Granite County teams advance, face each other in semifinals
DILLON – Three of Granite County’s four basketball teams were in action Thursday at the District 12C tournaments in Dillon, with each earning a first-round victory that will put them into the semifinals. The lone team not playing Thursday, the Drummond Boys, earned a first-round bye and advanced automatically.
Girls Tournament
Granite 53, Lima 8
The Lady Prospectors came out of the gate quickly, taking an early lead and easily handling the Lady Bears in the tournament opener.
“Great team win, we did exactly what we needed to in that game,” said Granite Head Coach Brandon Piazolla. “The girls showed up ready to go and we're going to keep that momentum going into tomorrow.”
Senior Sarah Goff led all scorers in the game, scoring 16 on four three-pointers.
The win puts the Lady Prospectors into a game against their country rivals, the Lady Trojans, Friday at 5 p.m. The winner will advance to the winner’s bracket finals against the survivor of the Ennis-Twin Bridges game Saturday.
Scoring
LIMA – 2/3/2/1 – 8
GRANITE – 17/18/16/2 – 53
Lima –Bravo 5, Mayer 3
Granite – Goff 16, Comings 8, Hill 7, Radtke 6, Pitcher 5, Struna 5, Talon 2, Metesh 2
Drummond 56, Harrison-Willow Creek 20
The Lady Trojans used a stifling 18-0 first quarter to get the upper hand and eventually the win over Harrison-Willow Creek in the opener of the 12C tournament.
Sydney Phillips was 6-of-9 at the free throw line on her way to a game-high 15 points for Drummond. She was followed closely by Rylee Hilmo with 14 and Holly Hauptman and Sara Kielley who added 11 apiece.
As mentioned above, the Lady Trojans will play Granite in Friday’s game. In their previous two meetings the Lady Prospectors have held the advantage wining in Philipsburg 43-29 in December and 53-46 in Drummond. The Lady Trojans will look to stop the streak Friday.
Scoring
HWC – 0/7/7/6 – 20
DRUMMOND – 18/13/15/10 – 56
HWC – Lerum 5, Chater 5, Strong 4, Bacon 3, MakChristiansen 2, MadChristiansen 1
Drummond – Phillips 15, Hilmo 14, Hauptman 11, Kielley 11, Seekell 4, Perry 1
Boys Tournament
Granite 48, Lima 32
Unfortunately for the Lima Bears, Kade Cutler found his shooting stroke Thursday and brought it with him to Dillon. The sophomore guard scored a game-high 22 to lead the Prospectors to the win.
Despite a slow opening stanza that saw the locals take a 6-5 lead, Granite found its rhythm to go on a 19-7 run in the second that put them ahead 25-12 at the break.
“Tournament jitters were evident in the first quarter tonight. We couldn't hit a layup or a free throw,” observed Granite Head Coach Dustin Keltner. “We calmed down a little in the second quarter and strung together enough good possessions to get some points on the board. Kade shot the ball well and was able to get to the basket. We rebounded the ball well and hustled.
“I'm glad we have a game under our belts. Hopefully we got the tournament jitters out tonight.”
The Prospectors will need to be on their game Friday as they face Drummond in the semifinals at 3:30 p.m. Granite edged the Trojans in December in Philipsburg 41-38, before the Trojans won at home in January 43-24. Drummond received a first-round bye the 12C tournament when Twin Bridges opted to play a first-round game rather than sit it out.
Scoring
LIMA – 5/7/8/12 – 32
GRANITE – 6/19/12/11 – 48
Lima – Messenger 11, Duck 7, Cox 7, Haws 6, Nygren 1
Granite – Cutler 22, Ward 8, Brabender 8, Parret 4, AMetesh 2, PMetesh 2, Grange 2
