BC plays Columbia Falls at 9 a.m.

HAMILTON — The Maroons will have to wait one more day for a chance to secure a spot in the Class A State tournament.

Ronan topped Butte Central 58-51 Friday night in the semifinals of the Western A Divisional boys’ basketball tournament on the Dale Berry Court.

Ronan, the No. 1 seed from the Northwestern A, advanced to face Dillon in Saturday’s 6 p.m. championship game. Dillon beat Frenchtown 55-41 in the earlier semifinal. (Bracket)

Central (16-4) heads to loser-out play, taking on Columbia Falls (15-5) in a 9 a.m. game on the Dale Berry Court. The winner clinches a berth in next week’s Class A State tournament in Great Falls. It also will take on the Browning or Frenchtown in the 3 p.m. third-place game.

The Indians and Broncs will play at 9 a.m. at Hamilton Middle School.

In the semifinal, Butte Central saw a comeback attempt fall short. The Maroons trailed by 14 points in the second half. They battled back to tie the game at 51, only to see the Chiefs (17-3) score the final seven points of the contest.

Matiya Nenemay scored 19 points to lead three Ronan players in double figures in the win.  Kolby Finley scored 16, and Jhett McDonald poured in 10.

Sophomore Jaxon Hiatt sank three 3-pointers and scored 17 points to lead the Maroons.

Junior Joshua Sutton added 13 points to tie Maroon great Marc Murphy for seventh place on the BC boys’ all-time scoring list at 1,015. He entered the game tied at 1,002 with Tom Kenney, Murphy’s teammate on BC’s 1984 state championship team.

Ryan Peoples and Noah Sutton each scored six points, and Cade Kelly tossed in three. Henly Mansanti, GG Fantini and Burkley Lakkala each scored two.

Columbia Falls beat Polson 65-41 in a loser-out game earlier Friday. The Maroons and Wildcats played in the second game of the season, with BC winning 60-52 at the Frenchtown tipoff tournament.

The top four teams from the divisional tournament move on to Great Falls.

BUTTE CENTRAL (16-4) — Ryan Peoples 2 2-2 6, Cade Kelly 1 1-2 3, Joshua Sutton 3 5-6 13, GG Fantini 1 0-2 2, Jaxon Hiatt 7 0-0 17, Noah Sutton 2 2-2 6, Burkley Lakkala 1 0-2 2, Henly Mansanti 1 0-1 2. Totals 18 10-17 51.
RONAN (17-3) — Matiya Nenemay7 4-7 19, Sioux Qualtier 1 1-2 4, Jhett McDonald 4 0-0 10, Kolby Finley 6 3-6 16, Tryance Matt 2 3-6 7, Will Normandeau 1 0-2 2, Devon Big Medicine 0 0-0 0, Ben Running Rabbit 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 11-23 58.
Central           15        9          16        11 — 51
Ronan             17        16        12        13 — 58
3-point goals — BC 5 (Hiatt 3, J. Sutton 2), Ronan 5 (McDonald 2, Nenemay, Qualtier, Finley). Fouls — BC 17, Ronan 19. Fouled out — Qualtier. Technicals — none.