Dillon sweeps; Browning boys 2nd, Ronan 3rd

JON ALLEN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 5 days, 5 hours AGO

Ronan's Kolby Finley (4) drives to the basket in the first half against Frenchtown in the consolation game of the Western A Divisional Basketball Tournament at Whitefish High School on Saturday, March 8. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Ronan's Tayen Edmo (2) drives to the basket in the first half against Frenchtown in the consolation game of the Western A Divisional Basketball Tournament at Whitefish High School on Saturday, March 8. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Ronan's Laurance Lozeau (5) drives to the basket in the first half against Frenchtown in the consolation game of the Western A Divisional Basketball Tournament at Whitefish High School on Saturday, March 8. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Ronan's Jhett McDonald (14) drives to the basket in the second half against Frenchtown in the consolation game of the Western A Divisional Basketball Tournament at Whitefish High School on Saturday, March 8. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Ronan's Wade Qualtier (11) drives to the basket in the first half against Frenchtown in the consolation game of the Western A Divisional Basketball Tournament at Whitefish High School on Saturday, March 8. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Ronan's Sean Small (13) drives to the basket in the first half against Frenchtown in the consolation game of the Western A Divisional Basketball Tournament at Whitefish High School on Saturday, March 8. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Ronan's Kolby Finley (4) shoots in the first half against Frenchtown in the consolation game of the Western A Divisional Basketball Tournament at Whitefish High School on Saturday, March 8. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Ronan's Jhett McDonald (14) shoots in the second half against Frenchtown in the consolation game of the Western A Divisional Basketball Tournament at Whitefish High School on Saturday, March 8. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Ronan's Wade Qualtier (11) shoots in the second half against Frenchtown in the consolation game of the Western A Divisional Basketball Tournament at Whitefish High School on Saturday, March 8. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Ronan's Laurance Lozeau (5) drives to the basket in the second half against Frenchtown in the consolation game of the Western A Divisional Basketball Tournament at Whitefish High School on Saturday, March 8. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Ronan's Tryance Matt (33) shoots in the second half against Frenchtown in the consolation game of the Western A Divisional Basketball Tournament at Whitefish High School on Saturday, March 8. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Ronan's Tayen Edmo (2) shoots in the first half against Frenchtown in the consolation game of the Western A Divisional Basketball Tournament at Whitefish High School on Saturday, March 8. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

WHITEFISH — It was a Dillon delight as the Beavers claimed the boys Western A divisional title Saturday.

Dillon overcame a hot Browning start and a raucous crowd to take down the Indians 63-48 in the championship game at Whitefish High School.

“It was really fun to see our kids get up off the mat,” Dillon coach Jeff Edwards said. “We didn’t have the start we wanted, but we learned some things from a difficult time and I was proud of our team being able to come back.”

“We came out punched them in the mouth, but then we got comfortable” Browning coach DJ Fish said. “We just couldn’t quite get adjusted as well as we wanted to, and it showed.”

The win gave both Beavers teams titles as the girls down Frenchtown 47-40.

In the third-place game Ronan avenged a first-round loss to Frenchtown for a 79-58 victory over the Broncs.

Dillon 63, Browning 48

Kyler Engellant scored 19 points and Carter Curnow added 13 for the Beavers.

“We make things as tough as we can in practice,” Edwards said about playing in front of the mostly Browning crowd. “It comes down to having a bit more composure, credit to their fans.”

The Indians came out hot, with a trio of early 3-pointers — two from Jude Reevis, who had 19 points, and one from Roy Madplume — to take a 15-4 advantage and sent the majority Browning crowd wild.

Then Browning went cold.

“They definitely feed off (the crowd),” Fish said. “Sometimes we get caught up a bit too much. Coming out of the timeouts and what we had just gone over goes out the window because you get a little too caught up and with the crowd, they can’t hear anything when we are on the bench trying to yell to make changes.”

Curnow stopped the bleeding for the Beavers with a basket inside, and a couple of and-one baskets — one for Curnow and one for Braxtyn Turney — cut the gap to 15-11 after eight minutes. Turney finished with nine points.

Dillon continued the run into the second quarter, finding their first lead since it was 1-0 when Engellant hit from beyond the arc. In all, a 19-2 run for the Beavers put them ahead 25-17.

Reevis kept the Indians in it with a pair of big triples to cut the gap to 30-26 at intermission.

The Beavers came out of the break hot and quickly pushed the lead to double digits at 37-26.

Shayde St. Goddard got inside and helped the Indians cut it down to 40-33,but that’s as close as they got.

Turney all but sealed it midway through the fourth as he hit from the right wing to push the Beavers lead out to 60-44.

“We’ve seen all the best competition in the state,” Fish said. “Now we get to match up against Glendive, who is the only team at state that we haven’t played, so it’s been a pretty good season if we have played that type of competition.”

Dillon 11 19 17 16 - 63

Browning 15 11 9 13 - 48

DILLON — Carter Curnow 5 3-7 13, Braxton Turney 3 2-3 9, Ian Singleton 0 0-0 0, Kyler Engellant 8 2-3 19, Cohen Hartman 2 2-4 7, Sam Davis 3 0-2 6, Will Hansen 0 0-0 0, Canin Christiansen 0 0-0 0, Gabe Lemelin 3 0-0 9, Caleb Stebbins 0 0-0 0, Aason Munday 0 0-0 0, Taylor Handlos 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 9-19 63.

BROWNING — Randy Running Rabbit 0 0-0 0, Jude Reevis 6 2-2 19, Noah Butterfly 0 2-2 2, Jhett Cobell 0 0-0 0, Toyce Madplume 0 1-2 1, Josh Skunkcap 2 0-0 4, RoDaie DogTakingGun 0 0-0 0, Shayde St. Goddard 2 3-6 7, Reis Reevis 0 0-0 0, Tristan Crawford 5 1-2 11. Totals 16 10-16 48

3-point goals — Dillon 6 (Lemelin 3, Hartman, Engellant, Turney), Browning 6 (Reevis 5, Roy Madplume). Fouls — Dillon 20, Browning 19. Fouled out — none.

Ronan 79, Frenchtown 58

Laurence Lozeau scored 18 points, Tayen Edmo added 17 more and Ronan (16-6) claimed third place over Frenchtown (16-6) — who beat the Chiefs 64-62 in overtime during Thursday’s first-round.

“It was a total team effort, everyone left it on the court today,” Ronan coach George Sherwood said. “It’s a testament to how deep we are, everyone did their role no matter the size or what we ask from them.”

Lozeau and Jhett McDonald combined for a quick 8-0 run at the end of the second quarter to put Ronan ahead 36-30. McDonald finished with 13 points.

“We just tried to play a little bit faster and it did work in our benefit,” Sherwood said. “But that is a good team and we just had more shots fall tonight.”

Early in the third quarter, Frenchtown clawed to 36-35 as Hank Smith found back-to-back baskets. Smith led the Broncs with 17 amd Cole Pfahler added 12 — all from long range.

Ronan took control from there as Lozeau hit from long distance to spark a 14-0 run that put the Chiefs up 50-35.

Lozeau hit an early dagger 3-pointer in the fourth as he put Ronan up 60-42. The Chiefs knocked down 10 shots from behind the arc.

Another quick run that included a pair of and-one baskets — one from Lozeau and another from Chad Higgins sealed it as Ronan’s lead ballooned to 70-46. They Chiefs are headed to state for the first time since 2021.

“It’s a sigh of relief (to make state),” Sherwood said. “Just the talent we have and how much I care for these kids, they deserve it. If anyone gets to know my players, you would be rooting for them too.”

Frenchtown 12 19 11 16 - 58

Ronan 18 18 19 22 - 79

FRENCHTOWN — Leighton Cyr 3 1-1 7, Dawson Rodoni 1 0-0 2, Trevor Smith 0 0-2 0, Jaxon Haynes 2 0-0 4, Cooper Michaud 1 3-4 5, Konnor Klimpel 0 0-0 0, Brooks Day 2 0-1 5, Colin Finley 0 0-0 0, Hendrix Waln 2 0-0 4, Cole Pfahler 4 0-0 12. Brayden Ricci 1 0-0 2, Hank Smith 6 3-3 17. Totals 22 7-11 58.

RONAN — Tayen Edmo 7 1-2 17, Kolby Finley 4 3-4 12, Laurance Lozeau 4 2-4 18, Sean Small 1 0-0 2, Jhett McDonald 5 0-0 13, Chad Higgins 1 1-1 3, Siouxpixm Qualtier 1 0-0 2, Trey Small 0 0-0 0, Connor Durglo 0 0-0 0, Tryance Matt 1 0-1 2, Teddy Spotted Eagle 0 0-0 0.

3-point goals — Frenchtown 7 (Pfahler 4, Smith 2, Day), Ronan 10 (Lozeau 4, McDonald 3, Edmo 2, Finley). Fouls — Frenchtown 16, Ronan 12. Fouled out — none.