By Tiffany L. Rehbein
West Yellowstone just might start loathing the Hi-Line.
The Big Sandy Lady Pioneers overcame a 32-30 halftime deficit and defeated the Wolverines 69-53 in the first round of the State Class C tournament at the Adams Center in Missoula Thursday.
Senior Sasha Ritter sparked the Big Sandy offense in the second half, scoring all but six of her game-high 21 points in the half.
Suffocating Pioneer defense held the Wolverines to just eight third-quarter points.
Senior Tiffanie Jamieson came off the bench and nailed two 3-pointers in the third quarter for Big Sandy. Jamieson finished with three treys on the afternoon, good for 100 percent beyond the arc, and notched nine points in the contest.
Celeste Darlington, a junior, reached double figures with 13 points for Big Sandy.
The free throw line proved effective for the Pioneers, as they went 16-for-17 from the stripe.
Junior Eryn Darlington scored all six of her points from the free throw line.
Ritter joined Jamieson from the perimeter, going 2-for-3 from downtown.
The Pioneers shot 83 percent from 3-point land.
Kristi Upham, an aggresive perimeter player, tallied 12 points for the Pioneers in the effort.
Amy Silvan, a sophomore, went 4-for-4 from the free throw line and tallied eight points for Big Sandy.
Emily Smith led West Yellowstone with 20 points in the game.
Big Sandy extended its perfect record to 25-0 with the win.
But somebody will lose tonight as the Pioneers face the Reed Point Pirates, who are also 25-0.
The Pirates defeated the Nashua Porcupines 71-28 Thursday to advance.
Reed Point placed three players in double figures in the opening round, including Jamie Bainter who scored 11 points, Ariel Overstreet who had 16, and Jenny Langford who notched a game-high 24 points in the win.
Tipoff is slated for 6:30 p.m.
Big Sandy
12
18
15
24
--
69
West Yellowstone
18
14
08
13
--
53
Big Sandy (25-0)
Ritter 9-15 1-2 21, E. Darlington 0-4 6-6 6, Silvan 2-4 4-4 8, Upham 5-8 2-2 12, C. Darlington 5-9 3-3 13, Johnsrud 0-2 0-0 0, Jamieson 3-3 0-0 9, Bitz 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-46 16-17 69.
West Yellowstone (22-3)
Boren 4-10 0-0 8, Wittmer 5-11 0-0 14, Schmier 3-5 0-0 6, Purcell 1-2 0-0 2, Smith 7-13 6-7 20, Forsythe 1-4 0-3 3, Benes 0-1 0-0 0, Carey 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-47 6-10 53.
3-point goals--Big Sandy 5-6 (Jamieson 3-3, Ritter 2-3), West Yellowstone 5-20 (Wittmer 4-10, Forsythe 1-4). Fouled out--Smith. Total fouls--Big Sandy 11, West Yellowstone 17.
