Flathead Valley trips Stillwater for MCAA boys title

It’s a well-worn axiom that the third time is the charm, but there’s no argument from the Flathead Valley Crusaders, who sprung the upset on local rival Stillwater Christian in the MCAA boys basketball title game Saturday in Great Falls.

Jon Dannic scored 20 points and four other Crusaders added 12 points each in their 78-66 win over the Cougars, who came in with a 20-2 record that included two wins over Flathead Valley.  

“We lost by 13 and then by 21 on their Senior Night,” FVS coach Mark Kenney said of the Cougars. “However we came out of the gate and jumped to a 15-2 lead.” 

The gap grew to 38-23 before Stillwater began clawing back, eventually tying the game 58-all in the fourth quarter. A personal foul coupled with a technical led to the Crusaders retaking the lead for good, 62-58. Nathan Turner’s 3-pointer pushed the gap to seven. Dannic hit six free throws down the stretch. 

Turner had eight points while Lincoln Fisher, Patrick Bonner, Zeph Stutzman and Grant Kenney scored 12 each. Fisher went 4 for 5 on 3-pointers. Bonner had 10 rebounds and Stutzman, eight. 

Bonner was named tournament Most Valuable Player.  

Bonner suffered a fractured tibia and an MCL sprain in December but recovered. He and Dannic both crossed the 1,000 career point plateau this season: Bonner against Stillwater earlier in the year; Dannic did it Saturday. 

Turner is a sophomore who guarded the best player on both Heritage Christian of Bozeman (a 67-21 win) and Billings Christian (a 56-49 victory). 

“(He) is arguably the MVP,” said Mark Kenney, who put his team’s record at 33-5. “We played Heritage man to man and disrupted everything they were trying to do. This game set the tone for us at state.” 

The HCS Falcons bounced back to take third in the tournament. 

Bonner had 20 points in the win, shooting 9 of 13 from the floor. Grant Kenney had 13 points and Dannic 11. Stutzman had eight points and nine boards. 

Bonner had 24 points against Billings Christian, which boasted two players standing 6-foot-5. Dannic added 14 points, including a key layup in the final minutes after the Warriors had slashed into a 17-point deficit. Kenney had five points, 11 rebounds and four assists. 

Stillwater Christian beat Bozeman’s Petra Academy 72-30 and Gallatin Valley Home School 75-36 to advance to the championship. 

Ryan Buzzard scored 20 points in the title game for the Cougars. Buzzard, Elijah Lane (13 points) and Micah Strobel (16 points) all had six rebounds. 

Championship 

Flathead Valley    20    18    15    25    -    78 

Stillwater Christian    15    10    23    18    -    66

FLATHEAD VALLEY — Zeph Stutzman 4-8 2-4 12, Grant Kenney 4-6 4-4 12, Jon Dannic 6-16 7-8 20, Landon Kiehn 1-1 0-0 2, Patrick Bonner 5-12 2-7 12, Lincoln Fisher 4-6 0-0 12, Torsten Quast 0-0 0-0 0, Nathan Turner 2-5 2-2 8. Totals 26-54 17-25 78. 

STILLWATER CHRISTIAN — Tayisen Pond 4-8 0-0 9, Logan Schwartz 0-3 0-0 0, Beau Schultz 0-0 0-0 0, Elijah Linn 4-12 3-3 13, Malachi Knoll 1-4 1-2 4, Ryan Buzzard 9-13 1-1 20, Micah Strobel 6-15 4-6 16, Lucas Rietema 0-0 0-0 0, Caleb Marken 1-2 2-2 4. Totals 25-58 11-14 66.  

3-point goals — FVS 9-18 (Fisher 4-5, Stutzman 2-4, Turner 2-2, Dannic 1-3, Kenney 0-1, Bonner 0-3), SCS 5-24 (Buzzard 1-2, Knoll 1-4, Linn 2-8, Pond 1-1, Schwartz 0-2, Rietema 0-1, Morken 0-1, Strobel 0-5). Rebounds — SCS 28 (Bonner 10, Stutzman 8), FVS 36 (Linn 6, Strobel 6, Buzzard 6). Fouls — FVS 17, SCS 23. Fouled out — n/a.