BILLINGS — East Helena and Billings Central bounced into the Eastern A boys divisional semifinals in opposite fashion Thursday morning at First Interstate Arena in Billings, while Miles City and Glendive rounded out the semifinals later in the day.
East Helena 55, Fergus 51
East Helena held off Fergus 55-51 in a game never separated by more than six points. Fergus led by one after the opening quarter before East Helena built a 31-27 halftime advantage. Fergus trailed by three into the fourth quarter and 54-51 with under 10 seconds left before missing a pair of three-point attempts to tie.
The Vigilantes put three players in scoring double figures led by DeonDray Ellis with 18, Bearek Shuman with 14 and Talen Thatcher with 10. Avery Hager was the top rebounder with 12.
Kason Brown was the only Golden Eagle to score in double figures with 20. They will face Havre in Friday morning's 9 a.m. loser-out game.
WATCH highlights of Thursday's wins for East Helena and Billings Central:
Billings Central 62, Havre 38
Billings Central opened a quick double-digit lead against Havre and never trailed on the way to a 62-38 opening-round win.
The Rams led by as many as 27 in the fourth quarter after holding a 35-18 lead at half. Central will meet East Helena in Friday's 3:30 p.m. semifinal.
Central had four player hit double figure scoring marks led by Darcy Merchant with 18. Howie Martin added 13 on 6-for-7 shooting, followed by Toby Stewart with 11 and Gunnar Larsen's 10.
Griffen Terry led Havre with 14 points on 4-for-5 shooting.
Miles City 49, Lockwood 45
The Miles City boys pulled an upset in the opening round of the Eastern A divisional basketball tournament.
Trailing 41-39 with three minutes to play, the Cowboys closed the game on a 10-4 run to stun the Lions and advance to Friday night’s semifinal round. It’s only Lockwood’s second loss of the season.
WATCH Highlights of Thursday's wins for Miles City and Glendive:
The Lions trailed 46-41 with less than a minute to play when back-to-back lay-ups by Zicciah Callison-Blake trimmed the deficit to one, but the Cowboys were able to ice the game from the foul line.
Miles City put four players in double figures scoring, led by Rylin Gentry’s 13 points. Bridger Muri added a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double.
Miles City will play the Glendive/Laurel winner on Friday night at 6:30 p.m, while Lockwood falls to loser-out action against the Glendive/Laurel loser.
Glendive 67, Laurel 53
Glendive used a 17-6 run spanning the end of the third quarter and beginning of the fourth to pull away from Laurel for a 67-53 win in the opening round of the Eastern A divisional tournament.
Glendive carried a slim 31-28 lead into halftime before Laurel quickly made it 34-33. The Red Devils then stretched the lead to 51-39 with six minutes remaining in the game.
Laurel got within seven with just over two minutes to play, but Glendive’s Isaac Eaton delivered the proverbial dagger with a 3-pointer to stretch the lead back to double figures.
Ethan Rivas led Glendive with 22 points, finishing 10 of 11 from the free throw line. Thayden Hatfield added 16 for the Red Devils. Laurel was led by Davin Graves, who finished with 16.
Glendive will play Miles City in Friday night’s semifinal, while Laurel will take on Lockwood in loser-out action.
