HELENA — Day two of the Western AA Divisional tournament was a tale of two completely separate games, but it was the Helena Capital Bruins and the Missoula Big Sky Eagles who proved victorious on Friday.
1W) Helena Capital 60, 5W) Helena High 44
In a crosstown battle to open the boys Western AA semi-final round, the top-seeded Helena Capital Bruins took down the Helena High Bengals, 60-44.
In the opening stages of the matchup, it appeared as if the Bruins number had been called as the Bengals jumped out to a 7-0 lead to open the game. The Bruins were able to reign in their offense and found themselves pulling away while holding the Bengals to just 6 points in the second quarter, giving Capital a 31-19 at the half.
Helena Capital saw three players tip double-digit points on Saturday afternoon with Hayden Opitz narrowly leading the charge with 14 points and six rebounds.
The Bruins defense held strong while the offense continued to keep the pressure offensively through the matchup holding steady to the end of 60-44.
Colter Petre was the leading point scorer for Helena High with 12 points.
3W) Missoula Big Sky 55, 2W) Missoula Hellgate 49
The Missoula Big Sky Eagles were able to pull off a win against the Missoula Hellgate Knights, 55-49, but it was no easy feat.
This may have been the most evenly matched game fans saw across day two of the tournament. Leading the Eagles was Caden Bateman, boasting 18 total points. For the Knights, their lead scorer was Dre Bowie with 11.
The teams were tied up at the half 26-26. By the third, the Eagles were able to pull away by a mere two points to ride their lead to a six-point win.
The Eagles will meet the Helena Capital Bruins in the Championship Saturday at 8 p.m.
