WHITEFISH — The game appeared to be heading into double overtime after Ronan’s Kolby Finley hit a corner three to tie the game with 17 seconds left.

Frenchtown quickly responded on a Hank Smith layup to win the game 64-62 in the Western A boys divisionals Thursday afternoon. 

Trailing 58-55 with 1:34 left in overtime, Frenchtown forced Ronan into three straight turnovers to take the lead before Finley tied the game. Frenchtown coach Brandon Robbins elected not to call a timeout and Smith drove baseline to score the final two of his game-high 23 points. 

“I thought we lost our composure a little bit in the middle of the second half, but we rallied the troops,” Robbins said. “A lot of credit to Ronan, Finley hit some big shots for them, but the kids did a great job getting the ball up court and finding Hank to score.” 

Ronan had a chance to extend the lead late in regulation but went 1 for 4 from the free throw line in the final minute before fouling Smith. Smith would knock down both free throws to tie the game at 53 and Tayen Edmo’s desperation three just missed off the back of the rim.  

Ronan left a lot of opportunities at the line, going 10 for 19 with seven of those misses coming in the fourth quarter and overtime. Edmo led the Chiefs with 14 points, knocking down two 3-pointers. Finley finished with 11 and Wade Qualtier added 10.  

Cooper Michaud was the only Bronc besides Smith to reach double digits with 16 points, including two threes. Leighton Cyr added nine, going 5 of 7 from the line. 

Ronan plays Hamilton at noon Friday with Frenchtown moving on to play No. 1 seed Browning at 6:30 p.m. If the Chiefs manage two wins, they’ll qualify for state. 

For the Broncs it's win and they’re in. 

“Browning won the Northwest, and they play kind of different from a lot of teams up and down so I think the matchup will be a lot of fun,” Robbins said. 

Ronan        11    10    23    9    9    -    62 

Frenchtown    16    11    17    9    11    -    64 

RONAN — Tayen Edmo 5 2-4 14, Kolby Finley 4 2-4 11, Laurance Lozeau 3 0-0 6, Wade Qualtier 4 2-5 10, Sean Small 1 0-0 2, Jhett McDonald 2 0-0 5, Chad Higgins 2 2-4 6, Siouxpixm Qualtier 2 2-2 8, Teddy Spotted Eagle 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 10-19 62. 

FRENCHTOWN — Leighton Cyr 2 5-7 9, Trevor Smith 0 0-0 0, Jaxon Haynes 2 2-2 8, Cooper Michaud 5 4-4 16, Konnor Klimpel 0 1-2 1, Brooks Day 1 1-2 3, Cole Pfahler 0 0-0 0, Brayden Ricci 1 2-3 4, Hank Smith 8 7-9 23. Totals 19 22-29 64.  

3-point field goals — Ronan 6 (Edmo 2, S. Qualtier 2, Finley, McDonald) Frenchtown 4 (Haynes 2, Michaud 2) Fouls — Ronan 23, Frenchtown 17 Fouled Out — Higgins, Cyr. 

Browning 51, Hamilton 41 

Jude Reevis scored 19 points, including three 3-pointers, to lead the No. 1 seed Runnin’ Indians to a victory over Hamilton. 

Browning’s size and defense appeared to be too much for Hamilton, as they were forced into multiple turnovers leading to fast break points.  

Browning was also more balanced on the offensive side as 10 different players scored, compared to Hamilton’s four.  

Tyler Jette led Hamilton with 18 points, going 5 of 12 from the line. Canaan Magness added 10. 

No player besides Reevis scored more than six for Browning, with Noah Butterfly and Tristan Crawford both reaching that mark.  

Hamilton    11    9    7    14    -    41 

Browning    11    17    4    19    -    51 

HAMILTON — Kaeden Gum 0 2-2 2, Jake McCarthy 2 0-0 5, Asher Griffin 0 0-0 0, Trevyn Bakken 0 0-0 0, Easton Hollis 0 0-0 0, Canaan Magness 3 4-7 10, Cash Lockhart 3 0-2 6, Tyler Jette 6 5-12 18. Totals 14 11-23 41. 

BROWNING — Randy Running Rabbit 0 0-0 0, Noah Butterfly 2 2-4 6, Jude Reevis 7 2-4 19, Jhett Cobell 0 0-0 0, Royce Mad Plume 1 2-2 4, Joshua Skunkcap 2 0-1 4, Layton Wing 0 0-0 0, Roy Mad Plume 1 0-2 3, Rodale Dog Talking Gun 1 0-0 2, Shayde St. Goddard 2 0-2 4, Reis Reevis 0 1-2 1, Tristan Crawford 3 0-0 6, Jack Billedeaux 1 0-0 2. Totals 20 7-17 51. 

3-point field goals — Hamilton 2 (McCarthy, Jette) Browning 4 (J. Reevis 3, Royce Mad Plume) Fouls — Hamilton 19, Browning 21. Fouled out — J. Reevis. 

Columbia Falls 64, Butte Central 51 

Jory Hill scored 17 points, six of them beyond the arc and the Wildcats held on after a strong first half start to take down the Butte Central Maroons. 

The Wildcats jumped out to a 19-6 lead after the first and extended it to 27-10 before the Maroons trimmed the deficit to 10 before half.  

Things got chippy at the start of the fourth quarter with Columbia Falls being called for a technical foul as two players were fighting for possession. Owen McPartland was awarded two free throws, made one and Columbia Falls answered right back. 

Joshua Sutton got hot in the second half, scoring 14 of his game-high 20, but the Maroons never got within one possession. Freshman Jaxon Hiatt hit three 3-pointers to finish with 13 points and McPartland scored 12. 

Reggie Sapa scored 14 for the Wildcats and Bjorn Pederson added 11. Columbia Falls plays Dillon Friday at 8 p.m.  

Butte C.    6    15    15    15    -    51 

C-Falls    19    12    13    20    -    64 

BUTTE CENTRAL — Noah Sutton 0 0-0 0, Ryan Peoples 0 4-4 4, Patrick Stimatz 0 0-0 0, Cade Kelly 0 0-0 0, Henly Mansanti 0 0-0 0, Joshua Sutton 8 3-4 20, GG Fantini 1 0-0 2, Jaxon Hiatt 4 2-2 13, Owen McPartland 4 3-5 12. Totals 17 12-15 51. 

COLUMBIA FALLS — Easton Brooks 2 0-1 4, Stanley Stemick 0 0-0 0, Jory Hill 6 3-3 17, Bjorn Pedersen 4 2-3 11, Reggie Sapa 6 1-2 14, Cooper Ross 1 1-2 3, Grady Hutton 3 2-2 9, Silas Ypma 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 9-15 64. 

3-point field goals — Butte Central 5 (Hiatt 3, Sutton, McPartland) Columbia Falls 5 (Hill 2, Pedersen, Sapa, Hutton) Fouls — Butte Central 14, Columbia Falls 14. 

Dillon 61, Bigfork 38 

Kyler Engellant scored 18 points, including three 3-pointers, as the No. 1 seed Dillon handled the Bigfork Vikings in Thursday’s finale. 

Corta Curnow scored 14 points, going 4-for-4 from the line as Dillon’s size was a factor in the paint all evening. Cohen Hartman made four of Dillon’s 10 3-pointers and one from the free throw line to finish with 13. 

Treker Hickey scored 10 points for the Vikings, seven of them coming in the first quarter before early foul trouble forced him to sit the majority of the second. Austin Savik led Bigfork with 15 points. 

Bigfork plays Butte Central at 10:30 a.m. Friday.  

Bigfork         10    10    7    11    -    38 

Dillon         16    17    14    14    -    61 

BIGFORK — Paul Bryman 0 0-0 0, Tamret Savik 1 0-0 2, Greysun Onthank 0 0-0 0, Quinn Herring 3 0-0 6, Grady Campbell 1 0-0 3, Treker Hickey 3 3-3 10, Austin Savik 6 3-4 15, Alex Ochs 0 2-2 2, Lance Peterson 0 0-0 0, Cavin West 0 0-0 0, Jack Lucke 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 8-9 38. 

DILLON — Corta Curnrow 5 4-4 14, Braxtyn Turney 2 1-2 6, Ian Singleton 0 0-0 0, Kyler Engellant 5 5-6 18, Sam Davis 1 0-0 3, Will Hansen 2 2-3 7, Canin Christiamsen 0 0-0 0, Gabe Lenchin 0 0-0 0, Taylor Handlos 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 13-17 61. 

3-point field goals — Bigfork 2 (Campbell, Hickey), Dillon 10 (Hartman 4, Engellant 3, Turney, Davis, Hansen) Fouls — Bigfork 17, Dillon 13. 

    Columbia Falls' Reggie Sapa (22) 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   

    Columbia Falls' Nico Young (23) drives to the hoop 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   

    Columbia Falls' Cooper Ross (30) knocks down a jumper 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   

    Columbia Falls' Bjorn Pedersen (21) 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   

    Columbia Falls' Grady Hutton (33) knocks down a three 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   

    Columbia Falls' Jory Hill (14) shoots in the second 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   

    Columbia Falls' Reggie Sapa (22) 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   

    Columbia Falls' Bjorn Pedersen (21) drives to the hoop 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