BILLINGS — Baker and Ennis will meet in Saturday's Southern B girls basketball divisional championship after earning semifinal wins Friday at First Interstate Arena.
The Spartans won a blowout. The Mustangs pulled off a minor miracle.
Baker 83, Jefferson 42
The Baker girls are returning to the Class B state tournament.
The Spartans ran past Jefferson 83-42 in the semifinals of the Southern B divisional tournament to punch their ticket to Saturday night’s championship game for the third consecutive year and, in turn, the state tournament next weekend in Bozeman.
Baker, which has an average margin of victory of 45 points on the season, sprinted to a 42-22 halftime lead after forcing 16 Jefferson turnovers in the opening 16 minutes.
Madison O’Connor, Montana’s No. 2 all-time scorer among high school girls, finished with 32 points. Her career total now stands at 2,714. She also added 14 rebounds. Avery O'Connor had 24 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
The Spartans will play Ennis in Saturday’s championship game at 7:30 p.m. Jefferson falls to loser-out action and will play Big Timber at 10:30 a.m. for a spot at the state tournament.
WATCH HIGHLIGHTS OF FRIDAY'S SEMIFINALS:
Ennis 52, Huntley Project 49
Ennis pulled off one of the season's most stunning comebacks Friday night, rallying from a 17-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat Huntley Project 52-49.
The Mustangs trailed 47-30 before outscoring the Red Devils 22-2 over the final 3:45. Ennis' suffocating defense swiped 25 steals and forced 34 turnovers on a night when the Mustangs struggled to score with tired legs. Shot after shot seemed to bounce off the front rim as Ennis scored only 13, nine and four points in the opening three quarters. Shooting 29% for the game, a 26-point fourth quarter was the difference.
Marisa Snider launched a deep NBA-range 3-pointer to tie it at 49-49 with under a minute left. After forcing another turnover, Elsie Chandler hit a deep go-ahead 3 with roughly 10 seconds to play. Still with a chance to tie, the Red Devils turned it over near mid-court with .06 left.
Snider led Ennis in scoring with 20 points on 8-of-25 shooting. Kinley Tryan led all scorers with 25 for Huntley Project.
Ennis punches a ticket to Saturday's Southern B divisional championship at 7:30 p.m. against unbeaten Baker. Huntley Project drops into Saturday's 10:30 a.m. loser-out game against Shepherd.
Four teams advance to next week's state tournament.
Friday loser-out scores:
Shepherd 39, Whitehall 30
Big Timber 59, Columbus 28
