HELENA — On a Tuesday night where Brooke Ark put up nearly 40% of Helena High's points, the Bengals snagged a girls basketball victory at home over the Missoula Sentinel Spartans, 49-42.
At Helena Capital, the Bruins girls kept the Big Sky Eagles in check with a 47-14 win.
Ark opened the night with 9 of the Bengals' first 11 points from 3-point range to give the Bengals an 11-6 lead in the first quarter. The Spartans chipped away at the lead steadily through the first half and got the matchup to 22-21 through two frames. In the third quarter, the Spartans were able to flip that script and take their first lead of the night at 29-28 behind a six-point quarter by Challis Westwater. In the fourth quarter, the Bengals pieced it together and notched 21 points, 12 from 3-point range.
Ark finished the night with a game-high 19 points, 15 from beyond the arc. Kylie Lantz had 12 for the Bengals as well.
Westwater led the Spartans with 14 points on the night.
At Helena Capital, the Bruins held the Big Sky Eagles to four points or less in each quarter of the game en route to the win. Capital led nearly the entirety of the game, short of a tie early in the first quarter.
The Bruins out-rebounded the Eagles 45-25. More than half of the Bruins' rebounds were on the offensive glass, leading to 20 second-chance points for Capital.
Dani Bartsch helped lead the way with 14 points and six rebounds, while Keetyn Sayers provided 8 points for the Bruins off the bench.
The Helena Capital and Helena High girls will now swap opponents and head to Missoula for their second games of the week. The Bengals and the Eagles will lead it off with their matchup on Thursday at 7:15 p.m. in Missoula, the Bruins and the Eagles will cap off the week on Saturday at 4:15.
