RED LODGE -- The District 6C girls basketball championship is set. Harlowton-Ryegate and Bridger punched tickets to the Southern C divisional tournament next weekend in Laurel with semifinal victories on Friday in Red Lodge.
Harlowton-Ryegate 55, Plenty Coups 44
Harlowton-Ryegate jumped on Plenty Coups early, building a 16-3 lead right out of the gate. The Warriors, though, weathered the storm and trimmed the deficit to nine, 24-15, at halftime.
Plenty Coups had another run in the third quarter to trim the lead to as few as six points, but the Engineers found their footing late in the third quarter and held off the Warriors for a 55-44 win to advance to Saturday night's District 6C championship game and earn a berth at next weekend's Southern C divisional tournament.
Karli Lane led the Engineers with 20 points, making 13 of her 16 attempts from the free throw line. Teagan Oliva had 14 for Harlowton-Ryegate.
Bridger 50, Roberts 40
Bridger's Emily Adkins was a one-woman wrecking crew on Friday night.
Adkins poured in a game-high 33 points to go along with 14 rebounds to lead the Scouts to a 50-40 win over Roberts and advance to Saturday night's title game against Harlowton-Ryegate.
Adkins had 19 of her points in the first half as the Scouts built a 28-21 advantage. Bridger extended its lead to double digits in the third quarter and set itself on cruise control in the fourth quarter to seal the victory.
Harlowton-Ryegate defeated Bridger twice during the regular season to earn the conference's regular-season title. The Engineers will have to beat the Scouts a third time to be crowned District 6C champions.
