BILLINGS — It had been nine long years since the Wyoming girls tasted victory in their annual all-star basketball rivalry with Montana.
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But that streak came to an end Saturday at Lockwood High School, as the Cowboy State snared an 81-75 victory to salvage a split in this year's Midland Roundtable Montana-Wyoming series and win for the first time since June 10, 2016.
Meanwhile, the Montana boys had no designs on a split and rolled to a 98-73 victory in the nightcap, one year after being swept by Wyoming, which snapped a run of 22 straight wins.
The Treasure State boys took command early, leading by 25 points in the first quarter, and didn't look back to extend their already commanding lead in the all-time rivalry.
Montana boys 98 , Wyoming 73
The boys from the Treasure State came into the week aware of Wyoming's two-victories from last season, which ended a long run of dominance.
"We just wanted to get the streak back going," said Box Elder's Tracen Jilot. "We didn't want to be that team that lost. Everybody's watching you. You have people texting you, 'You can't lose this game.'"
Jilot, who helped Box Elder to two states titles and back-to-back undefeated seasons, certainly did his part by scoring a team-high 19 points, including nine in the opening quarter as Montana built its advantage.
Missoula Loyola's Reynolds Johnston added 15 points, not to mention an emphatic alley-oop dunk in the final seconds of the game that punctuated the victory. Johnston, the Montana Gatorade player of the year from this past season, scored 10 of his points in the first quarter.
Other standouts for the Treasure State included Billings Skyview's Zakai Owens, who had 15 points, and Manhattan Christian's Christian Triemstra, who added 11. Montana finished with 10 3-pointers, two each from Johnston and Owens.
But Jilot credited his team's performance on the other end of the floor.
"The big thing was our defensive pressure," Jilot said. "The biggest thing you can control is your effort on defense. That's one of the biggest things we focused on, just being relentless and letting our defense create our offense, and just being unselfish."
Laramie's Jaden Smith paced Wyoming with 16 points. Lane Hladky of Gillette Campbell County and Casper Natrona's Tanner Hagar each added 12. Campbell County's Truman DeGrange made three 3-pointers, account for his nine points for the Cowboy State.
Montana, following a 102-90 win at the Pronghorn Center in Gillette, Wyo., on Friday, now owns a 69-29 advantage in the longstanding series.
Montana was guided by longtime Three Forks coach Mike Sauvageau in lieu of Steve Keller, who was away due to responsibilities as head coach of the Great Falls Electric of The Basketball League.
Wyoming girls 81, Montana 75
In the midst of what was a back-and-forth first half, Montana's girls were able to build a 10-point advantage in the second quarter. But Wyoming closed the half with a final-minute flurry, and the Cowboy Staters went into halftime trailing 43-39.
The teams were separated by just two points at the end of the third quarter, but after a hoop by Billings Skyviews' Rae Smart on a pass from Huntley Project's Paige Lofing, Montana jumped ahead 69-62.
A tough shot in the lane by Lofing gave Montana a 71-68 lead with 4:35 left, but that was the last field goal the team made until Dillon's Kenleigh Graham scored a bucket with 19 seconds left. In between, Wyoming took control.
A transition basket by MSU Billings-bound Lauren Kuhbacher of Gillette Campbell County put Wyoming in front 72-71 with 2:36 left, and a steal and hoop by Pinedale's Elyn Bowers made the score 77-73 in favor of Wyoming with 55 seconds remaining.
Bowers, who is headed to play at Eastern Washington in the Big Sky Conference, scored 21 points and made 9 of 10 free throws in the fourth quarter as Wyoming won for the first time in the series in nearly a decade.
"We really upped our intensity," Bowers said. "We kind of really came together. As a group, I think we hate losing. All of our teams — our high school teams — are highly successful. We just wanted to come together, bring the intensity and get a win."
Lofing, who is headed to play at Gonzaga, led the Montana All-Stars with 13 points, though she was hounded by tight defense in the fourth quarter. The MSUB-bound Smart added 12. Miles City's Alli Glasscock and Lockwood's Tailey Harris each had nine points.
Douglas' Lauren Olsen scored 14 points for Wyoming, and Cheyenne Central's Karson Tempel had 11.
Montana, which prevailed 91-80 in Game 1 on Friday at the Pronghorn Center, still leads the all-time girls series by a 42-14 margin.
