlocher 1-4, Rhett Baerlocher 0-2, Finley 0-1, Ward 1-2), Columbus 7-23 (Panella 1-1, B. Wiggs 0-5, Holton 2-4, Osborne 0-2, D. Wiggs 0-1, Tyler Ostrum 1-2, Trey Ostrum 3-8). Rebounds – Florence 34 (Ward 12), Columbus 28 (Panella 9). Total fouls – Florence 16, Columbus 26. Foul out – Florence – none, Columbus – Osborne.