GREAT FALLS — The Eastern AA girls basketball semifinals are set after Round 1 at the CMR Fieldhouse. Great Falls High beat Senior 27-19 in the first game of the day and will advance to face No. 1-seed Billings West, which had a bye.
Butte rolled over Billings Skyview 66-38 and will face Great Falls CMR in the semifinals after the Rustlers knocked off Bozeman 34-25 to advance.
Capsules for each game below (Click the scores for video):
Great Falls High 27, Billings Senior 19
Erin Watt scored 17 points in a low-scoring affair to lift No. 4-seed Great Falls High over No. 5-seed Billings Senior 27-19 in the first round of the Eastern AA divisional tournament at Great Falls CMR.
Watt had nine of the 11 Bison points at halftime. Jorgie Hawthorne added seven points for GFH in the win. Ellie Ostermiller led the Broncs with five points. No other Senior player scored more than three points.
Great Falls High will advance to play East AA No. 1-seed Billings West on Friday at 3:30 p.m.
Allie Cleverly and Aspen Lovshin combined for 40 points in a 66-38 win over Billings Skyview at the Eastern AA divisional tournament.
The game was close in the opening four minutes before the Bulldogs quickly pulled away. A 6-4 Bulldog lead turned into a 19-5 advantage after the first quarter.
Cleverly led the Bulldogs with 21 points, while Lovshin added 19. Brittney Tierney scored nine points in the win. Makenna Carpenter pitched in seven. Kaitlyn Hansel led Skyview with 13 points off the bench.
Butte is now one win shy of a berth at the State AA tournament and will face Great Falls CMR in the East semifinals Friday at 6:30 p.m.
Great Falls CMR 34, Bozeman 25
Great Falls CMR won just its third game of the year, knocking off No. 3-seed Bozeman in the first round of the Eastern AA divisional tournament 34-25.
The Rustlers were led by Kiley Gunderson, who posted a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds in the win. Allie Olsen added eight points, five rebounds and three blocks on the night, providing solid interior defense.
CMR held Bozeman to just 10 total field goals on 40 shots. Maya Priebe led the Hawks with six points, while Ayla Embry and Ava Westphal each had five.
The No. 6-seed Rustlers advance to the East AA semifinals Friday against Butte at 6:30 p.m., while the Hawks head to loser-out play.
