HELENA — Jamie Pickens scored a game-high 19 points and hauled in seven rebounds as the top-ranked and defending champion Helena High girls defeated Missoula Big Sky 76-31 in the regular season finale. The Bengals clinch the Western AA No. 2 seed with the win.
Pickens knocked down seven of her 12 field goals, including a 3-4 effort from 3-point range. She also added four blocks for coach Eric Peterson’s club, which ended the season on an eight-game winning streak. Kamden Hilborn continued her impressive season of filling the stat book, scoring 15 points to go with 11 assists. She also added four steals and a block to her double-double.
Emily Feller and McKayla Kloker scored 22 combined points in the win.
The rout was on from the opening minutes, with Helena High scoring 34 points in the first quarter, opening up a 24-point lead over the Eagles. The Bengals took a 51-20 lead into halftime, before getting valuable minutes from bench players in the second half.
Helena High (16-2, 10-2) finished with the same record as Missoula Sentinel. The two teams split during the regular season, but Sentinel earned the tiebreaker due to a sweep against Helena Capital. The Bengals split their conference games against the Bruins.
All 14 Class AA teams will participate in the divisional tournaments next weekend. The Western AA will be held at Helena High and Helena Capital, while the Eastern AA teams travel to Butte.
