Class AA girls take first place in HIT tournament

The 35th HIT girls basketball tournament made its return to Havre with several games at the Armory Gymnasium on the Montana State University-Northern campus. The best high school girls players in the state of Montana competed against one another through the weekend. The tournament culminated on Saturday night with the Class AA team defeating the Class C team, 64-50, in the tournament championship game.

"It's exciting," Class AA and Bozeman High head coach Taylor Cummings said about winning the tournament. "It was exciting to get this team up here. Just a very talented team that got the job done and me being a Class C kid (from Belt) and beating Class C and my old coach makes it fun too."

Breanna Williams from Billings Skyview led the Class AA team with 15 points in the title game. With her performance over the weekend, Williams was named to the all-star team and the MVP of the tournament. Other Class AA players on the all-star team for the tournament include Taylee Chirrick from Billings West and Kadynce Couture from Missoula Big Sky.

In the loss, Teagan Erickson from Saco-Whitewater-Hinsdale led the Class C team with 14 points. She also earned all-star honors for the weekend as well as Melstone's Draya Wacker, Box Elder's Kyla Momberg and Roy-Winifred's Madeline Heggem.

Earlier Saturday afternoon, the Class B team defeated the Class A team, 103-83, in the consolation game. Braeden Gunlock from Big Fork led the Class B team with 20 points in the game. From the Class B, Taya Trottier from Harlem and Emily Cooley from Big Timber made the all-star team.

In the loss, Havre's Yelena Miller led the Class A team with 20 points. From the Class A, Laurel's Alyse Aby and Hamilton's Layne Kearns made the all-star team for the tournament.

The tournament had a round robin format with games from Thursday night through Saturday morning to determine the teams in the consolation and championship games. The Class AA team made it to the title game with a 2-1 record in the tournament with wins over the Class A and Class C teams and with a loss to the Class B team.

The Class C team made it to the title game with a 2-1 record in the tournament. The Class C team defeated the Class A team and the Class B team but lost to the Class AA team. The Class A and Class B teams had to play in the consolation game as they both went 1-2 in the tournament. The Class A team defeated the Class B team but lost to the Class AA and Class C teams. The Class B team defeated the Class AA team but lost to the Class A and Class C teams.

Many players had strong weekends and demonstrated their abilities. Along with winning the MVP, Williams finished the weekend as the leading scorer and the leading rebounder of the tournament. Tailey Harris from Lockwood finished the tournament as the assist leader.

Some players won awards for their performances in the tournament. Rachel Van Blaricom from Jefferson won the Miss Hustle award for her play in the tournament and Keke Davis from Missoula Hellgate won the Miss Defense award. In the 3-point shooting contest Friday night, Bailey Finn from Big Timber walked away as the winner of the contest.

As a former player for the MSU-N women's basketball team, returning to the Armory Gymnasium was a great experience for Cummings. But over the weekend, she mostly just enjoyed seeing the best of the best in Montana compete against one another.

"I think that the competition here this weekend was incredible. It was fun seeing the best kids from all around the state competing against each other," Cummings said. "Just the camaraderie of getting kids from different schools together, it's a cool environment to be in."

Thursday:

Class C 71, Class A 69

C - 8 15 17 26 5 - 71

A - 23 17 7 19 3 - 69

C - Teagan Erickson 15, Kyla Momberg 12, Jaycee Erickson 9, Draya Wacker 9, Isabelle Heggem 6, Liv Wangerin 5, Lindsey Pauslon 4, Madeline Heggem 4, Railey Gliko 4, Elizabeth Field 3.

A - Tailey Harris 13, Yelena Miller 13, Alyse Aby 12, Sadie Smith 9, Jade Wendland 9, Mecca Bullchild 6, Layne Kearns 5Avery Carlson 4, Ava Bellach 3.

Friday:

Class AA 83, Class A 70

AA - 28 20 11 24 - 83

A - 14 16 20 20 - 70

AA - Breanna Williams 16, Keke Davis 16, Bailee Sayler 13, Taylee Chirrick 12, Cami Harris 9, Kadynce Couture 5, Avery Walker 5, Layla Baumann 3, Emily Williams 2, Shaina Gardipee 2.

A - Alyse Aby 19, Yelena Miller 11, Tailey Harris 8, Ava Bellach 8, Layne Kearns 8, Mecca Bullchild 7, Sadie Smith 6, Avery Carlson 3.

Class C 72, Class B 70

B - 14 16 16 24 - 70

C - 16 18 16 22 - 72

B - Bailey Finn 15, Taya Trottier 12, Paige Lofing 8, Canzas Hidbadhorse 7, Allison Kunze 7, Makena Patrick 7, Brynna Wolfe 4, Rachel Van Blaricom 4, Emily Cooley 4, Braeden Gunlock 2.

C - Draya Wacker 22, Kyla Momberg 14, Liv Wangerin 11, Lindsey Paulson 8, Isabelle Heggem 5, Jaycee Erickson 4, Madeline Heggem 4, Teagan Erickson 3.

Class A 80, Class B 74

B - 21 18 27 8 - 74

A - 23 13 20 24 - 80

B - Taya Trottier 16, Emily Cooley 11, Paige Lofing 10, Brynna Wolfe 8, Rachel Van Blaricom 7, Allison Kunze 6, Bailey Finn 5, Braeden Gunlock 4, Canzas Hidbadhorse 4, Makena Patrick 3.

A - Layne Kearns 20, Tailey Harris 12, Mecca Bullchild 12, Ava Bellach 11, Alyse Aby 10, Yelena Miller 7, Avery Carlson 5, Sadie Smith 3.

Class AA 63, Class C 49

C - 16 8 12 13 - 49

AA - 16 17 11 19 -63

C - Lindsey Paulson 10, Kyla Momberg 10, Elizabeth Field 8, Draya Wacker 5, Liv Wangerin 4, Jaycee Erickson 4, Madeline Heggem 4, Teagan Erickson 3, Isabelle Heggem 1.

AA - Breanna Williams 14, Keke Davis 10, Taylee Chirrick 9, Cami Harris 7, Layla Baumann 7, Kadynce Couture 7, Bailee Sayler 7, Avery Walker 2, Shaina Gardipee 1.

Saturday:

Class B 82, Class AA 70

AA - 20 12 21 17 - 70

B - 15 29 21 17 - 82

AA - Breanna Williams 18, Keke Davis 10, Taylee Chirrick 10, Kadynce Courture 10, Cami Harris 9, Emily Williams 4, Layla Baumann 4, Shaina Gardipee 3, Bailee Sayler 2.

B - Rachel Van Blaricom 21, Taya Trottier 17, Allison Kunze 11, Braeden Gunlock 8, Brynna Wolfe 5, Paige Lofing 5, Canzas Hidbadhorse 5, Makena Patrick 4, Emily Cooley 4, Bailey Finn 2.

Class B 103, Class A 83, Consolation

B - 24 27 30 22 - 103

A - 18 26 30 9 - 83

B - Braeden Gunlock 20, Taya Trottier 19, Canzas Hidbadhorse 17, Paige Lofing 11, Emily Cooley 10, Allison Kunze 9, Rachel Van Blaricom 9, Makena Patrick 4, Brynna Wolfe 4.

A - Yelena Miller 20, Alyse Aby 15, Tailey Harris 13, Layne Kearns 12, Ava Bellach 8, Mecca Bullchild 8, Sadie Smith 5, Avery Carlson 2.

Class AA 64, Class C 50, Championship

AA - 13 17 15 19 - 64

C - 15 16 8 11 - 50

AA - Breanna Williams 15, Taylee Chirrick 13, Cami Harris 11, Kadynce Couture 10, Keke Davis 7, Bailee Sayler 5, Emily Williams 2, Avery Walker 1.

C - Teagan Erickson 14, Kyla Momberg 8, Liv Wangerin 7, Isabelle Heggem 6, Jaycee Erickson 5, Madeline Heggem 4, Lindsey Paulson 3, Draya Wacker 3.