BOZEMAN — It's semifinal Friday at the Class AA boys basketball state tournament inside Worthington Arena. Billings Skyview (15-5) and Helena (16-4) squared off first, followed by Billings West (16-4) and Bozeman Gallatin (15-6) for spots in Saturday's championship game.
Billings Skyview 52, Helena 48
When Zakai Owens emerged from the locker room following Billings Skyview’s 52-48 semifinal victory over Helena, he looked at his coach James Bulluck, gave a sigh of relief and exchanged a knowing glance.
After missing the state tournament entirely in 2024, making a statement in 2025 was always the plan.
"Bro. I can't get the smile off my face. Being able to play with my boys and just having the chemistry that we have, knowing that we can do what we want to do,” Owens said. "Our goal all year was to get that state title, and that's what we get to play for tomorrow. So that's all we want.”
In a game that was tight throughout, Skyview led from wire to wire but had to withstand several spirited rallies from the West No. 1 seed Bengals. Skyview led by five with 1:00 left, but an Eli Peterson 3-pointer cut the lead to one with 17 seconds left.
The Falcons hit several clutch free throws down the stretch to ice the game, but defense led the way in this victory. Skyview held Helena’s top two players, Jaxan Lieberg and Tevin Wetzel, to just eight points apiece on 6-of-25 combined shooting.
"Those are two tremendous basketball players. And so we had a game plan. If Wetzel didn't have the ball, we weren't going to let him get it back. And if he did, we were going to pressure, pressure,” said Skyview head coach James Bulluck. “And with Lieberg, I mean, he can just do almost anything on the floor. And Zakai made life difficult, right? It's hard to just always contain guys, but you can make life difficult. And I think that's what we did tonight.”
After a quiet three points in the quarterfinals, Owens led the Falcons offensively with 16 points and five rebounds. Willes Frederick scored eight points, while Camble Bjornstad and Tayshaun Williams each recorded seven points and four steals.
Mase Spaulding led the Bengals with 10 points in the loss.
Coach Bulluck graduated from Skyview 20 years ago but never made a state tournament, so to be playing for a state title in year three as a coach is a special feeling.
"You know, when I took over they were just young pups. And so for them to just keep growing up and buying into what we were talking about and buying into defense and playing hard nosed,” Bulluck said. "I'm hard on them because our expectations are high and they know that, and they bought in and it’s appreciated.”
The Falcons will face the the winner of the other semifinal between Billings West and Bozeman Gallatin in the Class AA state championship game on Saturday at 6:30 p.m.
Billings West 40, Bozeman Gallatin 35
The Billings West Bears knocked off defending champion Bozeman Gallatin 40-35 in the Class AA semifinals to advance to Saturday’s title game against crosstown rival Billings Skyview.
In a slugfest of a game that was tied 16-16 at halftime, the Bears used a 14-8 fourth quarter to put away the Raptors after a contest that featured seven ties and six lead changes.
“We've talked about it all year. We've been a second-half team. We feel if that game is within five points of halftime, even if we're down five, we feel like it's a win,” said head coach Kelly Darragh. "We just don't think anybody's got the depth that we have. We can play a lot of guys and these kids want to win. They just worked their butt off.”
That depth was on display with eight players playing 13 or more minutes and a balanced scoring effort led by Shaydon Randall with 10 points. Cash Rice added eight points, while Cohen Groener and Ben Erbacher contributed six apiece in the winning effort.
Bobby Gutzman led the Raptors with 10 points, with Kale Fasting adding eight in the losing effort. Neither team shot the ball particularly well from distance, combining for just 3-of-26 shooting from beyond the arc.
But West made the plays needed to pull out the win down the stretch.
“Defense was the key mainly,” Randall said. “We were going way too fast offensively and it caused a lot of turnovers, and in a big game, it’s hard to slow down. So we used defense to stop the ball and get some fast break buckets that helped us win the game.”
A trip to the title game has been a long time coming for the Bears. They finished runner-up in 2023, and earned the No. 1 seed in 2024 before falling in the first round and finishing third. A championship on Saturday would give West it’s first title since 2012.
“It’s been a while,” Randall said. “But we’re coming for it tomorrow.”
And it can’t get much better than a crosstown title game.
“We won’t have to prepare too much,” Darragh said. “These kids have been playing against each other since they were 3 years old. It will be a fun one."
