GREAT FALLS — We’re back at Four Seasons Arena for Day 2 of the State Class A basketball tournament, and Friday’s morning loser-out round is now complete:
BOYS
Butte Central 55, Ronan 52
Glendive 50, Miles City 44
GIRLS
Hardin 57, Bigfork 46
Laurel 59, Whitefish 35
Semifinal action tips off this afternoon, with winners punching their tickets to Saturday’s state championship games.
On site today in Great Falls are Tom Wylie handling web updates and photos, and Will Charlton shooting highlights and video.
***STATE A SCORES AND PAIRINGS***
4:43 p.m. | RAMS ADVANCE TO TITLE GAME
Billings Central led wire-to-wire in a 61-38 win over Lockwood in the State A semifinals. The Rams will advance to the title game for the first time since 2021 - which also came in Great Falls.
Howie Martin led the Rams with 14 points, four rebounds and four assists. Gunner Larsen added 11 points, two blocks and three steals in the win.
Zicciah Callison-Blake paced the Lions with 14 points but only shot 4-for-13 from the field. As a team, the Lions shot 12-for-41 (29.3%). The Rams had a decided advantage on the boards with a 32-21 rebounding margin.
Billings Central will face the winner of Frenchtown and Dillon in Saturday night's championship game t 6:30 p.m., while Lockwood will face Glendive in loser-out action at 9 a.m.
4:27 p.m. | IT'S A RAMS WORLD
Billings Central leads 50-27 after the third quarter. No drama to this one. Just sheer domination by the Rams, who have outplayed Lockwood comprehensively for 24 minutes.
3:58 p.m. | WELL... SO MUCH FOR THE GAME OF THE YEAR PREDICTION
At halftime, Billings Central leads Lockwood 32-12. You read that right. The buzz on media row before the game was that this could be the best match-up of the tournament.
No so much! The Rams are playing inspired basketball. Getting to every loose ball, contesting every shot, and converting every opportunity on offense.
The Rams are 13-for-28 from the field and have out-rebounded Lockwood 21-9. Howie Martin leads the way with eight points, followed by Gunnar Larsen and Howie Merchant Jr. with six points each.
Zicciah Callison-Blake has five points for the Lions, while Gabe Ronquillo has four. The Lions are just 5-for-23 from the field. Lockwood has a lot of work to do to get back into this one. Let's see how they respond!
3:42 p.m. | CENTRAL IN CONTROL
The Rams led 12-6 after the first quarter, and have pushed the advantage to 25-12 with two minutes remaining in the first half.
Howie Martin, Darcy Merchant Jr., Gunnar Larsen and William have all scored on this run.
3:37 p.m. | ADVANTAGE TO THE RAMS EARLY
Billings Central has an early 7-2 advantage with 2:27 remaining in the first quarter. Rams playing more composed on offense and are forcing Lockwood into tough shots.
Great fan support on both sides with a mostly full arena. This game the energy of a state championship game, which many thought it could be.
3:26 p.m. | BILLINGS CENTRAL AND LOCKWOOD BOYS KICK OFF SEMIS
Oh boy. This one should be good. By nature of Lockwood's first round loss at the Eastern A Divisional, the Lions earned the No. 3 seed at state even though many consider them the favorite to win it all.
They face the No. 1 seed, and bitter rival Billings Central. These two teams split the regular season series with each team winning at home. It was the only Class A loss for both teams in the regular season.
Billings Central head coach Jim Stergar had this to say about the rematch with Lockwood.
"It's our rival. And I mean, everybody treats us as their rival. That's just the way it is with Billings central," Stergar said. "But we know each other very well. And it's just a matter of which team's going to make the best and most plays, and it should be a fun one."
That's borne out so far. The game just tipped off and we're scoreless after two minutes.
