LEWISTOWN — The Melstone girls and Roy-Winifred boys won Southern C challenge games Monday at Fergus High School.
The Broncs edged Custer-Hysham 39-34 in the girls game, while the Red Raiders eked out a 49-46 win over Denton-Geyser-Stanford-Geraldine in the boys game.
Melstone girls 39, Custer-Hysham 34
The Broncs booked their third consecutive trip to the state tournament with a grind-it-out win over Custer-Hysham. Melstone scored 17 first-quarter points to build a 17-10 lead the Rebels were unable to overcome, as the teams combined for just seven points in the second quarter and 11 in the third.
Maggie Eike scored 17 points to lead Melstone. Abby Boyd chipped in nine points for the Broncs, and Emma Myhre had eight.
No Custer-Hysham players scored in double figures, with six Rebels scoring between four and eight points.
Melstone, which lost to Denton-Geyser-Stanford-Geraldine in the Southern C championship game, will be the South's No. 2 seed for the state tournament in Missoula. The Broncs placed third at last year's state tourney.
Roy-Winifred 49, Denton-Geyser-Stanford-Geraldine 46
Kellen Heggem poured in 24 points and Roy-Winifred ousted D-G-S-G to claim the South's second seed for the state tournament.
Heggem scored 13 of Roy-Winifred's 15 points in the second quarter, as the Red Raiders built a 24-17 halftime lead. Heggem added nine points after the break. He was the only Red Raider to score in double figures, though John Rich finished with nine points. Parker Knox (7 points), Gunner Knox (6) and Jadon Warneke (3) rounded out Roy-Winifred's scoring.
D-G-S-G made 10 3-pointers in the game but just six shots from inside the arc. Tyce Smith led the Bearcats with 23 points.
Roy-Winifred, playing its first season in the Southern C after previously competing in the North, will now head to the state tournament, which is March 11-14 at Missoula.
