Central girls edge Blue Devils to advance to Divisional tournament

CORVALLIS — Butte Central’s girls’ basketball team will be heading to the Western A Divisional tournament next Thursday in Whitefish.

The Maroons will hit the road with some momentum on their side, too.

Butte Central knocked off Corvallis 44-42 Saturday afternoon in a Western A play-in game. The victory came less than 48 hours after the Maroons beat Stevensville 59-13 in another play-in game at the Maroon Activities Center.

The win also avenged two regular-season losses BC suffered at hands of the Blue Devils. That includes a 34-34 decision a week ago at the MAC.

The Maroons battled back from a 19-9 deficit to take a quick lead before the Blue Devils took a 24-23 advantage into halftime. Central led 32-31 after three quarters, and the second half featured a handful of lead changes.

After Rylee Forbes hit one of two free throws to put the Maroons up two in the final seconds, Corvallsi’ Taryn Hochhalter got off a three-quarter shot that appeared to catch the rim at the buzzer.

Forbes, a sophomore, finished with a game-high 17 points to pace the Maroons in the huge victory. Zayonna Otherbull scored nine points, while fellow freshman Kenzie McQueary scored eight. BC also got six points — on a pair of threes — from freshman Braelynn Schelin and four from junior Arika Stajcar.

Hochhalter and Ella Varner each scored 14 to pace the Blue Devils. Ava Loran tossed in 11.

Central heads to Whitefish with a 7-3 record. The Blue Devils close the season at 7-12.

BUTTE CENTRAL (7-13) — Evyn Smith 0 0-0 0, Kenzie McQueary 2 4-6 8, Zayonna Otherbull 3 2-4 9, Rylee Forbes 6 5-6 17, Arika Stajcar 2 0-0 4, Braelynn Schelin 2 0-0 6, Jaedyn Maldonado 0 0-0 0. Total 15 11-16 44.
CORVALLIS (7-12) — Ava Loran 5 0-0 11, Ella Varner 4 1-5 14, Kate Allen 0 0-0 0, Autumn Benson 1 1-2 3, Kaia Benson 1 1-2 3, Shaylee Weidow 0 0-0 0, Taryn Hochhalter 6 2-3 14. Totals 17 4-10 42.
Central           9          14        9          12 — 44
Corvallis        17        7          7          11 — 42
3-poing goals — BC 3 (Schelin 2, Otherbull), Corvallis 4 (Varner 3, Loran).  Fouls — BC12, Corvallis 15. Fouled out — none. Technicals — none.