RED LODGE -- The Huntley Project and Red Lodge boys basketball teams picked up semifinal wins at the District 4B tournament in Red Lodge on Friday to advance to Saturday's title game and clinch berths in the Southern B divisional tournament in Billings in two weeks.
Huntley Project 62, Roundup 41
The top-seeded Huntley Project Red Devils took care of fourth-seeded Roundup, 62-41, to advance to Saturday's championship game.
Roundup hung tough with Project for the first half, trailing by just five at the break, 25-20. Project ratcheted up the intensity in the third quarter, though, as the Red Devils built a 13-point lead heading into the final quarter.
Project shot a blistering 70.6 percent in the second half after shooting 38 percent in the first half. The Red Devils held Roundup to 29 percent shooting in the second half to pull away.
Isaiah Bouchard led Project with 16 points and nine rebounds. Freshman David Wohlfeil sparked the Red Devils with 13 points off the bench. Project will play Red Lodge in the championship game.
Red Lodge 74, Columbus 59
Third-seeded Red Lodge came out of the gates firing on Friday night, opening up a 15-point lead just minutes into the game. Columbus would cut the deficit to eight by the end of the quarter, but the Rams pushed it back to 12, 42-30, at halftime.
Columbus couldn't get the stops it needed in the third quarter, as Red Lodge grew its lead to 16, 59-43, entering the final quarter. Columbus would mount a rally, though, as the Cougars trimmed the deficit to just eight with 2:33 to play. Red Lodge promptly pushed it back to double digits to seal the deal,
Austin Heimer led the Rams with 22 points, Corby Mann had 17 and Jay Jetmore finished with 16, while Colby Martinez led Columbus with 13. Red Lodge will play Huntley project in Saturday's championship, while Columbus falls to loser-out action on Saturday morning where the Cougars will play Shepherd at 10:45 a.m.
