BILLINGS — Last year, Red Lodge's boys snapped a 38-year state tournament drought.
The Rams have now made it back-to-back state berths, thanks to a 62-41 semifinal victory over Manhattan on Friday at the always-entertaining Southern B boys tournament at First Interstate Arena.
With the win, Red Lodge also advanced to Saturday night's divisional championship game where it will face Lodge Grass.
The Indians punched their ticket to state — and into the title game — with a 56-51 victory over Columbus in Friday's other semifinal.
Red Lodge 62, Manhattan 41
The Rams started hot, jumping out to a 12-point first-quarter lead before Manhattan made its first field goal. At halftime, Red Lodge held a 20-point advantage, 37-17.
Thomas Buchanan had 10 of his game-high 17 points in the first half, which included a pair of 3-pointers. Defensively, the Rams forced Manhattan into 14 first-half turnovers and 20 for the game.
Owen Reynolds scored 11 points for Red Lodge while Walker Boos and Nic Morean each had 10. Calvin Garmann grabbed 10 rebounds and Buchanan pulled down eight.
Sam Stewart had 16 points and 11 rebounds for Manhattan, which will play Jefferson in a loser-out game Saturday morning. Callin Fenno added 12 points and nine boards.
Lodge Grass 56, Columbus 51
In an evenly played contest, Lodge Grass withstood a 32-point, nine-rebound effort from Columbus 6-foot-9 post Hayden Steffenson to advance to the title game.
Lance Little Nest and J.J. Bends countered Steffenson with 14 points apiece, and the Indians also got 11 points from Adriano Hugs in the win.
Lodge Grass flustered Steffenson into just three field goal attempts in the first half and held a 24-19 lead at intermission. Steffenson made 9 of 11 shots in the second half but the teams matched each other with 32 points each in the third and fourth quarters.
Columbus, which will take on Lame Deer on Saturday in loser-out action, also got 12 points from Mason Meier
Friday loser-out scores
Lame Deer 65, St. Labre 62
Jefferson 50, Three Forks 48
