The Corvallis Blue Devils defeated the Lady Yellowjackets of Stevensville on Thursday, 67-48, in an inter valley game. After a close first half, the Blue Devils pulled away in the fourth quarter to seal the victory.

Stevensville pulled out to an early lead in the first quarter but the feisty Blue Devils came right back at the 'Jackets and pulled within three points. However Stevi freshman Maddie Jones sank a trey to keep the Yellowjacket momentum going. Another freshman, Alexa Omlid sank two free throws after a Kirstin Bull foul and the Lady 'Jackets were up by six at the end of the first quarter.

The Blue Devils came out strong in the second quarter with Whitney Henderson and Kelsey Lemon each hitting a basket to pull within one point of the lead. Megan

My ball. Stevensville's Sherry Walters and Corvallis' Megan Auch battle for the ball during the Corvallis/Stevensville game. Corvallis topped Stevi, 67-48. Jean Schurman photo.

Auch then went to work for the Blue Devils. She sank a trey to give the lead to Corvallis. Auch, who finished with 17 points, found her groove and was a threat the rest of the game.

"Megan's a great shooter," said Corvallis coach Scott Marsh. "When she gets her confidence, she's right on."

But the Lady Yellowjackets were not giving up even after Bull took the lead with a trey. Omlid again sank two free throws and then sank a three pointer from

beyond the arc to bring Stevensville back within three points at the half.

After the break, Sherry Walters of Stevensville sank a trey to tie the game at 30. But then it was Lemon who took control of the game, The petite player rebounded, scored and even stole the ball time and time again. She finished the game with 17 points as well. The Blue Devils played strong defense and capitalized

on turnovers by Stevensville.

"We shot really well," said Marsh. "We had a lot of trouble with the 1-3-1 trap but made the adjustments."

He went on to say he was pleased with how his team played without senior Sunni Bleibtrey who was in foul trouble and sat most of the second and third quarters.

Maddie Jones finished with 12 points for the Lady Yellow Jackets.

Corvallis 67, Stevensville 48

Corvallis - Kelsey Lemon 17, Sunni Bleibtrey 4, Kirstin Bull 5, Megan Auch 17, Casey Burnette 2, Kayla Gingerich 1, Whitney Henderson 13, Clarissa Boyer 8.

Stevensville - Sherry Walters 7, Allison Jones 8, Blaire Brookshire 11, Alexa Omlid 10, Maddie Jones 12.

Frenchtown defeated Stevensville, 45-30, on Saturday. Brookshire had 18 points for the Lady 'Jackets.

Dillon defeated Hamilton in a close game in Dillon on Saturday. The two teams combined for eight points in the first quarter but then Hamilton dropped 13 in the

second quarter. But Dillon came back in the second half and held off Hamilton, winning 44-40. Ashley Albert had 21 points for the Lady Broncs.

Victor fell to Darby, 50-46, in non conference action. Darby took the lead in the second quarter but Victor came back in the third. A 21 point fourth quarter by the Lady Tigers sealed the victory. Darby was led by Missy DeWalt's 16 points and 11 rebounds. Victor was led by Taylor Ruark and Liz Taylor, who each scored 13 points. Victor also lost to St. Regis and Arlee.

Florence picked up two wins over the weekend, topping Valley Christian and Darby in 7B action. The Lady Falcons defeated Valley Christian, 66-25, on Senior Night. Jordan Rick led the scoring for Florence with 12 points. Brooke Zeiler and Rae Baerlocher each added 10 more.

Florence topped Darby, 61-40, and finished in second place in the district. Kristina Kmetekova dropped in 12 points and Zeiler added 10 points.

Florence, as the number two seed in the conference, will have a first round bye. They will play the winner of the Deer Lodge/Darby game at 8 pm on Thursday. Florence has a record of 7-3 in conference and 13-5 overall. Darby is 4-14 overall.

Florence senior Damon Moe goes up for a basket as Darby's Wayland Savage tries to make the block. Florence's Reid Baerlocher and Darby's R.J. Hill look on and wait for the rebound. Jean Schurman photo.

Falcons clip Tigers

The Darby Tigers made the short journey to Florence for their final game of the season. After a close first half which had Florence up by one at the end of the first quarter and Darby up by one at the end of the half, the Falcons pulled away for a 62-53 win.

The Falcons came out fired up after the break and converted a defensive rebound into two points when Damon Moe broke loose for a long pass and a lay in.

Reid Baerlocher hit a long jumper next for the Falcons and Trevor Stoos finished the run with another short jumper. Darby's Dillon Oliver hit a bucket but the next trip down the court for the senior, he was called for a charge and Florence had the ball again.

Coach Clyde Trueax of Darby was pleased with his play, saying this was the only the fourth game of the season he's had the same line up. But, he was clearly frustrated with the amount of fouls and how they affected his team.

"They played good tonight," he said. "It's hard to get your kids to play up. We have to learn to adjust and my kids don't."

After Kyle Rider fouled out early in the third quarter, Darby took some time to regroup. Oliver kept the offense going but fouls and turnovers plagued the Tigers.

Florence's Moe was finishing his last home game in style, pulling down rebounds on both the offense and the defense and making shots. He finished his night with 16 points.

"It was a hard fought game," said Sam Baerlocher of Florence. "Darby's gotten better and we've gotten better."

Florence kept their lead and cruised to a 62-53 victory. With that win, Florence finished the season at 3-6 conference record and 6-11 overall. Darby's record is 1-9 in conference play and 3-13 overall. Florence will open the 7B tournament at 12:30 on

Wednesday afternoon when they play Valley Christian. Darby will play Deer Lodge at 6:30 Wednesday night.

Yellowjackets sting Broncs

The Yellowjackets scored early and often in a Southwestern A game on Saturday. Although Frenchtown took an early lead, the Yellowjackets soon found their

groove after Richie Brushia hit two quick shots. Another two shots by Nick Dahlquist plus a free throw and the 'Jackets were off and running to a 72-55

conference victory.

It was senior night for Stevensville which is always an emotional night. "It's really sad for Ryan Grove (who was injured prior to the season), said Keith Chambers, coach of the Yellowjackets.

"The kid that put in so much time and added so much to our program.

And there's a couple good kids in Nick (Dahlquist) and Logan (Creech). It goes by so fast."

But it wasn't an easy ride for the Yellowjackets. The Broncs kept within 10 points of the 'Jackets for most of the first three quarters. Then Stevi went to work. Ethan Pateman hit a couple of free throws and then Logan Creech hit a jumper. Two more free throws by Drew Zeiler and the race was on, for a bit. Frenchtown crept back into the game after Stevensville had 20 points on them but the ‘Jackets held on and rallied.

Richie Brushia came in off the bench to score 16 points for the 'Jackets and Ethan Pateman led all scorers with 18 points. Dahlquist finished his last home game with 15 points.

"I guess I was concerned about giving up a 22 point lead," said coach Keith Chambers of Stevensville. "And our decision making wasn't very smart. You'd think

after 16 games we'd have that figured out."

Although Frenchtown closed the gap to 11 points with a minute remaining, traveling and fouls put Stevensville up for good.

"I think our chances are pretty good," said Dahlquist. "We're improving as a team and not doing a lot of one on one stuff."

Stevensville played Hamilton on Tuesday night. The results of that game were not available at press time. Coach Chambers said that with rivalry games "you never

know. They keep coming at you so we'll have to stay focused for 32 minutes.”

Stevensville, Hamilton and Corvallis have one more week of regular season play.

Frenchtown - Valasquez 12, Block 4, Dahlberg 16, Kirk 5, Wilde 9, Beierle 6, Davis 2, Nau 1.

Stevensville - Drew Zeiler 4, Boone Chambers 6, Nick Dahlquist 15, Ethan Pateman 18, Logan Creech 9, Richie Brushia 16, Jeremy Rusnell 1, Mike Thorstad 3.

Corvallis defeated Darby in non conference play, 68-49, Dalton Sybrant had a break out night, scoring 22 points and pulling down 11 rebounds. Freshman Rodee Anderson added 20 points. Darby was led by Kyle Ryder who had 19 points and Dillon Oliver who had 18 points.

Darby fell to Victor, 67-46 on Thursday, 67-46. The Pirates led throughout the game. Mark Frye paced the Pirates with 17 points and Gatlin Lamb and Eric Taylor each contributed 12 points apiece. Dillon Oliver had 23 points for the Tigers.

Victor defeated St. Regis, 59-26, on Friday. All 12 players for the Pirates scored in the game. Frye again had the hot hand as he dropped in 26 points.

Victor traveled to Arlee for a make up game on Saturday. The Pirates pulled away in the second half to finish their regular season play with a 77-58 victory over the Warriors. Four Pirates scored in double figures. Taylor had 19, followed by Frye with 15, Lamb with 14 and Tyler Swanson with 11.

Victor, who finished their season as the regular season champions, have a record of 11-0 in conference play and 15-3 overall. They have a first round bye at the District 13C tournament this week at Loyola in Missoula. They will play the winner of the

Lincoln/Philipsburg game at 2:30 on Thursday afternoon.

The Hamilton Broncs came up against the No.1 team in the state and defending state champion Dillon Beavers on Saturday. After an evenly scored first quarter where the Broncs only trailed by one point, Dillon pulled away to a 75-27 win. Evan Green had 14 points for the Broncs.

Blue Devils finish fifth

The Corvallis Blue Devils finished fifth at the Class A Wrestling tournament held in Billings over the weekend. The Devils finished with 118.50 points. Class

A champion Havre wound up with 282 .50 points. Ronan was second with167.50, followed by Sidney with 164 and Frenchtown with 131.50. Hamilton finished in ninth

place with 92.50 points.

Levi Gingerich of Corvallis finished sixth at 98 pounds. He finished with a 3-2 record at State, losing to Zach Damby in the final round.

Steven Jessop of Corvallis finished in fifth place at 119. He topped Hamilton’s Troy Haake for fifth place. Haake had three wins before losing to Steven Jessop.

Corvallis' Taylor Allen finished fifth at 130. He defeated Gordan Gifford of Havre and Lucas Mears of Belgrade before falling to Cooley of Miles City. Allen defeated Logun Norris of Dillon in his final match.

Landon DellaSilva of Corvallis got a quick pin to open his tournament, pinning Lane Penrod of Miles City in just 47 seconds. He also defeated Pattison of Havre but then had to wrestle him in the finals and finished fourth.

The two top wrestlers at 145 have been battling each other for years. Alex Martin of Hamilton came into the tournament with the number one seed and he showed why

as he marched through his opponents one by one until the championship bout where he met up with Logan Torgison of Polson. The two battled to a 4-3 decision with Torgison coming out the winner. Martin pinned Ethan Albrecht of Laurel in 1:47 in his first match. He then took Cody Johnson of Havre down I 2:55. Martin pinned Luke Jesson of Livingston in 4:36 to advance to the championship where he met up with Torgison.

Andy Jessop, also at 145, won a 6-0 decision over Tate Olson of Glendive but came up against Torgison in his next match. After working his way through the consolation, Jessop defeated Malone of Lewistown to take fifth place.

Colton Weigle of Hamilton lost his first match to Ricky Luchau of Ronan but came back through the consolation rounds to finish in sixth place at 160.

Danny Gates breezed through his first three matches, taking down Lucas Puckett of Libby, Eric Simonton of Glendive, and Curtis Shandorf of Havre. Gates wrestled

Josh Moore of Sidney from Sidney for the championship at 171 pounds. Moore got the best of Gates with a 2:34 pin and Gates finished in second place.

Hamilton's Brady Anderson came into the tournament with a No. 1 seed at 189. He won his first two bouts but lost to Kelly Houle in the quarter finals. Anderson finished fourth after losing to Graham of Libby.

At 215, Dennis Jessop of Corvallis defeated Frank Swan of Ronan in his first match of the tournament. He then lost to Mike Barnaud of Havre in a close (8-6) decision. Dennis Jessop then defeated Pat Wood with a pin at 4:14. Jessop defeated Cody Rustrad of Anaconda and fell to Bryce Vigoren of Sidney. Jessop defeated Barnaud again for fifth place at 215.

Wes Sherman of Hamilton started his run for a championship in the heavyweight division with a victory over Cody Bartos of Columbia Falls. He pinned Bartos in just 48 seconds and moved on to Turner Daines of Billings Central. Sherman pinned in 3:56 and

advanced to the semi finals where he defeated Brandin Mills of Libby in a 9-3 decision. In the championship match, Sherman fell to Rider Warren of Havre and finished second.

Florence finished in the middle of the B/C pack with 46.5 points. Corbin Newbary took second at 105 pounds. At 189 pounds, Craig Ashworth took third for

the Falcons.

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