Polson boys down Havre to stay alive

FRITZ NEIGHBOR

Daily Inter Lake

MISSOULA — Colton Graham scored 19 points and ignited a huge third quarter for the Polson Pirates, who went on to beat Havre 74-58 in a State A loser-out game Friday morning.

Four players reached double figures for the Pirates (16-8), who have another 9 a.m. game Saturday at Dahlberg Arena against Dillon. The Beavers lost 58-56 to Lewistown in the semifinals.

Lewistown (21-2) will take on Butte Central (22-1) for the title Saturday at 6:30 p.m. The Maroons beat Glendive 69-53 in the other semifinal.

Polson 74, Havre 58

Polson rode four first-half 3-pointers from Xavier Fisher to a 42-34 lead. After Havre (10-14) opened the third quarter with a Isaac Pedraza 3-pointer and a couple baskets from Caleb Spangler to close to 44-41, Jarrett Wilson started a 9-0 Polson run with two free throws.

Graham scored the next seven points, off two alley-oop layups and a 3-pointer. The lead was 12, and after Havre scored twice inside to draw to 53-45, the Pirates reeled off another eight points.

Wilson had five of those, including a steal and layup; Braunson Henriksen scored down low to make it 61-45 with 22 seconds left in the frame.

Trent Wilson then got behind Havre’s zone for eight fourth-quarter points. He finished with 15, as did Fisher. Jarrett Wilson had 17 points, six assists, five boards and five steals. Graham had six rebounds and six steals.

Havre’s Xavier Butler had 23 points to lead all scorers.

Polson fell to Dillon 58-51 two weeks ago at the Western A Divisional.

Polson 18 24 19 13 - 74

Havre 19 15 13 11 - 58

POLSON — Trent Wilson 6-15 3-4 15, Colton Graham 6-12 6-8 19, Dawson Dumont 0-1 0-0 0, Xavier Fisher 4-10 3-4 15, Jarrett Wilson 5-8 7-10 17, Braunsen Henriksen 4-6 0-0 8, Robert Perez 0-0 0-0 0, Alex Muzquiz 0-0 0-0 0, Espn Fisher 0-0 0-0 0, Ethan McCauley 0-0 0-0 0, Nikolai Figaro 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-52 19-26 74.

HAVRE — Caleb Spangler 3-4 2-3 6, Caden Jenkins 1-3 2-2 4, Xavier Butler 10-13 0-0 23, Isaac Pedraza 4-9 0-2 9, Josh Currie 0-1 0-1 0, Tre Gary 2-4 1-2 5, Crawford Terry 1-4 0-0 2, Shane Patascil 2-4 1-2 7, Jevin Jenkins 0-0 0-0 0, Domitri Standing Rock 0-0 0-0 0, Carter Spangler 0-0 0-0 0, Reid Kato 0-0 0-0 0, Jackson Headdress 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-42 6-11 58.

3-point goals — Polson 5-14 (X.Fisher 4-9, Graham 1-4, T.Wilson 0-1), Havre 6-14 (Butler 3-5, Patascil 23, Currie 0-1, Jenkins 0-1, Terry 0-1). Rebounds — Polson 24 (Graham 6), Havre 27 (C.Spangler 6). Fouls — Polson 16, Havre 17. Blocks — Polson 1 (Graham), Havre 3 (Butler 3). Steals — Polson 18 (Graham 6), Havre 2 (Butler, Gary). Turnovers — Polson 8, Havre 24.

Lewistown 58, Dillon 56

An extremely tight game turned the Eagles’ way when Bryce Graham converted a three-point play with 5.4 seconds left. It was the fourth lead change in the final 2:27, starting with Tyler Lagunas hitting a 3-pointer for a 54-53 Dillon lead.

Lewistown (22-1) went back up on Royce Robinson’s tough baseline jumper with 1:10 left; Dillon (20-5) had a potential three-point play waived off on its next possession, but inbounded to the same player — Connor Curnow — in the same spot underneath for a bucket and a 56-55 lead.

Thirty seconds were left, and a foul left Lewistown 9 seconds to get the game-winner: Graham’s hoop-and-harm from 10 feet in the key.

Curnow had 17 points for the Beavers, who led much of the second quarter, then trailed by eight twice in the third and 53-47 with 4 minutes left in the game. Callahan Hoffman had 16 points, including three straight baskets to start the fourth quarter that tied the game at 47-all.

Robinson had 22 for Lewistown, which is in its first title game since 1988 (a loss to Miles City). The Eagles’ lone state title came in 1979.

Fischer Brown added 12. Graham had eight points and six rebounds, while Jonathan Kirkley had 10 boards and Curnow grabbed seven.

Butte Central 69, Glendive 53

The Red Devils did a credible job of defending the Maroons’ Dougie Peoples after he hit two 3-pointers to help his team toa 23-12 lead.

Glendive crept to 31-25 on a 3-pointer from Michael Murphy, but a closing 14-5 burst — Central got threes from Bryson Sestrich and Kyle Holter — pushed the gap to 45-30 at halftime.

Peoples scored 18 points, 10 in the first 6:11 of the game. Holter had 20 points, 16 in the first half. Eric Loos added 12 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Maroons.

Murphy had 18 points to lead the Red Devils. Parker Buckley, who guarded the taller Peoples most the game, had 10 points.

Hamilton 50, Laurel 46 (loser out)

Asher Magness scored 19 points and eli Taylor had 18 for the Broncs.

Laurel had 13 points from Shel Osborne, and 10 from Dalton Boehler.