Billings West girls hold off Bison

BILLINGS - Shayla Montague scored 19 points as unbeaten Billings West defeated Great Falls High 50-41 Friday night in an Eastern AA girls’ basketball game.

Morgan Evans had 12 points for the Bison, but no one else had more than nine.

“We just got off to a poor start,” said GFH coach Jerry Schmitz. “We looked out of sorts early. We’re just very inconsistent right now.”

West led by as many as 18 in the first half and by 31-18 at halftime. Great Falls High rallied to within 44-40 down the stretch but got no closer.

“The girls did a nice job of battling back and I was proud of them for that,” Schmitz said. “When you get down that far on the road it’s tough. We’ve got to improve offensively and we’ll keep working.”

Hannah Collins had nine for the Bison. Molly Schmitz and Dani Devlin each scored seven.

The Bison, 5-6 overall and 1-2 in league play, play at Bozeman on Saturday. West improved to 7-0 and 3-0.

Great Falls 5 13 17 6 — 41

West 12 19 11 8 — 50

Great Falls: Morgan Evans 12, Hannah Collins 9, Erin Hocker 4, Molly Schmitz 7, Dani Devlin 7, Jorgie Hawthorne 2.

West: Raquel Jimenez 11, Brianna Shirley 4, Kelly Thomas 2, Amreya Windy Boy 7, Taylor Kappel 5, Shayla Montague 19, Becca Smith 2.