BUTTE — Bigfork never recovered from a slow start, falling to Malta 47-35 in semifinal play Friday at the Class B boys state basketball tournament at the Butte Civic Center.

Neither team had much offense in the early going with Malta on top 7-3 and 16-9 after the first two quarter stops.

Malta (23-3) added to its advantage by outscoring Bigfork 14-9 in the third period.

Bigfork (19-6) was led offensively by Austin Jordt with 11 points. Tyler Kirby was next with nine.

Kendall Denham and Zach Handley both tallied 11 points for Malta.

Malta moves on to the championship game tonight at 6:30 versus Wolf Point.

Bigfork has a loser-out game today at 9 a.m. with Columbus at the Butte Civic Center. Choteau and Florence-Carlton play in the other loser-out contest at 9 a.m. at Butte High School. The loser-out winners move on to the consolation final at 3:30 p.m. at the Butte Civic Center.

Semifinals

Malta 7 9 14 17 — 47

Bigfork 3 6 9 17 — 35

MALTA (23-3) — Kendall Denham 3-8 4-4 11, Kaden Bedwell 2-3 3-4 8, Zach Handley 3-8 4-4 11, Zach Czereda 1-3 2-4 4, Tucker Schye 4-10 0-2 8, Dalton Brooke 1-2 0-2 3, Jeremy Costin 0-0 0-0 0, Spencer VanWichen 1-2 0-0 2, Tyson Carney 0-0 0-0 0, Natahn Veit 0-0 0-0 0, Tate Carney 0-1 0-0 0, Troy Manoukian 0-0 0-0 0. Totals — 15-37 13-20 47.

BIGFORK (19-6) — Austin Jordt 5-13 0-1 11, Colter Trent 0-4 1-3 1, Chris Landon 0-3 0-0 0, Tyler Kirby 4-6 1-2 9, Christian Evans 1-4 2-2 4, Seth Roessmann 1-7 2-2 4, Josh Sandry 3-6 0-0 6, Logan Lamm 0-1 0-0 0, Cameron Nissen 0-1 0-0 0. Totals — 14-45 6-10 35.

3-pointers — Malta 4-13 (Denham 1-3, Bedwell 1-2, Handley 1-4, Brooke 1-2, Carney 0-1), Bigfork 1-13 (Jordt 1-7, Trent 0-2, Landon 0-1, Roessmann 0-3). Rebounds — Malta 32 (Czereda 7, Schye 7), Bigfork 26 (Kirby 7). Total fouls — Malta 16, Bigfork 19. Fouled out — Landon.

Wolf Point 13 10 8 23 — 54

Florence 5 12 11 16 — 44

WOLF POINT (19-6) — Easton Copenhaver 2-5 2-2 6, Hayden Hanks 1-5 0-0 2, Matthew Weeks 7-14 0-0 17, Mechiah Zilkoski 5-11 4-6 16, Patrick Laney 4-7 2-4 10, Tyson Bridges 0-0 3-4 3. Totals 19-42 11-16 54.

Florence (23-2) — Ryne Baerlocher 5-10 0-0 10, Rhett Baerlocher 3-10 2-6 9, Chantz Hotsinpiller 3-4 0-0 6, Mike Finley 2-6 0-1 4, Aaron Ward 4-14 1-1 9, Brandon Johnson 0-1 0-0 0, Ryan Mangun 1-2 0-0 2, Brad Schaff 1-2 2-4 4. Totals 19-49 5-11 44.

3-point goals — Wolf Point 5-11 (Copenhaver 0-1, Hanks 0-2, Weeks 3-6, Zilkoski 2-2), Florence 1-9 (Ryne Baerlocher 0-4, Rhett Baerlocher 1-1, Finley 0-1, Ward 0-3). Rebounds - Wolf Point 28 (Weeks 8), Florence 28 (Ward 10). Total Fouls - Wolf Point 10, Florence 17. Fouled out - None.