BUTTE — Paeten Gunlock couldn’t miss and Dillon couldn’t score, and the combination added up to another lopsided Bigfork Valkyries victory Friday, 61-36 in the semifinals of the Western A Divisional girls basketball tournament.

Gunlock scored 23 points to lead Bigfork (19-1) into Saturday’s 8:15 p.m. championship game against Frenchtown, at the Butte Civic Center. The Broncs are also 19-1, and own Bigfork’s only loss: a 40-37 verdict back on Dec. 8.

Both teams punched tickets to the State A tournament March 7-9, also at the Civic Center. Columbia Falls, Ronan and Browning — the Lady Indians fell to Frenchtown in Friday’s early semifinal, 57-43 — all remain in the hunt for the third and fourth state berths.

Columbia Falls and Ronan bounced back from opening round losses with convincing wins: The Wildkats swamped Corvallis 61-29 and the Maiden ousted Hamilton 51-36. 

The Wildkats’ reward is another matchup with Browning; the Lady Indians won both regular-season meetings.

Bigfork 61, Dillon 36

Having beaten Dillon 49-32 the opening weekend of the season, the Vals opened the rematch with a 16-0 run, capped by Gunlock’s floater through a foul. She converted the three-point play at 3:09 of the first quarter.

She hit four 3-pointers as well, including back-to-back bombs — one that got an amazing roll, and one that splashed — that put Bigfork 33-9 in the second quarter.

Braeden Gunlock added 11 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for Bigfork.Callie Gembala added 10 points.

Halle Fitzgerald had 11 points and Kenleigh Graham chipped in eight for the Beavers (16-4), who will play Ronan Saturday morning. Aside from those two, Dillon shot just 5 of 28 from the floor. 

Dillon    4    14    7    11    -    36

Bigfork    16    21    13    11    -    61

DILLON — Kenleigh Graham 4-9 0-2 8, Sydney Petersen 0-10 2-2 2, Kylie Konen 1-4 1-2 3, Halle Fitzgerald 4-10 0-0 11, Leila Stennerson 2-6 1-2 7, Kinzy Creighton 0-2 0-0 0, Josie Robbins 0-1 0-0 0, Abbi Lemelin 0-2 0-0 0, Sage Tash 2-3 1-1 5, Izzy Regan 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 13-47 5-9 36.

BIGFORK — Ava Davey 3-6 0-4 8, Afton Lambrecht 1-5 2-2 4, Callie Gembala 4-11 2-4 10, Braeden Gunlock 3-13 5-6 11, Paeten Gunlock 7-11 5-5 23, Keegan Campbell 1-3 0-0 2, Keni Wade 1-6 0-0 3, Haley Schara 0-0 0-0 0, Chloe Norred 0-0 0-0 0, Peyton Benson 0-0 0-0 0, Lillie Suffia 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-55 14-21 61.

3-point goals — Dillon 5-18 (Fitzgerald 3-6, Stennerson 2-5), Bigfork 7-20 (P.Gunlock 4-6, Davey 2-3, Wade 1-3). Rebounds — Dillon 32 (Graham 7, Konen 7), Bigfork 34 (B.Gunlock 13, Lambrecht 9). Fouls — Dillon 19, Bigfork 13. Fouled out — Graham. Turnovers — Dillon 22, Bigfork 9.

Frenchtown 57, Browning 43

Behind Mason Quinn (22 points, 15 rebounds) and Madi Kaufman (four 3-pointers, 23 points) the Broncs were able to build a 10-point lead early in the fourth quarter.

The Lady Indians couldn’t close the gap, and trailed 53-39 after a put-back by the Broncs’ Sadie Smith with 3:30 remaining.

Jerel White Grass had 13 points to lead Browning. Kalcie Connelly had nine points and seven rebounds.

Browning    8    11    14    10    -    43

Frenchtown    8    15    16    18    -    57

BROWNING — Natalee St. Goddard 2-6 0-0 5, Sugar Spoonhunter 1-6 2-6 4, Amari Calf Robe

3-8 1-3 7, Jerel White Grass 6-10 1-1 13, Kalcie Connelly 4-9 0-0 9, Teslin Trombley 0-6 1-2 1, Shaylee Heavy Runner 0-0 0-0 0, Tashlyn Lazy Boy 1-2 0-0 2, Brooke Blue 0-2 0-0 0, Josey Michael 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 18-52 5-12 43.

FRENCHTOWN — Mason Quinn 6-9 10-12 22, Madi Kaufmann 8-16 3-5 23, Heather Haskins 1-5 0-0 2, Maya Skinner 0-5 0-0 0, Sadie Smith 3-6 4-4 10, Haylee Kaufman 0-0 0-0 0, Bailey Hansen 0-1 0-0 0, Ryan Lucier 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 18-43 17-21 57.

3-point goals — Browning 2-15 (Connelly 1-4, St. Goddard 1-5), Frenchtown 4-10 (M. Kaufman 4-8). Rebounds — Browning 25 (Connelly 7), Frenchtown 31 (Quinn 15). Fouls — Browning 23, Frenchtown 12. Fouled out — White Grass. Turnovers — Browning 19, Frenchtown 22.

Ronan 51, Hamilton 36

The Maidens bolted to a 10-0 lead, pushed the gap to 23-9 but then with 7:00 left in the game saw Hamilton close to 31-28 on a basket by Adya Griffin.

Lauryn Buhr answered for Ronan, and then hit two free throws for a 38-28 lead at the 4:29 mark. With the score 41-32 with 2:22 left, Ronan cashed in a breakaway foul and a technical for four free throws. Buhr then drew another foul and hit a free throw for an insurmountable 46-32 lead. 

Buhr finished with 11 points and seven rebounds, and Zailee Hewankorn had a game-high 15 points to go with six boards. 

Hamilton ended up 10-10.

Ronan    8    8    15    20    -    51

Hamilton    0    6    18    12    -    36

RONAN — Maddy Illig 8, Lauryn Buhr 11, Arianna Zepeda 4, Zailee Hewankown 15, Kailyn Marengo 5, Kylee Kelch 2, Dallas St. Goddard 2, Neveah Perez 4.

HAMILTON — Madalyn Nelson 3, Adya Griffin 4, Ashlynn McKern 20, Meryn Leonardi 3, Haylee McKern 6.

Columbia Falls 61, Corvallis 29

Hope McAtee scored 15 points to lead the Wildkats, while Kierra Kemppainen shot 4 of 8 from the 3-point arc on the way to 12.

Taryn Borggen had seven points, three assists and four steals for Columbia Falls, which saw nine players hit the scoring column.

Brecklyn Jessop led the Blue Devils (6-15) with 10 points.

C-Falls    14    20    4    23    -    61

Corvallis    9    10    3    7    -    29

COLUMBIA FALLS — Hope McAtee 15, Taryn Borgen 7, Kierra Kemppainen 12, Emalee Alton 6, Demye Rense 5, Mila Johns 2, Onnika Lawrence 1, Alanis Peterson 8, Ellie Stutsman 5.

CORVALLIS — Ella Varner 3, Brecklyn Jessop 10, Ericka Jessop 7, Ava Laran 5, Kate Allen 1, Taryn Hochhalter 3.

Western A Divisional

Feb. 22-24, Butte

(4 teams advance)

Thursday

Browning 68, Hamilton 37

Frenchtown 66, Ronan 40

Dillon 52, Columbia Falls 31

Bigfork 69, Corvallis 17

Friday

Ronan 51, Hamilton 36, lo

Columbia Falls 61, Corvallis 29, lo

Frenchtown 57, Browning 43, sf

Bigfork 61, Dillon 36

Saturday

10:30 a.m. — Ronan (9-13) vs. Dillon (16-4), MAC, lo

10:30 a.m. — Columbia Falls (10-10) vs. Browning (18-2), lo

5 p.m. — Morning winners, third

8:15 p.m. — Frenchtown (19-1) vs. Bigfork (19-1), first