Collision course: Bigfork, Dillon girls win big

JOSH AMICK | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 week AGO

Bigfork's Keni Wade (12) drives to the basket in the first half against Butte Central at the Western A Divisional Tournament at Whitefish High School on Thursday, March 6. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Frenchtown's Heather Haskins (12) shoots in the first half against Browning at the Western A Divisional Tournament at Whitefish High School on Thursday, March 6. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Bigfork's Braeden Gunlock (21) shoots in the third quarter against Butte Central at the Western A Divisional Tournament at Whitefish High School on Thursday, March 6. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Frenchtown's Mason Quinn (0) knocks down a three in the first half against Browning at the Western A Divisional Tournament at Whitefish High School on Thursday, March 6. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Bigfork's Paeten Gunlock (23) shoots in the first half against Butte Central at the Western A Divisional Tournament at Whitefish High School on Thursday, March 6. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Frenchtown's Ryan Lucier (4) drives to the basket in the first half against Browning at the Western A Divisional Tournament at Whitefish High School on Thursday, March 6. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Bigfork's Desirae Dell (25) shoots during the first half against Butte Central at the Western A Divisional Tournament at Whitefish High School on Thursday, March 6. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Browning's Teslin Trombley (20) drives to the basket in the second half against Frenchtown at the Western A Divisional Tournament at Whitefish High School on Thursday, March 6. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Browning's Amani YellowOwl (22) shoots in the third quarter against Frenchtown at the Western A Divisional Tournament at Whitefish High School on Thursday, March 6. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Bigfork's Chloe Norred (10) shoots during the first half against Butte Central at the Western A Divisional Tournament at Whitefish High School on Thursday, March 6. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Frenchtown's Maya Skinner (14) drives to the basket in the second half against Browning at the Western A Divisional Tournament at Whitefish High School on Thursday, March 6. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Bigfork's Paeten Gunlock (23) drives to the basket in the third quarter against Butte Central at the Western A Divisional Tournament at Whitefish High School on Thursday, March 6. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Browning's Shaylee Heavy Runner (12) blocks a shot by Frenchtown's Maya Skinner (14) in the first half at the Western A Divisional Tournament at Whitefish High School on Thursday, March 6. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Frenchtown's Mason Quinn (0) blocks a shot by Browning's Amani YellowOwl (22) in the second half at the Western A Divisional Tournament at Whitefish High School on Thursday, March 6. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Bigfork's Braeden Gunlock (21) drives to the basket in the first half against Butte Central at the Western A Divisional Tournament at Whitefish High School on Thursday, March 6. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

WHITEFISH — Bigfork held Butte Central scoreless in the second quarter, outscoring them by 16 to extend their lead to 23 by halftime in a 51-24 win in Western A girls basketball divisionals Thursday morning.

Braeden and Paeten Gunlock led all scorers with 14 points each for the Valkyries, with Paeten scoring seven of those in that big second quarter. After taking a 15-8 lead after one, Bigfork extended their lead by cranking up the intensity on defense.

“To be honest, I am not happy with our performance tonight,” Bigfork coach Courtnee Gunlock said. “Some of our role players needed to be ready to shoot and when they start hesitating it gets us out of rhythm.”

Keni Wade added 12 points for the Valkyries who are the No. 1 seed in the tournament and have not lost in league play this season. Bigfork outscored Butte Central from the 3-point line 21-9 and 12-7 from the charity stripe.

Butte Central plays Ronan at 9 a.m. Friday with Bigfork moving on to face Dillon at 3:30 p.m., a matchup Gunlock and her team will be prepared for.

“I don’t think I prepared them for this game, we were kind of already looking ahead to tomorrow night, so I have to take some ownership in that, but I know we will be ready to play tomorrow.” she said.

Dillon beat the Vals 39-37 back on Dec. 13, in the season opener for both teams.

Butte C. 8 0 8 8 - 24

Bigfork 15 16 13 7 - 51

BUTTE CENTRAL — Evyn Smith 0 0-0 0, Caden Tippett 0 0-0 0, Marly Mansanti 1 0-0 2, Kenzie McQueary 0 1-2 1, Zayonna Otherbull 3 3-4 11, Rylee Forbes 1 2-4 4, Natalie Osterman 0 0-0 0, Braelynn Schelin 0 0-0 0, Jaedyn Maldonado 0 0-2 0, Arika Stajcar 1 0-2 2, Meika Boyer 0 0-0 0. Totals 7 7-15 24.

BIGFORK — Keegan Campbell 2 0-0 6, Leah Gibb 0 0-0 0, Chloe Norred 0 0-0 0, Keni Wade 4 2-3 12, Payton DeSpain 0 1-2 1, Braeden Gunlock 5 2-3 14, Somer Campos 0 1-4 1, Paeten Gunlock 4 5-6 14, Ceiley Jensen 0 0-0 0, Desi Dell 0 0-0 0, Millie Hall 1 1-2 3. Totals 16 12-20 51.

3-point field goals — Butte 3 (Otherbull 2, Tippett) Bigfork 7 (Campbell 2, Wade 2, B. Gunlock 2, P. Gunlock) Fouls — Butte 20, Bigfork 11.

Dillon 59, Ronan 29

Sage Tash scored all nine of her points in a big 20-point second quarter that lead the Beavers to a comfortable victory over Ronan in the opener of the girls Western A divisional tournament.

Kenleigh Graham scored eight of her game-high14 points in the first quarter, outscoring the Maidens whose only point in the quarter came from a Nevaeh Perez free throw. Ronan scored 11 in the second but found themselves down by 22 heading into the break.

The Beavers were able to control the paint, outscoring the Maidens 42-10 from inside the arc. Kylie Konen and Landri Hartman each scored 12, including two 3-pointers for Hartman.

Perez led Ronan with seven points. Maddy Illing and Kailyn Marengo each scored six points, with Marengo making two threes.

Ronan 1 11 14 3 - 29

Dillon 14 20 12 13 - 59

RONAN — Maddy Illing 2 1-1 6, Kaiyln Marengo 2 0-0 6, Lauryn Buhr 0 0-0 0, Ally Luedtke 0 0-0 0, Arianna Zepeda 0 0-4 0, Kylee Kelch 0 0-0 0, Natalie Adams 1 1-5 3, Zailee Hewankorn 2 1-2 5, Nevaeh Perez 2 2-5 7. Totals 9 7-21 29.

DILLON — Cassie Keller 1-2 1, Kena Sampson 0 0-0 0, Landri Hartman 5 0-0 12, Tess Tash 0 0-2 0, Kinzy Creighton 2 0-1 4, Josie Robbins 1 0-0 3, Quincy Hansen 1 0-0 2, Shannon Martin 0 0-0 0, Kylie Konen 6 0-0 12, Kenleigh Graham 6 1-2 14, Sage Tash 4 0-0 9, Kaitlyn Konen 1 0-0 2. Totals 26 2-7 59.

3-point field goals — Ronan 4 (Marengo 2, Illing, Perez), Dillon 5 (Hartman 2, Robbins, Graham, S. Tash) Fouls — Ronan 7, Dillon 18,

Columbia Falls 51, Hamilton 37

Taryn Borgen scored 16 points, including two 3-pointers and the No. 2 seed Wildkats controlled the game after the first quarter for a victory over the No. 3 seed Broncs in another Western A divisional game.

It was close after one, with Columbia Falls holding onto a 13-9 lead but in the second quarter the Wildkats extended their lead to 14 at the break. They held the Broncs to just two points in the frame, outscoring them by 10.

The Wildkats had eight different players score, while Hamilton only had three. Onnikka Lawrence tallied eight points and Rylee Sweeney added seven for Columbia Falls.

For Hamilton, Ashlynn McKern led all scorers with 20 points, 11 of them coming in the fourth quarter. Ella Griffin scored seven-straight points for the Broncs in the third quarter and finished the game with 11. Annalise Lewis added 6.

Hamilton plays at 10:30 a.m. Friday against Browning and Columbia Falls advances to play Frenchtown in the at 5 p.m. semifinal.

Hamilton 9 2 9 17 - 37

C-Falls 13 12 8 18 - 51

HAMILTON — Annalise Lewis 3 0-4 6, Meryn Leonardi 0 0-0 0, Ella Griffin 5 0-0 11, Elise Carroll 0 0-0 0, Loretta Hanson 0 0-0 0, Ashlynn McKern 7 5-7 20, Tricia Wilson 0 0-0 0, Mariah Domingo 0 0-0 0, Kassidee McKern 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 5-11 37.

COLUMBIA FALLS — Alexa Friske 2 0-0 4, Onnikka Lawrence 4 0-2 8, Addy Bowler 2 0-0 4, Alanis Peterson 0 0-0 0, Taryn Borgen 4 6-7 16, Kierra Kemppainen 2 0-0 5, Emalee Alton 2 0-0 4, Maddy Barker 1 1-2 3, Rylee Sweeney 2 3-4 7. Totals 19 10-15 51.

3-point field goals — Hamilton 2 (Griffin, McKern) Columbia Falls 3 (Borgen 2, Kemppainen) Fouls — Hamilton 16, Columbia Falls 15. Fouled out — Griffin, McKern.

Frenchtown 66, Browning 40

Mason Quinn scored a game high 23 points, going 9 of 11 from the free throw line and the No. 1 seeded Broncs used a strong second half to pull away for the No. 4 Lady Indians in the final game of Thursday’s Western A divisionals.

Frenchtown controlled the game in every facet, outscoring Browning from the field and free throw line. Browning outscored Frenchtown from distance, due to Shaylee Heavy Runner knocking down four for the Lady Indians and finishing with 14 points.

Heather Haskins scored 15 for Frenchtown, including two 3-pointers. Maya Skinner added eight, all of them coming from the field and Bailey Hansen scored 9.

Josephine Michael scored eight going 4 of 6 from the line and Amani Yellow Owl added seven for Browning.

Browning 9 10 11 10 - 40

Frenchtown 11 16 20 19 - 66

BROWNING — Kianda Tatsey 0 0-0 0, Josephine Michael 2 4-6 8, Shaylee Heavy Runner 5 0-0 14, Tashlynn Lazy Boy 1 1-2 4, Peyton Eagle Feathers 1 0-0 2, Teslin Trombley 0 0-0 0, Amani YellowOwl 2 3-4 7, Zoey Valandra 1 0-0 2, Taryn Lamfromboise 1 0-0 3, Jolene Eagle Speaker 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 8-12 40.

FRENCHTOWN — Mason Quinn 6 9-11 23, Jezzy Palmer 1 0-0 2, Ryan Lucier 3 0-0 7, Bailey Hansen 3 3-4 9, Blake Hardy 1 0-0 2, Heather Haskins 5 3-4 15, Maya Skinner 4 0-0 8, Macey Smith 0 0-0 0, MaKenzie Brush 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 15-19 66.

3-point field goals — Browning 6 (Heavy Runner 4, Lazy Boy, Lafromboise) Frenchtown 5 (Quinn 2, Haskins 2, Lucier) Fouls — Browning 18, Frenchtown 14.