MISSOULA — The Missoula Sentinel Spartans earned a crosstown basketball sweep over the Missoula Big Sky Eagles on Thursday evening.
The Spartan girls won 51-22 while the Sentinel boys held on late for a 74-68 victory.
In the girls game, sophomores CC Size and Olivia Huntsinger both led Sentinel with 10 points while seniors Jayden Salisbury and Challis Westwater each added eight. Westwater buried a 3-pointer that capped off an 11-0 start for Sentinel in the first quarter.
Salisbury used a 3-pointer of her own plus a steal and layup to end the second quarter as the Spartans led 30-10 at that point. Huntsinger also scored seven of her points during that frame.
Sentinel continued to pour it on in the third, as the Spartans held the Eagles below double-digit points in each quarter. Senior Aliyah Big Lake scored five straight points to close out the third quarter as the Spartans led 44-16 at that point.
Corbyn Sandau led Big Sky with six points. The Spartans snapped a two-game losing streak and improved to 3-2 while Big Sky fell to 0-5.
In the boys game, three players scored in double figures for Sentinel, led by senior Hayden Kolb with 16. Fellow seniors Alex Germer and Tony Frohlich-Fair added 15 and 12 points, respectively, as the Spartans improved to 5-0.
It didn't come without a challenge, though. Big Sky led 14-12 at the end of the first quarter after a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from senior Kade Olson. However, Sentinel responded in the second and third quarters and ballooned its lead to 60-38 heading into the final frame. The Eagles out-scored the Spartans 30-14 in the fourth quarter but ran out of time as the comeback fell short.
Olson led Big Sky with 20 points while junior Tre Reed scored 14 and senior Chaz LaDue added 11 for the Eagles (2-3).
