BOZEMAN — The State AA girls basketball tournament tipped off in Bozeman with eight teams vying to make to Saturday night's state title games.
While Billings West and Bozeman Gallatin came in as the favorites with identical 18-1 records, plenty of talented contenders have designs on state hardware.
Billings Skyview 51, Missoula Hellgate 43
In a rematch of the 2024 Class AA state title game, Billings Skyview topped Missoula Hellgate 51-43 to advance to Friday’s semifnals.
The game started slowly with the teams tied 5-5 after the first quarter and Skyview up 16-15 at halftime.
But offense would pick up in a game that remained tight throughout, featuring eight ties and 13 lead changes. No team led by more than four points until the fourth quarter when Kiki Lonebear hit several big shots en route to a game high 24 points and six rebounds. Lonebear also shot 9 of 16 from the field and 3 of 6 from beyond the arc.
"Kiki, we know even if she's missing early, there's a string coming, and there's a string of 3 or 4 big ones that are coming tonight,” said Skyview head coach Randy Chase. "I thought those threes late in that quarter were huge, and it kind of led us to that victory. We got the lead extended enough where we could slow down and run some clock."
Rae Smart also had a big game for the Falcons with 18 points and nine rebounds. Gianna Passuccio led the Knights with 15 points, while Elly Reed added 13 in the loss.
The Falcons went undefeated last year en rotue to their second state title in three seasons, but after losing two-time Gatorade player of the year Breanna Williams, expectations were lower this year on the way to a No. 3 seed at the state tournament.
But a tournament opening win has the Falcons headed to the semifinals for a fourth straight season, and a belief that the team can make a run.
“We're really motivated. We really harp on our defense because that's what won us a lot of games last year and this year,” Lonebear said. “Just working as a team, getting that stop and then finding the open person on offense, whether it's me hitting a shot, getting it to the post, or kicking it out. It's just a team thing.”
Billings Skyview will advance to face Billings West in Friday’s 6:30 p.m. semifinal, while Hellgate will face Helena High at 12 p.m.
Billings West 70, Helena 49
The No. 1-ranked Billings West Bears took their time to get going, but when they did they made it look easy in a 70-49 win over Helena High in the first round of the Class AA tournament.
West led from wire-to-wire but Helena kept it close until mid-way through the third quarter. After a 6-0 Bengal run cut the lead to 31-27, the Bears reeled off 17 straight points to push the lead to 21 points and put the game out of reach. Reagan Soucy and Reese Enderson each led the way with 19 points apiece in the win.
“I thought it was too close and knew we had to lock in,” said Soucy. “So when I was open and they were sagging off I said let me hit the 3, and when they stepped up on me I hit Reese and she used the mismatches to score.”
Brooklyn Pierce added eight points and 10 rebounds in the win to help West out-rebounded Helena 35-23. The Bears used 16 offensive rebounds to score 19 second-chance points.
Helena was paced by Madi Todorovich who scored 21 points in the loss. McKenna Pipinich added nine points and three steals.
When things start clicking for West, the Bears are among the most dangerous teams in the state.
"I think when you're in the zone, everything else kind of goes away,” Soucy said. "And it truly is just you and your teammates on the court, you don't even look at the jersey that you're playing against. It's just you and your teammates. And I love that.”
Billings West will move on to face crosstown rival Billings Skyview in the semifinals on Friday at 6:30 p.m., after claiming both regular season contests against the Falcons. The last game they played, a 65-56 game at Skyview, was very competitive.
“I think the last time we played them we let them hang around too long and didn’t show out true colors,” Enderson said. “But this time around we’re going to show them.”
Helena High will face Western AA opponent Missoula Hellgate in the consolation bracket at 12 p.m.
Bozeman Gallatin 59, Butte 41
With no divisional tournament this season, earning the No. 1 seed in Class AA meant an automatic bye to the state tournament and a 12-day lay off for the Bozeman Gallatin girls. And the Raptors showed a little bit of rust after a hot start, an inconsistent middle, and strong end to a 59-41 win over Butte.
Gallatin jumped on top 15-0 in the first quarter and led 27-16 at halftime. But Butte forced Gallatin into 14 turnovers and climbed back into the game, twice cutting the lead to seven in the third quarter.
But Gallatin boasts the top scorer in the state in junior guard Jada Davis, who recorded several clutch buckets in the fourth quarter en route to a 19-point, nine-rebound performance.
“We earned that game, it wasn’t given to us,” Davis said. “We fought hard and were only up by like 10 pretty much the whole game. So coach told us if we want to win state, we have to go one game at a time. It started tonight, then we have one game tomorrow and then we go from there.”
Makayla Coleman added 14 points, nine rebounds in the win with Ave Odegard contributing 10 points as well in the win. Cadence Graham led the Bulldogs with 11 points and was joined in double figures by Franki Salusso who scored 10 points.
Gallatin hadn’t played a game in 12 days which they said contributed to the lull in the middle of the game. But they scored 25 points off turnovers and out-rebounded Butte 38-27 including 16 on the offensive glass.
“Our team is extremely tough. We've got great experience. We've got great players. And they come together as a team when things get tough,” said Gallatin head coach Taylor Cummings. "And you saw that in the fourth quarter. We've been there before. We've experienced that before.”
Gallatin will advance to the semifinals to face Missoula Big Sky on Friday at 8 p.m. while Butte will face Bozeman High in the consolation bracket at 1:30 p.m.
Missoula Big Sky 46, Bozeman 24
Missoula Big Sky defeated Bozeman 46-24 in the first round and advances to the semifinals for the first time since 2012.
After a week off, the No. 1 seed out of the West came out with some rust — but luckily its defense held Bozeman to two points in the first quarter, six in the second and two in the third for a 27-10 lead entering the fourth.
Kadynce Couture led the Eagles with 11 points and seven rebounds in the win. Avory Decoite added seven points and Kyler Latrielle and Kenzi Schmitz scored six apiece.
Bozeman junior Nula Anderson led all scorers with 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting. But the rest of her team managed just 4 for 30 from the field.
The Eagles advance to face Gallatin in the semifinals Friday at 8 p.m. with a chance to advance to their first state championship game since 2008. Bozeman will move to the consolation bracket to face Butte at 1:30 p.m.
