GREAT FALLS — Ronan’s season ended in heartbreaking fashion, as Butte Central’s Joshua Sutton converted an and-one opportunity with two seconds remaining in the Maroons’ 55-52 win Friday morning at Four Seasons Arena.
“It’s hard to look back and be proud of it right now because of how the season ended, but overall the season was a success,” said Ronan coach George Sherwood, whose club went 0-2 at the State A tournament.
Visit rocore.sbs for more information.
Glendive beat Miles City 50-44 in Friday’s other loser-out. Billings Central and Dillon made it out of the semifinals and will meet for the State A championship Saturday night.
Butte Central 55, Ronan 54
Ronan was again led by Kolby Finley, who saw a triple-double in his final game as a Chief with 11 points, 10 assists, and 13 rebounds.
“Finley, in my opinion — and I’ve been in Ronan five years — is the greatest player I’ve seen wear a Ronan jersey,” Sherwood said.
For Butte Central, Ryan Peoples scored a game-high 23 points, Sutton added 12, and Jaxon Hiatt swished two triples.
Siouxprixm Qualtier scored 15 of his 17 points in the first half and the Chiefs led 27-20 at halftime, but the second half turned into a slugfest after the Maroons opened the third period with four different scorers contributing to a 10-2 run.
Peoples gave the Maroons a 41-40 lead with 5:36 to play in the fourth after scoring five straight points.
Finley found a triple and layup to tie the game at 52 with 12 seconds remaining, but Sutton took the ball coast-to-coast and finished a contested layup.
Ronan finished the year with several program milestones, including its first conference championship in 26 years, back-to-back state tournament appearances, a divisional title game appearance and 17 wins this season.
The run is more impressive considering the Chiefs graduated eight seniors last season.
“I think everyone outside of our coaching staff probably didn’t expect a season like this,” Sherwood said. “This group loved each other. They were a bunch of good kids who played with their hearts on their sleeves and left everything out on the court.”
Including Finley.
“Even with the triple-double tonight, what he does goes way beyond statistics,” Sherwood said. “He’s someone who means a lot to this program — showing up early, staying late, getting shots up and leading the right way.”
Ronan had seven seniors this season, three of which played big minutes.
“It’s going to take a group of guys stepping up to replace,” Sherwood said. “We’ve got a solid group of juniors coming back that have seen what it takes to get here, so we’ve got a big offseason ahead.”
Ronan 11 16 13 12 - 52
Butte Central 13 7 16 19 - 55
RONAN — Matiya Nenemay 4 3-6 11, Siouxprixm Qualtier 7 1-1 17, Jhett McDonald 5 0-0 10, Kolby Finley 6 1-1 14, Tryance Matt 0 0-0 0, Ben Running Rabbit 0 0-0 0, Will Normandeau 0 0-0 0, Jordan Messerly 0 0-0 0, Oliver Rowe 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 5-9 52.
BUTTE CENTRAL — Noah Sutton 2 0-0 4, Ryan Peoples 10 2-8 23, Cade Kelly 2 0-0 5, Joshua Sutton 5 1-1 12, GG Fantini 2 1-2 5, Jaxon Hiatt 2 0-0 6.Totals 28 4-11 55.
3-point goals — Ronan 3 (Qualtier, Finley), Butte Central 5 (Hiatt 2, J. Sutton, Peoples, Kelly). Fouls — Ronan 13, Butte Central 13.
Glendive 50, Miles City 44
On his birthday, Ethan Rivas swished three triples, scoring 21 points to lead Glendive past Miles City in Friday’s other oser-out.
Isaac Eaton added 13 points and Cy Easton added 10 for the Red Devils.
Rylin Gentry led the Cowboys with 17 points and 6 rebounds.
Eaton made a 3-pointer at the third-quarter buzzer to give Glendive a 50-44 lead to start the final period.
Glendive 5 15 12 18 - 50
Miles City 13 7 6 18 - 44
GLENDIVE — Jackson Tipton 1 2-3 4, Logan Stanhope 0 0-0 0, Jace Desaye 0 0-0 0, Ethan Rivas 6 6-8 21, Isaac Eaton 5 0-0 13, Thayden Hatfield 2 0-0 2, Cy Easton 4 2-4 10. Totals 2 10-15 50.
MILES CITY — Kordt Smith 2 0-1 4, Rylin Gentry 7 0-0 17, Kolter Hoff 0 0-0 0, Braden Schneidt 2 0-0 4, Lute Vann 2 0-0 6, Cooper Nansel 3 1-2 7, Bridger Muri 3 0-0 6. Totals 24 1-5 44.
3-point goals — Glendive 6 (Rivas 3, Eaton 3), Miles City 5 (Gentry 3, Vann 2). Fouls — Glendive 12, Miles City 15. Fouled out — Hatfield.
Billings Central 61, Lockwood 38
Howie Martin scored 14 points and Gunnar Larson added 11 for the Rams, who beat Dillon in the 2021 championship game.
Lockwood’s Zicciah Callison-Blake had a team-high 14 points and swished all three of the Lions’ triples.
The Rams (20-2) held the Lions (21-3) to 12 points in the first half by forcing five turnovers and outrebounding Lockwood 21-9.
Billings Central 12 20 18 11 - 61
Lockwood 6 6 15 11 - 38
BILLINGS CENTRAL — Brendan Barz 0 0-0 0, Howie Martin 6 2-2 14, Cy Hansen 4 0-0 9, Matthew Hermanson 0 0-0 0, Praxton Prill 0 1-2 1, Grady Heaney 3 0-0 6, Darcy Merchant 3 3-3 9, Gunnar Larsen 3 3-4 11, Ethan Stergar 0 0-0 0, Toby Stewart 4 0-0 9, Will Snell 1 0-0 2. Totals 28 9-11 61.
LOCKWOOD — Zicciah Callison-Blake 4 3-4 14, Tucker Keller 0 4-4 4, Dylan Miller 0 0-0 0, Kobe Blake 1 2-4 4, Isaiah Greer 3 0-2 6, Gabe Ronquillo 3 0-0 6, Nate Davis 0 1-2 1, Raider Kalfell 1 1-2 3. Totals 15 11-18 38.
3-point goals — Billings Central 4 (Larsen 2, Hansen, Stewart), Lockwood 3 (Callison-Blake 3). Fouls — Billings Central 15, Lockwood 13.
Dillon 56, Frenchtown 50
Dillon’s Cohen Hartmen made three triples in the fourth quarter to lead the Beavers to their fourth straight state championship appearance.
Hartmen scored19 and Aason Munday added 16 points and eight rebounds for Dillon (17-6).
Hank Smith led Frenchtown (18-6) with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Henry Griffin and Cooper Michaud scored 15 apiece.
Dillon 13 17 3 23 - 56
Frenchtown 11 10 11 19 - 50
DILLON — Canin Christiansen 2 1-4 6, Braxtyn Turney 1 3-6 5, Noah Feenstra 1 0-0 3, Cohen Hartmen 6 3-5 19, Will Hansen 3 1-3 7, Paxton Puyear 0 0-0 , Aason Munday 5 6-9 16, Gage Curnow 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 14-27 56.
FRENCHTOWN — Trevor Smith 0 0-0 0, Cooper Michaud 4 2-2 13, Konnor Klimpel 0 0-0 0, Brooks Day 0 1-2 1, Hendrix Wayne 0 0-0 0, Cole Pfahler 1 2-4 5, Brayden Ricci 1 0-0 2, Hank Smith 7 1-2 16, Henry Griffin 5 1-2 13. Totals 25 7-14 50.
3-point goals — Dillon 6 (Hartmen 4, Christiansen, Feenstra), Frenchtown 7 (Michaud 3, Griffin 2, Pfahler, H.Smith ). Fouls — Dillon 12, Frenchtown 18.