BUTTE — The championship of the Western AA girls divisional basketball tournament will come down to crosstown rivals — Missoula Big Sky and Missoula Hellgate.
Big Sky and Hellgate each advanced with semifinal victories on Friday. The Eagles beat Helena Capital 48-36 while the Knights outlasted Helena 38-34.
By winning, Big Sky and Hellgate each clinched berths to next week's Class AA state tournament, but will decide the divisional title on Saturday at the Civic Center.
Missoula Big Sky 48, Helena Capital 36
Balanced Big Sky advanced to the title game as Kaydynce Couture led with 15 points and nine rebounds and Sadie McGuinn added 11 points. The Eagles outscored the Bruins 16-8 in the second quarter to gain the separation they needed.
Mya Hubbard had eight points and both Kyler Latrielle and Aubrey Hale added 11 as the Eagles both advanced to the divisional title game and clinched a state tourney berth.
Capital, which slips into loser-out play Saturday, got 16 points from Anna Cockhill. She also hit four 3-pointers. Taylor Sayers had seven points and eight rebounds for the Bruins.
Missoula Hellgate 44, Helena 34
Hellgate forced an All-Missoula championship game by outlasting Helena High in Friday's second semifinal.
Paisley Johnson had 11 points to lead Hellgate, which had seven players reach the scoring column. Elly Reed had seven and Chloe Larsen added six for the Knights.
Larsen pulled down eight rebounds while Gianna Passuccio contributed seven boards.
Helena now looks to stay alive in loser-out play Saturday. Kylee Gardipee led the Bengals with seven points and 10 rebounds, including six offensive boards. Cassidy Smith also had seven points for Helena.
Friday loser-out scores
Missoula Sentinel 66, Kalispell Flathead 46
Kalispell Glacier 48, Butte 44
