SPORTS

Central A Girls: Lewistown turns back Browning

Scott Mansch
smansch@greatfallstribune.com

When Browning lost its star player to an injury, it made it tough.

When the Indians then lost their shooting touch it became impossible.

Junior guard Tara Olson scored 17 points as Lewistown defeated cold-shooting Browning 41-30 in a Central A girls' tournament semifinal game on Friday afternoon.

Olson hit two 3-pointers and scored eight straight points early in the second quarter as the Eagles took control and prevailed before about 3,000 fans at CMR Fieldhouse.

Lewistown advances to the Central A championship game Saturday night at 6:30 against top-seeded Havre.

Browning, which faces Belgrade on Saturday morning at 9:30 in loser-out play, played without star center Tiara Gilham. She averaged about 14 ppg and led the Central A in rebounding with an average of eight.

"She hurt her ankle last Saturday and we missed her," Browning coach Ray Augare said. "We needed kids to step up and fill her shoes and we just couldn't get that."

The Indians shot 0-for-20 from 3-point range and 12-for-64 from the field overall. Though the team's defense was pesky and produced many turnovers, the inaccurate shooting was too much to overcome.

Gilham's injury certainly didn't help.

"But you can't overlook them. They're still a good team," Lewistown coach Deena Wier said. "They really use their quickness to their advantage."

Browning led 11-7 entering the second quarter. Then the shooting touch was lost.

"You're not going to win many basketball games by not putting it in the hole," Augare said. "Our younger girls, the ones who haven't been here before, it showed."

Meanwhile, Lewistown's Olson was just getting warmed up. She drained a 3-pointer from the corner early in the second stanza, then on the Eagles' next possession scored again.

The next time down Olson drained a trey from the other corner and the Eagles were ahead to stay.

"Tara's a great shooter who works well on the baseline against that 2-3 zone," Wier said. "She hit some big shots when we needed them."

Lewistown finished the first half on an 18-4 run. The lead eventually reached double digits.

Browning's defense and some excellent work by Kaylea Skunkcap and Shelby St. Goddard helped the Indians close to within six early in the final stanza. But the rally soon ended.

So the Eagles are in the Central A championship. Lewistown hasn't been to the State A tournament since winning it all 2005.

"To see how far these kids have come is awesome. They deserve it," said Wier, a third-year head coach who starred for the Eagles herself in the mid-1990s. "They've never gotten down. They've always stayed positive and they truly deserve to be here."

Lewistown has two losses to Havre this season, including an overtime setback. The Blue Ponies won the conference regular-season championship.

"Havre's scrappy on defense and really good off the dribble," Wier said. "We're looking forward to the challenge."