If the Golden Bears thought they were going to walk away easily with their third state championship in eight years, they found out otherwise Saturday night.
Flathead cut a 22-point deficit to six points with just over two minutes left, providing a scare for the top-seeded team from the East before falling short in the Class AA boys basketball title game in Bozeman.
Danny Robison scored 19 points and Billings West (22-1) held on to win 61-48, snapping a streak of three straight runner-up finishes at the state tournament. The title is the Golden Bears’ first since 2008. The team has now played in seven of the last eight championship games.
For Flathead (13-11), the second-place finish is the program’s best since 2003. George Sherwood scored 12 points and Matt McLean had 11 for the Braves.
A night after defeating cross-town rival Glacier in an exciting semifinal, the Braves jumped out early on Billings West before stumbling offensively. The Braves trailed 33-19 at halftime and by as many as 22 points in the third quarter. Flathead battled back to within 50-44 with 2:36 remaining.
The Braves were vying for their first state championship since 1989. This was the Braves’ seventh runner-up finish in school history.
DJ Reinhardt scored 38 points and Missoula Sentinel (19-4) edged previously undefeated Bozeman (22-1) in overtime of the girls AA state championship, 66-60. The Lady Spartans earned their first state title since 1993 after finishing second last year.
Billings West 17 16 10 18 – 61
Flathead 10 9 9 20 – 48
BILLINGS WEST – Nathan Smith 2 5-8 9, Andrew Campbell 2 4-5 8, Brandon Mciver 1 6-8 9, Danny Robison 6 6-9 19, Brady Gustafson 2 1-3 5, Clay Compton 2 4-4 9, Pat Barnett 0 0-0 0, Stewart Harris 0 0-0 0, Josh Zeller 0 0-0 0, Nate Deming 0 0-0 0, Daniel Betcher 0 0-0 0, Jared Samuelson 1 0-0 2. Totals 16 26-37 61.
FLATHEAD – Matt Tokarz 2 0-0 4, Matt McLean 2 5-5 11, George Sherwood 6 0-2 12, Austin Jones 2 0-0 4, Shea Schroeder 1 1-2 3, Chris Cronk 1 0-1 2, Blaine Newman 0 0-0 0, Drew Crosby 0 0-0 0, Al Michael Olszewski 0 0-0 0, Nike James 0 0-0 0, Chandler Escalante 2 2-2 8, Garth West 2 0-0 4. Totals 18 8-12 48.
3-point goals – West 3-11 (Mciver 1-4, Robison 1-1, Compton 1-3), Flathead 4-16 (McLean 2-5, Escalante 2-2). Total fouls – West 15, Flathead 28. Fouled out – McLean. Rebounds – West 27 (Gustafson 8), Flathead 21 (James 5), Turnovers – West 16, Flathead 18.
Hellgate 50, Glacier 48
The Wolfpack let an early lead slip away in the fourth quarter and were eliminated from the state tournament by the Knights the morning after losing to Flathead in the semifinals.
Ryan Edwards and Logan Iverson each scored 13 points for Glacier (17-5) and Evan Epperly added 11.