PABLO — The Western B boys basketball divisional tournament is under way, and the teams came out firing on the first day of action Thursday.
Eureka and Missoula Loyola kicked off the day with first-round wins to advance to Friday's semifinal round. The Lions defeated Deer Lodge 38-36, while the Rams ran past St. Ignatius 68-28. In other first-round games, Anaconda routed Plains 63-29 and Arlee handled Troy 86-65.
Eureka 38, Deer Lodge 36
The first game of the Western B did not disappoint, with Deer Lodge and Eureka going back and forth throughout.
The Wardens held control of this one throughout most of the game, with Kaiden Beck going off for a game-high 19 points. Deer Lodge had the game tied with less than one second left in the game.
But Eureka’s Brody Chapman was the hero, catching a lob off the inbound for the game winner to start the tournament with a bang .
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Missoula Loyola 68, St. Ignatius 28
Loyola held up its reputation as the reigning three-time state champion in this first round with a dominating performance over St. Ignatius.
It was a team-effort win with Myles Widder scoring 16 points and Cameron Buxton right behind with 14.
The Rams’ seven 3-pointers catapulted them past the Bulldogs in a 68-28 victory.
Eureka and Loyola will play Friday at 3 p.m. in the semifinal round.
The final two boys' games of day one in the Western B Divisional followed the trend of most matchups with runaway wins.
Anaconda 63, Plains 29
It was a team effort in the first late game of the evening, with Anaconda having four players scoring in double digits.
The effort started with Travis Dye scoring the first eight points of the game for the Copperheads, and he would finish the day with 12.
Ryder Anderson led the scoring effort with 13 points, with nine of those coming from behind the arc.
The Copperheads left the gym Thursday in dominant fashion.
WATCH THE HIGHLIGHTS:
Arlee 86, Troy 65
The Warriors and Trojans kept things interesting in the first half, but it was Arlee that triumphed in this one, winning on the fast break.
Nolan Morris led the scoring charge for Troy with 19 but his effort would not be enough to advance to the semifinal.
Kade DuPuis-Pablo matched the game high in scoring with 19 of his own, and the rest of the team pitched in on the fast break to help the Warriors pull away in the second half.
Arlee took this matchup 86-65 and will play Anaconda in the semifinal round Friday at 4:45 p.m.
