BILLINGS — We’re courtside at First Interstate Arena in Billings for Championship Saturday at the Class AA state basketball tournament. The morning loser-out and afternoon third-place games are complete:
GIRLS
• Missoula Hellgate 54, Billings Senior 45
• Missoula Big Sky 58, Butte 29
• Missoula Big Sky 46, Missoula Hellgate 35, consolation
• Gallatin 58, Billings West 41, championship
BOYS
• Missoula Hellgate 55, Billings Senior 47
• Missoula Big Sky 50, Helena 44
• Missoula Big Sky 55, Missoula Hellgate 53, consolation
Follow along here for live scores, highlights, and reaction from the boys and championship game. And check out our live-blog from today’s girls championship, as well. We’ll have on-site coverage from Scott Breen, Alec Bofinger and Mike Scherting.
* * * Class AA updated scores and pairings * * *
9:30 p.m. | Dueling 3s
West cut the deficit to six points on a banked 3-pointer by Cash Rice, but Sentinel's Beau O'Reilly answered with his own 3. It's 35-28 Sentinel with 4:20 to play.
9:23 p.m. | Can West do it again, or will Sentinel close it out?
The Golden Bears entered the fourth quarter of last night's semifinals trailing Missoula Hellgate by double digits, but wound up winning a triple-overtime game. Tonight, they'll start the fourth trailing Sentinel 31-21. Do the Bears have another rally in them?
9:15 p.m. | Defensive posture
Sentinel's Lincoln Rogers, a 6-foot-8 senior, just had a defensive possession for the books. He blocked consecutive West shots, then threw the ball off a West player, bouncing it off the Golden Bear out of bounds and giving the Spartans possession. Sentinel leads 25-16 with 3:46 to go in the third quarter.
9:05 p.m. | Halftime check-in
The Spartans have hung their hat on their defense all tournament, and tonight has been no different. They're holding the Bears to 29% shooting from the floor, and they've forced eight turnovers. Kade Robinson has 10 point the lead the Spartans and Lincoln Rogers checks in with nine. Gavin O'Reilly has assisted on five baskets for the Spartans.
8:57 p.m. | Good quarter for Sentinel
The Spartans will take a 21-14 lead in halftime. The lead ballooned to 11 points on a 3-pointer by Lincoln Rogers, but the Bears managed to chip into that.
8:49 p.m. | Searching for a flow
Both teams are being forced into some shots, but Sentinel's Lincoln Rogers has found some space lately. He's scored four straight points and the Spartans are on a 10-3 run for an 18-11 lead with 3:00 to play in the first half.
8:37 p.m. | First quarter in the books
The Spartans got off to an 8-2 start, but the Golden Bears might have found their legs after last night's long triple-overtime game. Grayson Baumann and Cash Rice hit 3-pointers and evened things up at 8-8 by quarter's end.
8:11 p.m. | Boys championship preview: Missoula Sentinel (18-3) vs. Billings West (16-5)
We're pretty much on schedule for the boys scheduled 8:30 p.m. tip off following the Gallatin win over Billings West in the girls' championship, so here's a quick look ahead to tonight's boys title game:
Late Friday night, West boys coach Kelly Darragh expressed confidence that his players would be rested and ready for tonight’s championship following the Golden Bears’ training triple-OT win over Missoula Hellgate in the semifinals. “They’re 18- to 17-year-old boys,” he said. “They’ll bounce back.” The Golden Bears will also have to find a way to solve Missoula Sentinel’s zone defense. The Spartans have given up a total of just 76 points and held their two opponents to 34% shooting.
