PABLO — River Hurley took over in overtime, scoring all five Anaconda points as the Copperheads defeated Eureka 45-43 in the Western B divisional semifinals Friday.

Hurley finished with a game-high 22 points. The win sends the Copperheads to the State B tournament in Billings — and into Saturday’s championship game against Missoula Loyola at 6:30 p.m. at Salish Kootenai College.

Parker Bates finished with a team-high 12 points for the Lions, who battled back from a 35-30 deficit after three quarters. Braden Casazza added 11 points. 

The Lions fall to the consolation side of the bracket, where they play Thompson Falls in a loser out game at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday.

Anaconda 45, Eureka 43 OT

Eureka jumped out early on the Copperheads scoring the first 10 points of the game. Anaconda found their footing against the Lions’ zone, outscoring Eureka 19-6 over the rest of the first half.

Out of the half the intensity picked up: The teams traded leads four times in the third quarter. Anaconda took its largest lead on a Cael Mikalatos third-quarter buzzer beater from beyond NBA range.

Eureka quickly scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter to take a 37-35 lead. Hurley  answered with four straight for the Copperheads in the final two minutes, before Bates knocked down his fourth triple with 22 seconds left, 

The Lions led 40-39, but Mikalatos split a pair of free throws with 9.5 seconds remaining. Tristan Butts missed an off-balance runner as time expired and the game headed to overtime.

Neither team could score early in the extra frame, until Hurley took over. He knocked down two more free throws to make it 45-42, and Butts cut it to 45-43 at the line before Eureka fouled Mikalatos. He missed a pair of free throws with five seconds left, and Eureka pushed it up court but a left wing 3-pointer from Caden Vaughn sailed long at the horn.

The Lions (17-4) take on Thompson Falls in loser-out action Saturday at 9 a.m., at Two Eagle River. The third-place team out of the Western B qualifies for the State B tournament March 7-9.

Anaconda    5    14    16    5    5    -    45

Eureka    12    4    14    10    3    -    43

ANACONDA — Tommy Cromwell 1 0-0 3, Brady Galle 1 1-2 4, Cory Galle 0 0-0 0, River Hurley 6 7-8 22, Billy Farmer 0 1-2 1, Tytan Cook 1 0-0 3, Cael Mikalatos 1 3-6 6, Wade Dahood 2 0-0 6, Riley Kriskovich 0 0-1 0. Team totals 12 12-18 45

EUREKA — Cole Sartori 0 0-0 0, Caden Vaughn 3 0-2 8, Tristan Butts 2 2-4 6, Rowan Burow 0 0-0 0, Braden Casazza 4 3-3 11, Parker Bates 4 0-0 12, Jacob Lane 3 0-0 6, Keenan McDole 0 0-0 0, Kyler Kossman 0 0-0 0. Team totals 16 5-9 43.

3-point goals — Anaconda 9-29 (Hurley 3-7, Dahood 2-5, Mikalatos 1-7, B. Galle 1-5, Cook 1-2, Cromwell 1-1, C. Galle 0-2), Eureka 6-21 (Bates 4-9, Vaughn 2-11, Lane 0-1). Fouls — Anaconda 15, Eureka 14. Fouled out — none.

Missoula Loyola 61, Florence 36

Missoula Loyola moved to a perfect 21-0 and clinched a spot in the state tournament with a dominant second half.

The Rams knocked down nine threes — including five from Jamo Kendrick — as they defeated the Falcons for the fourth time this season.

Florence stayed close through most of the first half, holding Missoula Loyola to 27 points at intermission. .Ethan Alexander brought the Falcons to 14-12 with four straight points, but Kendrick began his 3-point barrage soon after. He knocked down a pair to extend the Rams’ lead to 27-17.

Out of the break it was all Rams, nearly doubling their first half total in the third alone. Kendrick knocked down his third triple of the afternoon to extend the lead 48-27.

Kendrick opened the fourth with his fourth and fifth 3-pointers, the latter coming from beyond NBA range. The Rams extended the lead out to 60-29 before emptying the bench with six minutes to go.

Florence    8    9    10    9    -    36

Missoula Loyola    14    13    24    10    -    61

FLORENCE — Trapper Oster 2 0-0 6, Tyler Abbott 4 0-0 10, Quintan Monaco 1 2-2 5, Levi Winters 0 0-2 0, Ethan Alexander 0 0-0 0, Brody Duchien 0 0-0 0, Jake Schneiter 1 3-6 5, Bridger Alexander 4 0-2 8, Mason Arlington 0 1-2 1, Mose Smith 0 0-0 0, P. Extedt 0 1-2 1.Totals 12 7-16 36.

MISSOULA LOYOLA — Declan Harrington 1 0-0 2, Derek Reynolds 0 0-0 0, Finn Hatten 0 0-0 0, Carter Tupp 0 0-4 0, Talen Reynolds 3 0-0 7, Braden McGuirl 0 1-2 1, Jack Clevinger 2 4-5 8, Ethan Stack 4 3-5 12, Taylor Jones 0 1-2 1, Jamo Kendrick 5 0-0 15, Noah Haffey 0 0-0 0, Reynolds Johnston 6 1-1 15. Totals 21 10-19 61.

3-point goals — Florence 5-10 ( Oster 2-4, Abbott 2-2, Monaco 1-2, Duchien 0-1, Schneiter 0-1), Missoula Loyola 9-18 (Kendrick 5-7, Johnston 2-4, Stack 1-1, T. Reynolds 1-2, Harrington 0-1, Clevinger 0-2, Haffey 0-1). Fouls — Florence 16, Missoula Loyola 19. 

Thompson Falls 76, Mission 59

Thompson Falls defeated Mission Friday morning in a loser out game to advance to Saturday. Mission ended up 4-20.

Thompson Falls    20    17    21    18    -    76

Mission    12    8    14    25    -    59

No box score could be found for this game

Arlee 82, Plains 53

Ben Harlow-Old Person scored 25 points as Arlee rebounded from a one-point loss to Eureka to defeat Plains (14-10) in a loser out game Friday. 

The Warriors take on Florence on Saturday at 9 a.m.

Arlee    22    15    27    18    -    82

Plains    13    4    14    22    -    53

ARLEE — Kaiden Ostby 4, Darius Tewawina 8, Ethan Fiddler 3, Tavin Lapahie 6, Dallas Swab 11, Kenneth Manzanares 3, Aiden Swab 3, Trent Rutherford 5, Jace Arca 5, Ben Harlow-Old Person 25, Jake Knoll 7.

PLAINS — Darren Standeford 7, Zepheniah Dines 3, Wyatt Butcher 5, Aden West 6, Pablo Hernandez 2, Zayden Allen 14, Anaya Loberg 6, Shawn O’Keefe 8, Jacob Lulack 2

Western B Divisional

Feb. 22-24, Pablo

(3 teams advance) 

Thursday

Missoula Loyola 86, Mission 17

Florence 59, Thompson Falls 54

Eureka 68, Arlee 67

Anaconda 58, Plains 22

Friday

Thompson Falls 76, Mission 59, lo

Arlee 82, Plains 53, lo

Missoula Loyola 63, Florence 63, sf

Anaconda 45, Eureka 43 OT, sf

Saturday

9 a.m. — Arlee (18-5) vs. Florence (15-9), lo

9 a.m. — Thompson Falls (13-8) vs. Eureka (17-4), lo, Two Eagle School

3 p.m. — Morning winners, third

4:45 p.m. — Anaconda (15-7) vs. Missoula Loyola (21-0), first