BELGRADE (AP) - Jeff Larson scored 14 points, including two free throws with six seconds remaining, to seal Cut Bank's 54-50 win over defending champion Fairfield in the state Class B boys title game.
''I knew when that second free throw rattled in, we won the state championship,'' said Larson. ''They didn't have any timeouts left and all they could do was run out the clock. It was a great feeling.''
Fairfield (25-1) had beaten Cut Bank four previous times this season, including in the championship games of their district and divisional tournaments.
''We beat them in the game that counted,'' said Cut Bank coach Brian Kavanaugh, whose team won its second state title in three years.
Matt Stuart and Craig Smith added 11 points each for Cut Bank (23-4).
McKay Pearson led Fairfield with 15 points, including three 3-pointers, while Aaron Barnett added 11 points and Colin Luoma finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Kellan Palmer fouled out with 10 points on 3-of-12 shooting for the Eagles.
Fairfield shot just 35 percent from the field, compared with 44 percent for Cut Bank.
Fairfield's last lead was at the 5:57 mark of the second quarter, at 17-16, on a pair of free throws by Palmer.
Cut Bank's win gave the Northern B its 10th state title in 15 years.
In the consolation game, Mike Kirby had 17 points and 11 rebounds to lead Florence-Carlton to a 61-58 overtime victory over Three Forks.
Ryan Hansen added 16 points and seven rebounds for Florence-Carlton (23-4) which led 40-32 going into the fourth quarter.
David Kimm had 25 points and seven rebounds for Three Forks, which outscored Florence 19-11 in the fourth quarter. Kimm's 3-pointer at the buzzer sent the game into overtime tied at 51. Levi Ewan added 18 points for Three Forks.
Mark Ward finished with 14 points and Doug Ward with 10 points and seven assists for Florence-Carlton.
In the loser-out games, David Kimm had 20 points in Three Forks' 74-67 double-overtime victory over Whitehall (19-8). Mark Ward had 16 points to lead Florence-Carlton to a 65-41 win over Superior (17-10).
