KALISPELL — The Western AA divisional girls basketball tournament had the semifinal matches at Flathead High School on Friday. Here are the recaps along with highlights in the videos above:
Missoula Hellgate 46, Missoula Big Sky 37
The first semifinal of the day featured the No. 1 seed Hellgate taking on the No. 5 Big Sky. Big Sky closed out the first quarter up 10-9 over the Knights in a back and fourth contest and held that lead into the half where they were up 18-16 in low scoring first half.
The Knights outscored the Eagles in the third quarter 10 to 7 to take a 26-25 lead into the fourth quarter as the two teams battled back and fourth. Hellgate exploded in the fourth quarter with 20 points to Big Sky's 12 to comfortably close out the game with a 46-37 win and secure their spot in the championship game on Saturday.
Hellgate was led by Alex Covill who had half the team's points with 23 and added 15 rebounds for a double double. Big Sky was led by freshman Avory DeCoite who had 19.
Kalispell Flathead 45, Missoula Sentinel 42
The second semifinal of the day was the No. 2 seed Flathead taking on the No. 6 seed Sentinel in a battle that came down to the wire. Sentinel closed out a low scoring first quarter on top 8-6 and extended their lead going into the half, up 22-19.
Flathead exploded in the third quarter, outscoring the Spartans 15 to five, to take a 34-27 lead. The Spartans made it a one possession game late in the fourth quarter but Flathead was saved by late free throws that secured them a 45-42 win to survive the upset and advance to the championship game on Saturday.
Flathead was led by junior Kennedy Moore who scored over half the teams points with 25, and she also led the team in rebounds with eight. Sentinel was led by Emily McElmurry who finished the game with 16.
