Consolation round wrap-up

There’s a reason they call it the consolation round.

You get an opportunity to play more games, potentially advance to the next round of playoffs and keep the season going. 

So, for teams that advanced to the consolation finals of the Western 7B and 13C conference tournaments this past week, there is consolation indeed. 

For Eureka’s boys and girls, both of which won their consolation final, the prize is a number three seed in the Divisional playoffs, which begin this week in Butte (Western C and Hamilton, Western B). 

The Eureka boys won their consolation final 57-53 over St. Ignatius, while the Eureka girls clinched third place earlier Saturday with a win over Superior, 52-44. 

Lincoln’s boys beat Noxon 71-52 in the Western 13C consolation final, and Seeley-Swan downed Hot Springs’ girls 52-29. 

The good news for the teams who lost in the consolation round is that they too will be moving on to this weekend’s Divisional rounds. 

In the Eureka versus Superior girls consol final, the Lady Lions of Eureka clawed their way to an 11-6 win over the Lady Bobcats, then extended it to 26-15 at the halftime break. 

Superior rallied in the second half, outscoring Eureka 29-26 but they could not dig out of the hole they were in earlier in the game. Sophomore guard Josie Crabb scored 19 points to lead Superior, while Brynn Kossman had a game-high 22 points for the Lady Lions. 

The Eureka boys took on tourney host St. Ignatius for the 7B consolation title Saturday afternoon in a close game that began with the Bulldogs taking a 14-10 first quarter lead. 

Eureka battled back in the second quarter, giving them a 31-22 lead at the half.  The Lions outscored St. Ignatius 31-26 in the second half to seal the win and the number three seed from the 7B. 

Saturday evening, Hot Springs’ Lady Heat met up with Seeley-Swan, which erupted for a 16-4 lead over the Lady Heat after the first eight minutes of play.  Seeley led 35-14 at halftime, then upped their advantage to 48-22 entering the fourth quarter. 

Hot Springs outscored Seeley 7-4 in the final quarter, but it was not enough to overtake the Lady Blackhawks. 

Kara Christensen led Hot Springs with 11 points, the same total as Seeley’s Aubrey Matthew and Lacley Auchenbach. 

All of the consolation winners and fourth-place finishers made it to the Divisional rounds this weekend.