RONAN -- On Friday night at the Western A boys basketball divisional tournament the No. 1-seed Browning Indians were taking on the underdog Whitefish Bulldogs, who were fresh off their upset win over Hamilton in the first round.
From the tipoff Browning was on a mission to get to the divisional title game as it outscored the Bulldogs 16-7 in the first quarter behind eight points from Blayne DeRoche. In the second quarter, Whitefish started to click as Jayce Cripe shot 3 for 3 from the field in the quarter but didn't have much support as the Bulldogs were outscored again in the period, 21-10.
Riley Spoonhunter caught fire in the second quarter for Browning as he shot 3 for 6 from the field and 2 for 4 from beyond the arc for 15 points. In the second half, Browning continued to roll on offense as it outscored Whitefish 31-22 and advanced to the divisional championship with the 68-39 win.
As a team, Browning shot 23 for 45 (51 percent) from the field and 5 for 21 (23 percent) from 3-point range. Spoonhunter finished the game 7 for 11 from the field and 4 for 8 from beyond the arc and finished with a game-high 27 points.
Whitefish shot 14 for 33 (42 percent) from the field and 1 for 13 (7 percent) from beyond the arc. Cripe led the Bulldogs with 11 points on 4-for-4 shooting from the field.
Browning will take on Frenchtown in the championship Saturday at 6:30 p.m.
