State A girls: Coral Old Bull, Billings Central knock off Bigfork; Frenchtown captures first-ever Class A hardware

Four teams fought Saturday morning for the right to meet in an afternoon third-place game, while Bigfork and Billings Central rested and recharged following dramatic and hard-fought victories Friday night.

Billings Central 41, Bigfork 38 (championship)

Coral Old Bull, shoulder-to-shoulder in a semicircle with her teammates, didn’t know whether to cry or smile.

First the former, then the latter, Old Bull proudly showed off her newly-earned Class A state championship trophy to a throng of rowdy Rams fans with the gold-clad trophy stretched toward the heavens.

“During the game, we go through every feeling there is,” Old Bull said. “You’re scared, you’re nervous, and then as soon as that buzzer goes off, there’s no better feeling.”

Proudly donning jersey No. 52 to honor her late father, Elvis Old Bull, Coral supplied the biggest offensive rebound and lay-up of the Rams’ season late in the fourth, propelling Billings Central to a lead it wouldn’t relinquish.

A legendary, larger-than-life figure in Montana sports, Elvis passed away in a car accident 10 years ago, leaving behind a then-seven-year-old Coral.

Somewhere Saturday night, though, he was smiling as Coral held the Crow Tribe flag and sang the Crow victory song post game.

“I know my dad would’ve been so proud of me,” Coral said. “It hurts me that he’s not here with me today, but I know he has the best spot in the house.”

“I’m proud to say I can carry on his legacy with my number and the way I play…I’m proud to say I’m doing my best, but I know he’s probably really proud of me right now.”

Head Rams coach Jetton Ailes, who made certain Coral would sport her father’s number for the Rams, was near tears in the post game scrum, soaking in the mountaintop of a journey years in the making.

Thirty-six years after Elvis guided Lodge Grass to the first of three straight Class B titles, an Old Bull wearing No. 52 was on top again.

“She’s as special as they come,” Ailes said of Coral. “She’s undersized, she doesn’t quit and I’m just so glad she’s a Ram.”

“The Old Bull name is huge in Montana. She carries it with such grace. He’s got the biggest smile shining down on her right now. He guided her through it all.”

Billings Central’s first outright state championship since 2012, the climb was filled with setbacks.

First, COVID that denied the Rams a chance at solo glory in 2020, then consecutive title-game losses to Havre in 2021 and ‘22.

The Havre dragon was slayed Friday night and Bigfork history denied Saturday.

“When you’ve played in four of the last five [title games] and you’ve come up short, it doesn’t sit very well,” Ailes said. “These guys went back to work and they won it for all those that came up just a little bit short…

“This is for everybody that’s set foot in this program, that’s left a mark, and continued a legacy.”

Bigfork, on the cusp of winning consecutive state titles in different classifications, suffered its first loss since Dec. 8, snapping a 22-game win streak.

Ava Davey, a night removed from her semifinal heroics, missed a game-tying triple at the buzzer Saturday night, the Valkyries’ last gasp after Billings Central left the door cracked open with two missed free throws with 7.9 seconds left.

Davey paced Bigfork with 12 points, while the Gunlock sisters combined for 20, seven rebounds, four steals, and three assists.

“Kudos to Bigfork,” Old Bull said. “I think Class B is probably one of the most competitive of all the classes…

“If you have a Gunlock, you know what you’re gonna do, you know what you have to do…She played a really good game, regardless of our game plan, she still executed really well.”

Old Bull grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds, including six offensive, in the victory.

Kam Reinker supplied 12 points and seven rebounds, while Ryen Hadley added eight and Annika Stergar six.

“I couldn’t stop crying just a second ago,” Stergar said. “We’ve worked so hard for this second and this moment…

“It’s all paid off. I’m so proud of each and every one of us.”

With 94 ticks on the clock Saturday, and the Rams clinging to a one-point lead, a “Go Rams Go” chant echoed through the Butte Civic Center.

It was loud enough to crumble a half-decade of struggle and frustration.

“We’ve been saying, ‘it’s our turn, it’s our turn,’” Stergar said. “‘It’s time for the Central Rams to get the state title…’

“We’ve worked so hard for it. We deserve it.”

Frenchtown 48, Dillon 44 (OT) (third place)

No one on Frenchtown’s roster was alive when the Broncs last hoisted state tournament hardware.

That changed Saturday when Sadie Smith accepted a third-place plaque and faced her jubilant teammates with it raised above her head.

“I’m really proud to be a part of this team,” Smith said. “I’m really proud to be the one holding that up because I know all those girls behind me look up to us seniors…

“It just feels really great.”

Frenchtown last trophy’d some 25 years ago as a Class B team.

Nine years ago, in 2015, Frenchtown was within a victory of third, and just last season, the Broncs’ season ended a triumph short of consolation despite being the west’s top team.

An overtime loss on Thursday – in a game Frenchtown felt it should’ve won – nixed the Broncs’ hopes of a 2024 state title, but Mason Quinn, Smith, and company ran the gauntlet, winning three games in two days to make Class A program history.

Down by as many as seven points mid-way through the fourth quarter, Frenchtown took a 40-39 lead when Smith completed a three-point play with 85 ticks on the clock.

Quinn free throws made the Broncs’ advantage three with 13.7 seconds left in regulation, but a Sage Tash triple with 4.5 seconds remaining sent the game to overtime.

Quinn scored all six of Frenchtown’s extra-stanza points, including two free throws to ice the game with 10.3 seconds left, totaling 27 and 11 rebounds Saturday.

“Their resiliency has been tested and we knew we could bounce back, we knew we had to stick together,” Broncs head Tim Yeager said. “We knew if we felt sorry for ourselves we weren’t gonna win that basketball game…

“It sucks when someone ties it up like that, but we kinda collected ourselves in the huddle and hit some big shots down the stretch.”

Smith added 10 points and nine boards, while Heather Haskins chipped in seven points, two rebounds, and three steals.

Dillon senior Halle Fitzgerald, who will join Smith at Carroll College later this summer, paced the Beavers with 13 points.

Kenleigh Graham supplied nine points and 13 rebounds, while Kylie Konen chipped in eight and four boards.

Not the gold-clad plaque Frenchtown sought on Thursday, the Broncs’ third-place trophy will forever serve as a reminder of the 2024 team’s unprecedented success under the Class A’s brightest lights.

“I’m just so proud of this team and how far we’ve come,” Smith said. “I just know how many hours and days and months we’ve put in the weight room…

“After last season, losing to [Billings] Central [in the state tournament], we knew how much work we had to do because we wanted to come back and play tonight. I’m so proud of the girls working together.”

Frenchtown 41, Miles City 38 (loser out)

Mason Quinn (17) and Heather Haskins (13) combined for 30 points as the Broncs staved off a fourth-quarter Cowgirl comeback attempt.

Without a triple all game, Miles City junior Alli Glasscock knocked one down in the fourth, pulling the Cowgirls within a possession.

Quinn and Haskins free throws, though, were enough for the Broncs.

Glasscock and Ramsey Pryor paced Miles City – bounced from the winner’s bracket by an Ava Davey semifinal game-winner – with nine points each Saturday.

Jillian Kanduch and Sam Peila chipped in eight apiece for the Cowgirls.

Frenchtown senior Madi Kaufman added nine points in the victory.

Dillon 58, Havre 55 (loser out)

In a game with 13 lead changes, the Beavers overcame a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to advance to Saturday’s consolation game against Frenchtown.

Senior Sydney Petersen paced Dillon with 19 points and Kenleigh Graham (15) and Halle Fitzgerald (13) joined her in double figures. Junior Kylie Konen chipped in nine points, eight rebounds, six blocked shots, and two assists.

Havre, defeated by Billings Central in Friday’s semifinal, got 14 points apiece from sophomores Amaya Jarvis and Ariana Gary.

Junior Tierra Parker added 11 and four rebounds, while Emilee Chambliss contributed eight points and eight boards.

The Beavers and Broncs split two regular-season matchups (Jan. 6, Jan. 27) with the road team winning each contest.