Western B Divisional Basketball Wraps Up First Day of Play Today in Anaconda

The Western B Divisional Basketball Tournament was off and running by 8 a.m. this morning at Anaconda's Memorial Gym or, as locals and rivals famously call it, the "Snake Pit"! First up on the court; were the Loyola Lady Breakers, who beat the Lincoln County (Eureka) Lady Lions 70 to 34. By 9:45 a.m., the Lady Bluehawks (Thompson Falls) were on the court to dominate the Lady Falcons (Florence) 61 to 49. As the day went on, it was now the boys' turn. Close to noon, the Loyola Rams hammered away at Thompsons Falls 78 to 27, and not long after, Florence didn't back down in beating Eureka 74 to 66. By 3 p.m., the girls were back on the court with the Valkyries (Big Fork) taking names and kicking, you know what, against the Lady Wardens (Deer Lodge) 69 to 13. (continued...)

A little later in the day, Anaconda's home-court advantage turned bittersweet when the diligent, talented, and hardworking Lady Copperheads fell short against St. Ignatius in their first game of the tournament, 47 to 43. The Lady Heads will go on to play the Wardens Friday morning in Western B Divisional Basketball action with a statistically favorable chance of placing 3rd overall in the tournament. Later in the evening, as fans continued to come in droves to watch their hometown teams play, cheers and banters alike could be heard during the Big Fork Vikings basketball game against the Arlee Warriors, with Big Fork going on to secure the win 71 to 58. (More Western B Basketball below)

By 8:15 p.m. came the final match-up of the evening when the Copperheads boys' basketball team hashed it out with the St. Ignatius Bulldogs! It was an intense exchange on the court, as are most games, let alone tourney play! The Copperheads were up for most of the game, with the Bulldogs trailing close behind. The end result was a Copperhead Victory 69 to 66 due to a master 3-point shot by Anaconda's Billy Farmer with only seconds remaining. The game was action-packed with many 3-point shots, jump shots, rebounds, and more by Anaconda's River Hurley, Gabe Galle, Wade Dahood, Cael Mikalotos, Tanner Cromwell, Brody Galle, Tytan Cook, Shane Schalk, Treyton Patrick, Travis Dye, Cory Galle, and Riley Kriskovich. With the initial divisional contest under their belt, the Copperheads are determined to beat the Big Fork Vikings tomorrow (Feb. 24) at 8:15 p.m. in order to advance to Saturday's Western B Divisional Championship game! Good luck, players and fans!

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