KALISPELL — The Western AA divisional girls basketball tournament got underway at Flathead High School on Thursday. Here are the recaps along with highlights in the videos above:
Missoula Hellgate 63, Kalispell Glacier 33
The opening game of the day was the No.1 seed Hellgate who pummeled the No. 8 seed Glacier.
Glacier opened the game hot and was up by as much as seven in the first quarter and led 17-13 going into the second quarter. But from there it was all Hellgate as the Knights outscored Glacier 50-16 throughout the remaining three quarters.
The Knights' huge second second quarter and second half was propelled by star senior Alex Covill who recorded a triple-double with 26 points, 20 rebounds, and 10 blocks.
Hellgate closed out the game in dominant fashion to secure a comfortable 63-33 win and advance to the semifinals on Friday. Hellgate's Chloe Larson was second on the team with 18 points. Reese Ramey led Glacier with 11 points.
Missoula Big Sky 46, Helena 39
In the second game of the day it was the No.5 seed Big Sky who upset the No.4 seed Helena.
Helena led 10-8 at the end of the first quarter in a back and forth start to the game. Big Sky closed out the first half on top 19-17. At the end of the third quarters the Eagles still held only a one possession lead up 31-28.
With only a minute to play Big Sky took the lead 44-36 and that proved enough to ultimately secure a 46-39 win for the Eagles. Avory DeCoite recorded a double-double for the Eagles with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
Alex Bullock also recorded a double-double for Helena with 14 points and 14 rebounds. Big Sky will now play in the semifinals on Friday.
Missoula Sentinel 39, Helena Capital 32
The third game featured the No.6 Sentinel upsetting the No. 3 seed Capital. The first quarter wrapped up with Sentinel on top 15-12. After a low scoring second quarter the Spartans still led, up 19-14.
Both teams found some rhythm in the third quarter and Capital brought the score close but Sentinel still led 30-29. Sentinel wound up closing out the first quarter in the final minutes to pull off the upset 39-32 and advance to the semifinals on Friday.
The Spartans were led by Emily McElmurry with 14 points, while the Bruins were led by Jada Clarkson with 10 points.
Kalispell Flathead 54, Butte 48
In the final game of the day it was the No. 2 seed Flathead who survived an upset scare from No.7 Butte.
At the end of the first quarter Flathead held a one point lead up 11-10. Then going into the half Butte held took a 28-26 lead over the Bravettes.
Flathead retook the lead to close out the third quarter up 40-39, but then Butte scored eight straight unanswered to go up 47-40 halfway through the fourth quarter. The Bravettes then went on a huge run to close out the game, outscoring Butte 14-1 to secure a 54-48 win and lock up the final semifinal spot remaining.
Flathead was led by a huge game from Kennedy Moore who had a massive double-double scoring almost half the teams points with 26 and recording 10 rebounds as well. Butte was led by eighth grader Cadence Graham, who dropped 17 points.
