WHITEFISH — The Runnin’ Indians ran all over Frenchtown.

The atmosphere matched the intensity on the court as Browning secured its spot in the Western A divisional championship with a 64-47 victory over the Broncs Friday. 

The win also locks the Indians into the State A Tournament in Billings March 13-15. 

Joining the Indians in Saturday’s championship is the Dillon Beavers, who cruised past Columbia Falls 62-41 in the second semifinal. 

“You enjoy the moment, but the work starts tonight,” Browning coach DJ Fish said. “It’s right back to film tonight and tomorrow we come up with a gameplan. Dillon is definitely solid, there’s no way around it, but at the beginning of the year we laid out our goals and this win tonight is one we set.” 

The championship is set for 8:15 p.m. at Whitefish High School Saturday. 

Browning 64, Frenchtown 47

Jude Reevis scored 16 points to lead the Runnin’ Indians (15-4). 

Noah Butterfly added 11 and Shayde St. Goddard tallied 10, including a huge dunk in the second quarter as Browning held the momentum for much of the game. 

“I think that their offense finally matched their defense,” Fish said. “We haven't had a good, sound offensive game like that for a while and we picked the right night to do it and punch our ticket to state.” 

Reevis put the crowd into a frenzy as he beat the first quarter buzzer from 60 feet away to put Browning ahead 18-12. 

St. Goddard’s slam in the second quarter only fueled the Browning portion of the split crowd more as the lead grew to 22-15. 

Frenchtown (15-5) cut the deficit to 25-21 midway through the frame, thanks in part to a triple from Brooks Day. Day finished the game with seven. 

Hank Smith led the Broncs with 15 — nine coming in the first quarter. 

Reevis once again quashed any momentum that Frenchtown gained as he grew the lead out to 32-23 on a mid-range jumper, and Browning led 34-23 at the half. 

Out of the intermission Browning took over as Butterfly beat the buzzer to end the third and give the Indians a 55-33 lead. 

The gap grew to as much as 28, 61-33, before the Broncs finished on a 14-3 run. 

“We tried to play all of our guys,” Fish said. “I think we played all of our guys last night and tonight, so they all get to see the floor, that isn’t always the case. I’m happy for my team and their families.” 

Frenchtown plays again Saturday morning at 10:45 a.m. at Columbia Falls High School against Bigfork. 

Frenchtown    12    11    10    14    -    47 

Browning    18    16    21    9    -    64

FRENCHTOWN — Leighton Cyr 1 1-2 3, Trevor Smith 1 1-1 3, Jaxon Haynes 1 2-2 4, Cooper Michaud 2 0-0 5, Brooks Day 1 4-4 7, Cole Pfahler 2 2-2 8, Brayden Ricci 1 0-0 2, Hank Smith 5 4-8 15, Dawson Rodoni 0 0-0 0, Konnor Klimpel 0 0-0 0, Colin Finley 0 0-0 0, Hendrix Waln 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 14-19 47 

BROWNING — Randy Running Rabbit 1 0-0 3, Jude Reevis 5 1-2 14, Noah Butterfly 5 0-0 11, Jhett Cobell 0 1-2 1, Royce Madplume 3 0-0 9, Josh Skunkcap 2 2-3 6, RoDaie Dog Taking Gun 1 0-0 2, Shayde St. Goddard 4 2-4 10, Tristan Crawford 4 0-0 8, Layton Wing 0 0-0 0, Roy Madplume 0 0-0 0, Reis Reevis 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 6-11 64. 

3-point goals — Frenchtown 5 (), Browning 8 (Reevis 3, Madplume 3, Running Rabbit, Butterfly). Fouls — Frenchtown 16, Browning 21. Fouled out — Butterfly. 

Dillon 62, Columbia Falls 41

Dillon (20-1) pulled away in the second quarter to take the victory in the second semifinal. 

Bjorn Pedersen got Columbia Falls (16-4) off on the right foot, knocking down a 3-pointer to open the game. Another triple from Reggie Sapa made it 6-5 Wildcats, but that was their last lead. Pedersen finished with 13 points, as did Sapa. 

“We struggled putting the ball in the hoop, and a lot of that credit goes to Dillon,” Wildcats coach Chris Finberg said. “They’re long, they’re athletic and we had some open looks, but unfortunately we didn't knock them down.” 

Kyler Engellant and Carter Curnow were too much for the Wildcats to handle as Dillon quickly grew the lead to double digits, 21-11, in the second quarter. 

Engellant finished with a game-high 26 points — including four 3-pointers — and Curnow added 24.  

Curnow’s basket inside made it 31-15 at the break. 

Pedersen tried to get the Wildcats back into it with a triple that cut the deficit to 39-24. Curnow and Engellant made any signs of a comeback short-lived, guiding Dillon to a 51-29 advantage after three quarters.  

The Beavers led 58-32 in the final frame before pulling the starters. 

Columbia Falls plays again Saturday against Ronan in a loser out game at 10:45 a.m. at Whitefish High School. The morning winners qualify for state and play in the consolation game at 5 p.m. 

“Our goals are still in play, to make it to state” Finberg said. “Once you make it to state, anything can happen, so just get there. It’s tough to lose the way we lost, but we have to see how mentally tough we are and bounce back tomorrow morning.” 

C-Falls    11    6    12    12    -    41 

Dillon    16    15    20    11    -    62

COLUMBIA FALLS — Easton Brooks 0 2-2 2, Stanley Stremick 1 0-0 3, Jory Hill 1 0-0 2, Bjorn Pedersen 5 1-1 13, Reggie Sapa 4 2-2 13, Nico Young 1 1-4 3, Cooper Ross 1 0-0 3, Silas Ypma 1 0-0 2, Caleb Mee 0 0-0 0, Grady Hutton 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 6-9 41 

DILLON — Carter Curnow 8 8-8 24, Braxton Turney 2 0-0 4, Kyler Engellant 10 2-2 26, Cohen Hatman 1 2-4 4, Will Hansen 1 0-0 2, Aason Munday 1 0-0 2, Ian Singleton 0 0-0 0, Canin Christianson 0 0-0 0, Gabe Lemelin 0 0-0 0, Caleb Stebbins 0 0-0 0, Taylor Handlos 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 12-14 62. 

3-point goals — Dillon 4 (Engellant 4), Columbia Falls 7 (Sapa 3, Pedersen 2, Stremick, Ross). Fouls — Dillon 14, Columbia Falls 15. Fouled out — none. 

Ronan 63, Hamilton 56

Lawrence Lozeau scored 13 points and Ronan held off Hamilton. 

Jhett McDonald and Chad Higgins added 11 points apiece for the Chiefs (14-6).  

Tyler Jette led all scorers with 29 points for the Broncs (10-11). 

Hamilton    11    8    17    20    -    56 

Ronan    13    13    13    24    -    63

HAMILTON — Kaeden Gum 3 1-3 7, Jake McCarthy 5 1-1 15, Asher Griffin 1 0-0 2, Easton Hollis 0 1-2 1, Cash Lockhart 1 0-0 2, Tyler Jette 9 9-16 29, Cooper Weston 0 0-2 0, Trevyn Bakken 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 12-24 56 

RONAN — Tayen Edmo 2 3-3 8, Kolby Finley 2 5-8 9, Laurance Lozeau 5 1-2 13, Wade Qualtier 3 4-6 10, Jhett McDonald 4 0-0 11, Chad Higgins 4 3-5 11, Siouxpixm Qualtier 0 1-2 1, Sean Small 0 0-0 0, Teddy Spotted Eagle 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 17-26 63. 

3-point goals — Ronan 6 (McDonald 3, Lozeau 2, Edmo), Hamilton 6 (McCarthy 4, Jette 2). Fouls — Ronan 17, Hamilton 21. Fouled out — none. 

Bigfork 73, Butte Central 71 

Austin Savik scored 21 points as Bigfork had four players in double figures and the Vikings held off a late Butte Central charge. 

Treker Hickey added 19 points for the Vikings (9-13), who moved into Saturday’s loser out round. Alex Ochs tallied 15 and Tamret Savik had 14. 

Owen McPortland poured in 42 points for the Maroons (9-11), including 22 in the fourth quarter as Butte Central tried to claw back. 

Butte Central    12    8    20    31    -    71 

Bigfork     16    15    13    29    -    73

BUTTE CENTRAL — Patrick Stimetz 1 0-0 3, Joshua Sutton 5 2-2 14, GG Fentini 4 1-1 9, Jaxon Hiatt 1 0-0 3, Owen McPortland 14 7-7 42, Noah Sutton 0 0-0 0, Ryan Peoples 0 0-0 0, Cade Kelly 0 0-2 0, Justin McGee 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 10-12 71. 

BIGFORK — Tamret Savik 5 4-5 14, Treker Kickey 6 5-6 19, Austin Savik 5 10-13 21, Alex Ochs 5 2-3 15, Jack Lucke 1 2-4 4, Quinn Herring 0 0-0 0, Grady Campbell 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 23-31 73. 

3-point goals — Butte Central 11 (McPortland 7, Sutton 2, Stimetz, Hiatt), Bigfork 6 (Ochs 3, Hickey 2, A Savik). Fouls — Butte Central 26, Bigfork 17. Fouled out — T Savik, Peoples, Hiatt, Stimetz. 

Western A Divisional 

March 6-8, Whitefish High school 

(4 teams advance to State)  

Thursday

Frenchtown 64, Ronan 62 OT 

Browning 51, Hamilton 41 

Columbia Falls 64, Butte Central 51 

Game 8: Bigfork (8-12) vs. Dillon (17-1), 8 p.m. 

Friday 

Ronan 63, Hamilton 56, loser out 

Bigfork 73, Butte Central 71, loser out 

Browning 64, Frenchtown 47, semifinal 

Dillon 62, Columbia Falls 41, semifinal 

Saturday

Ronan (14-6) vs. Columbia Falls (16-4), 10:30 a.m., loser out 

Bigfork (9-13) vs. Frenchtown (15-5), 10:30 a.m., in Columbia Falls, loser out 

Morning winners, 5 p.m., third 

Dillon (19-1) vs. Browning (15-5), 8:15 p.m., championship 

More Friday scores 

Western AA Play-in

Missoula Sentinel 57, Butte 56 

Northern B

Fairfield 61, Choteau 53, loser out 

Poplar 59, Conrad 47, loser out 

Harlem 57, Glasgow 53, semifinal 

Malta 87, Rocky Boy 60, semifinal 

Southern B

Boulder 63, Huntley Project 62, loser out 

Red Lodge 68, St. Labre 63, loser out 

Lodge Grass 67, Three Forks 64, semifinal 

Manhattan 55, Columbus 54 OT, semifinal 

Eastern C

Circle 65, Culbertson 37, loser out 

Savage 58, Westby-Grenora 42, loser out 

Lustre Christian 71, Plentywood 50, semifinal 

Scobey 73, North Country 38, semifinal 

Southern C

Melstone 61, Absarokee 52, loser out 

Roberts 72, Harlowton 70 3OT, loser out 

Terry 52, Broadus 31, semifinal 

Bridger 58, Jordan 47, semifinal