Central A girls: Lewistown tops Livingston

For much of the season, Lewistown's Kyra Fleharty was an afterthought.

But Monday night in the biggest game of the year she was the main event.

Fleharty scored a career-high 23 points as Lewistown defeated Livingston 58-45 in a Central A girls' challenge game before about 500 fans at CMR Fieldhouse. The victory sends the Eagles to the State A tournament, which begins Thursday in Hamilton.

Junior guard Tara Olson drained four 3-pointers and scored 15 points, Fleharty went 9-for-14 from the field as the Eagles improved to 8-13 and earned their first State A trip in 10 years.

Fleharty averaged about 7-8 points off the bench for the Eagles this season. Her season's best was a 12-point effort.

So what happened this night?

"I don't know," Fleharty said with a grin. "I was just hitting my shots today."

With Olson accurate from the perimeter and Fleharty, a 5-foot-11 forward, rarely missing down deep, it was a lethal outside-inside combination for the Eagles.

"We had a good thing going there," said Fleharty.

Megan Schoenen scored 14 points and Meghan Gibson had 12 for Livingston, which led only twice in the game, at 8-6 and 10-8. The Rangers' deficit was just three midway through the third quarter.

But then Fleharty scored on the baseline. Carley Carpenter followed with a 3-pointer.

Fleharty scored six straight points to open the fourth quarter, including a pair of left-handed buckets when she attained great position on the blocks, and the Eagles cruised to the victory.

"She's a big strong girl," said Lewistown coach Deena Wier. "We were able to utilize our size against them. She just played a heckuva game."

Fleharty went 6-for-7 from the floor in the second half and scored 17 points.

She said it means an awful lot to the Lewistown girls' program.

"We've been working so hard for this the last couple of years," Fleharty said. "We're just ready to go and compete."

The 2005 Eagles were led by Sonja Rogers, who went on to star at Montana, and Alira Carpenter, who had a fine career at Montana State Billings. Carley Carpenter, who scored six points Monday night, was there as a little girl when her sister helped win the state championship.

And getting back to the Big Show?

"It's an amazing opportunity," said Carley.

Wier, a former star player herself at Lewistown, was gratified how her squad bounced back from the disappointment of an eight-point loss to Havre in the Central A championship game Saturday night.

"This is a great feeling," Wier said. "These kids deserve it."

The score was tied after eight minutes and Lewistown led 23-17 at halftime. Olson had 10 in the first half, while Schoenen scored 9 for the Rangers.

In the third quarter, Lexie Anderson hit a quick trey for the Eagles. Livingston eventually sliced the deficit to five, but then Fleharty got involved. She scored on a left-handed leaner inside. Then the next time down Olson canned one from 22.

Though Livingston hung in there for a time, an inability to deal with Fleharty down deep proved too much to overcome.

Scott Mansch can be reached at smansch@greatfallstribune.com. Follow him on Twitter @GFTrib_SMansch

Livingston…10 7 15 13 – 45

Lewistown…10 13 20 15 – 58

Livingston: Meghan Gibson 5-10 2-3 12, Sierra Higgs 3-9 4-6 11, Megan Schoenenn 5-13 1-6 14, Chelsea Woods 0-1 0-0 0, Hailey Peterson 0-1 0-0 0, Rachael Robbins 1-2 0-0 2, Mariel Kelly 0-3 0-0 0, Alyssa Bergsing 2-3 2-2 6. Totals: 16-43 9-13.

Lewistown: Jessica Kindzerski 0-3 1-2 1, Tara Olson 4-8 3-4 15, Carley Carpenter 1-3 3-5 6, Lexie Anderson 1-5 1-2 4, Paige Towne 0-2 0-0 0, Kyra Fleharty 9-14 5-7 23, Karlie Southworth 0-0 1-2 1, Jaree Mane 2-12 4-8 8. Totals: 17-47 18-30.

Fouls: Livingston 19, Lewistown 13. Fouled out: none. 3-pointers: Gibson 2, Higgs 1, Schoenen 1, Olson 4, Carpenter 1, Anderson 1.