CUT BANK — It was all Shelby and Fairfield on semifinal night at the District 1B basketball tournaments, as the girls and boys from both towns advanced to their respective district championships on Friday night in Cut Bank.
Shelby 35, Conrad 26 (girls semifinal)
Maddison Underdal scored 16 points and Bailey Johnson added nine as top-seeded Shelby beat Conrad 35-26 in semifinal action at the District 1B tournament. The Coyotes punch their ticket to the Northern B divisional tournament in Shelby starting March 5.
Turnovers plagued Conrad throughout, as the Cowgirls coughed up the ball 15 times in the first half. Lauren Philipps led Conrad with 15 points.
Conrad plays Rocky Boy in a loser-out game on Saturday morning.
Fairfield 55, Cut Bank 44 (girls semifinal)
Kenna Pitcher scored 32 points to help lead Fairfield over Cut Bank 55-44 in the other semifinal.
The Eagles led 21-20 at halftime, but 19 of Pitcher's points came in the second half, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of the third.
Jada Rides At The Door scored 12 for the Wolves and Sienna Spotted Bear scored 11.
The Eagles move on to face Shelby in the championship, while Cut Bank faces Choteau in loser-out action on Saturday.
Fairfield 74, Rocky Boy 65 (boys semifinal)
Ben Krebs scored a lot, but Keeley Bake scored even more as Fairfield took down Rocky Boy 74-65 behind Bake's 32 points.
Krebs poured in 31 for the Northern Stars, who hit seven 3s in the first half as a team. Rocky Boy led by five at the break, but Fairfield hit timely shots and knocked down free throws in the fourth quarter to seal the win. Fairfield will face Shelby in the championship.
Rocky Boy faces Great Falls Central in loser-out.
Shelby 73, Choteau 44 (boys semifinal)
After a back-and-forth first quarter, the Shelby defense clamped down on Choteau, holding the Bulldogs to single-digit scoring in the second and fourth quarters to win 73-44.
Rhett Reynolds scored 22 points for the Coyotes and Logan Leck notched a double-double of 14 points and 10 assists. Kyler Crabtree led Choteau with 13.
