BILLINGS — Baker and Big Timber notched quarterfinal wins on the first day of the Southern B girls basketball divisional tournament on Wednesday inside First Interstate Arena.
The Spartans and Sheepherders will get Thursday off before meeting in a semifinal matchup at 4:30 p.m. Friday.
To start the day Wednesday, Manhattan defeated Lodge Grass 43-41, which propelled the Tigers into a quarterfinal game against Shepherd at 11:30 a.m. Thursday.
Baker 65, Columbus 49
Baker's Madison O'Connor led all scorers with 30 points in Wednesday's 65-49 quarterfinal win over Columbus.
O'Connor hit 9 of 11 free throws and added 14 rebounds. Avery O'Connor and Hope Gonsioroski also added double-doubles for the Spartans. Avery O'Connor finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Gonsioroski added 10 and 10.
Aubrey Winter led Columbus with 18 points, followed by Miya Hamilton with 15.
Columbus will play Lodge Grass in a loser-out game at 4 p.m. Thursday.
Big Timber 48, Jefferson 46
In Thursday's second quarterfinal, Big Timber rallied from a nine-point deficit in the second half to edge Jefferson 48-46.
The Herders trailed 22-15 at halftime before staging a rally late in the third quarter with an 8-0 run. Laney Ketchum closed with a double-double for Big Timber, tallying 13 points and 14 rebounds. Myalyn Melo also scored 13.
Ryian Eveland turned in an outstanding effort for Jefferson with 25 points and 15 rebounds. Cameron Toney finished with nine points and nine rebounds. The Panthers fall to the loser-out bracket and will next play at 10:30 a.m. Friday.
See the video above for highlights from the quarterfinal games.
