Western A boys: Dillon overtakes C-Falls, Polson falls

HAMILTON — It was a great start for Columbia Falls, but Dillon had the finish. 

Led by Braxtyn Turney, the Dillon Beavers used a late 7-0 run to overtake Columbia Falls for a 40-38 win at the Western A Divisional boys basketball tournament Thursday. 

Turney scored all of his five points in the surge, helping Dillon (13-6) move into Friday’s 3 p.m. semifinal against Frenchtown. Behind 27 points from Hank Smith, the Broncs (15-4) downed Polson 60-29 in another first-round game. 

The Wildcats (14-5) and Pirates (10-11) will battle in a 9 a.m. loser-out Friday. 

In Thursday’s late games, Butte Central pulled away late to beat Browning 73-54, and Ronan did the same in a 56-43 victory over host Hamilton. 

The Maroons face Ronan in a battle of 16-3 teams Friday at 5 p.m. Hamilton and Browning have a 10:30 a.m. loser-out game. 

Dillon 40, Columbia Falls 38 

Down 37-33, Dillon drew even on a basket from Will Hansen at the 2:25 mark and Turney’s shot in the lane with 1:06 left. Turney then hit a 15-foot jumper at the 1:06 mark to put the Beavers up 39-37, 

After the Wildcats turned the ball over, Turney hit a free throw with 27 seconds left. Jett Pitts hit a free throw for Columbia Falls with 7.5 seconds left, and the Cats had a chance after Hansen missed two free throws at 6.5 seconds remaining — Easton Brooks’ desperation three caught rim but fell away. 

Bjorn Pedersen had a game-high 17 points for the Wildcats, hitting three 3-pointers. Hansen and Aason Munday had 10 points each for Dillon. 

Columbia Falls won both its regular-season matchups with Polson. 

Dillon    9    9    8    14    -    40 

C-Falls    17    8    6    7    -    38

DILLON — Canin Christiansen 1 0-0 2, Braxtyn Turner 2 1-2 5, Cohen Hartman 4 1-1 9, Will Hansen 4 0-2 10, Aason Munday 5 0-1 10, Gage Curnow 1 0-0 2, Noah Feenstra 1 0-0 2, Paxton Puyear 0 0-0 0. totals 18 2-6 40. 

COLUMBIA FALLS — Easton Brooks 2 0-0 4, Jett Pitts 2 1-2 5, Jory Hill 2 0-0 5, Bjorn Pedersen 7 0-0 17, Rhett Lindskoog 0 0-0 0, Nico Young 1 0-0 3, Caleb Mee 1 0-0 2, Joe West 1 0-0 2. Totals 16 1-2 38.  

3-point goals — Dillon 2 (Hansen 2), C-Falls 5 (Pedersen 3, Hill, Young). Fouls — Dillon 11, C-Falls 13.  

Frenchtown 60, Polson 29

Smith scored 17 points in the first half to help the Broncs to a 33-17 lead. He hit his second and third 3-pointers of the game in the second half. 

Maddox Hill scored nine points to lead the Pirates. 

Frenchtown lost at home to Dillon 53-50 on Jan. 29; the Broncs then won 49-26 in Dillong on Feb. 20. 

Polson    7    10    7    5    -    29 

Frenchtown    13    20    17    10    -    60

POLSON — Kyson Michel 1 0-0 2, Holden Emerson 0 0-0 0, Maddox Bird 3 1-4 9, Max Milton 2 0-0 6, Malakai Curley 2 0-0 4, Cody Haggard 0 0-0 0, Ama Old Shoes 2 0-0 4, Roman Sawyer 2 0-0 4, Eli Evenson 0 0-0 0. Totals 12 1-4 29.  

FRENCHTOWN — Trevor Smith 2 3-4 7, Cooper Michaud 1 1-1 3, Hank Smith 11 2-5 27, Henry Griffin 2 2-2 6, Konnor Klimpel 0 0-0 0, Brooks Day 3 2-3 9, Jaxon Haynes 2 1-1 6, Brayden Ricci 0 0-0 0, Hendrix Waln 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 11-16 60. 

3-point goals — Polson 4 (Milton 2, Bird 2), Frenchtown 5 (Smith 3, Haynes, Day). Fouls — Polson 15, Frenchtown 7.  

Butte Central 73, Browning 54

Joshua Sutton hit five 3-pointers on the way to 30 points for the Maroons, who saw Ryan Peoples hit three 3-pointers and score 14 points in a 29-point second quarter. 

Sutton had nine points in the frame; Peoples added 19. The duo combined to hit 17 free throws in 21 attempts. 

Reis Reevs led the Indians with 18 points, hitting two 3-pointers. Browning beat Hamilton 56-49 back in December. 

Browning    9    15    14    16    -    54 

Butte Central    9    29    14    21    -    73

BROWNING — Royce Mad Plume 4 3-4 11, Reis Reevis 8 0-2 18, Shayde St. Godard 0 0-0 0, Roy Mad Plume 1 0-0 2, Noah Butterfly 0 2-2 2, Jhett Cobell 0 1-2 1, Layton Wing 3 0-0 7, Joshua Skunkcap 3 0-4 6, Jack Billadeux 0 3-4 3, Eli Edwards 2 0-0 4, Jesse Denny 0 0-0 0, Ayden Warden 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 9-18 54. 

BUTTE CENTRAL — Ryan Peoples 3 10-13 19, Cade Kelly 3 1-2 9, Joshua Sutton 9 7-8 30, GG Fantlin 2 0-0 5, Jaxon Hiatt 1 1-2 3, Burkley Lakkake 0 0-0 0, Gunnar O’Brien 0 0-0 0, Noah Sutton 2 2-3 7, Henley Marisanti 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 19-28 73. 

3-point goals — Browning 3 (Reevis 3, Wing), Butte Central 12 (J.Sutton 5, Peoples 3, Kelly 2, N.Sutton, Fantini). Fouls — Browning 27, Butte Central 17. Fouled out — Skunkcap, Reevis, Royce Mad Plume. 

Ronan 56, Hamilton 43

The Chiefs broke open a close game with an 8-0 fourth-quarter surge in which Jhett McDonald sandwiched two 3-pointers from the right wing around a fast-break basket from Kolby Finley. 

McDonald’s fourth 3-pointer of the game made it 46-34 with 5:22 left, and the Broncs didn’t have the horsepower to catch up. 

McDonald had 18 points for the Chiefs, who went up for good, 17-15, on Finley’s steal and perfect feed to Souixprixm Qualtier at 2:58 of the second quarter. 

Hamilton    10    9    13    11    -    43 

Ronan    8    16    12    20    -    56

HAMILTON — Kaiden Gum 1 0-2 2, Jake McCarthy 6 0-0 14, Trevyn Bakken 3 1-2 9, Taylor Doleac 2 1-2 6, Cartier Ferguson 0 0-0 0, Cooper Weston 4 2-3 10, Cash Lockhart 1 0-0 2, Easton Hollis 0 0-0 0, Landon Ekin 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 6-9 43. 

RONAN — Matiya Nenemay 5 4-6 15, Siouxprixm Qualtier 2 1-2 5, Jhett McDonald 7 0-1 18, Kolby Finley 4 2-2 10, Tryance Matt 2 2-2 6, Ben Running Rabbit 1 0-0 2, Oliver Rowe 0 0-2 0, Will Normandeau 0 0-0 0, Masyn Mayman 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 9-15 56. 

3-point goals — Hamilton 5 (Bakken 2, McCarthy 2, Doleac), Ronan 5 (McDonald 4, Nenemay). Fouls — Hamilton 17, Ronan 13. Fouled out — Weston.