State B boys: Missoula Loyola nabs historical championship, Bigfork finishes third in final Class B tournament

GREAT FALLS — Fire up the grill, grab a tackle box and rev up the ATVs.

That’s how Missoula Loyola, the 2023 Class B state champion, plans on celebrating its first state title in school history.

A party fit for an institution that, since its inception in 1873, had been kept without a boys basketball championship trophy until Saturday night.

“We’re going to have a barbecue at my house,” head coach Scott Anderson said. “A bunch of 4-wheelers, we’re going fishing, what we’ve done the past couple of years … just talk and take pictures and let it sink in a little bit.”

“I don’t even know if they know they just won a title.”

From the Four Seasons Arena in Great Falls, the Rams secured a 65-55 win over Malta that put them on top of the basketball world until at least next season. That’s if they don’t just do it all over again.

There’s a chance that this could be the start of a special run for Sacred Heart.

Its top two scorers, Reynolds Johnston and Ethan Stack, are sophomores. Its prolific three-point shooter, Noah Haffey, is a junior. Glue guys like Jack Clevenger (sophomore), Declan Harrington (sophomore) and Talen Reynolds (junior), will all be back too.

“What a bunch of kids,” Anderson said. “Half of them don’t drive yet.”

After 24 years of being Loyola’s head coach without ever reaching a title game, Anderson could be in for the string of success everyone thinks he deserves.

“It’s the best thing ever, I can’t put it into words,” senior point guard Raef Konzen said of winning Anderson his first title. “It means so much to me. I couldn’t imagine any other coach. I don’t want it any different.”

“He’s been coaching so long without getting one,” added Johnston. “He coached my siblings, he coached most of our coaches and coached against one of our coaches at Florence … I’d do anything for him, he’s a great coach, I love him.”

Johnston lived up to that word on Saturday night, helping Loyola pull away for good in the third quarter. He said he’d do anything for Anderson – and in the title game, “anything” happened to be everything.

The 6-foot-5 post scored from the free-throw line, paint and three-point line en route to 14 third-quarter points before finishing with 22.

“I was a little mad at halftime because I missed a few easy shots so I came out and locked in,” Johnston said. “Right when they tied it back up (in the third) I knew I had to do something … I had to get my buckets. Anderson kept saying ‘feed the beast.’”

It took some determination to make it happen after the inauspicious start the Rams got off to. Opening in a 1-2-2 zone, Malta came out and raced out to a 10-0 start.

The Rams adjusted by moving into a 2-3 zone for the second quarter, and it held the Mustangs to just six points as Loyola put themselves on top.

However, the pesky Mustangs wouldn’t go away. Even late into the fourth, they were trading made threes for free throws, chipping away at the deficit but it was too little too late after the way Johnston took over the game.

“They shoot lights out, we tried everything … I knew that was going to be the case,” Anderson said. “They came out ready to roll and they were the underdog and playing free and he (Dave Costin – Malta head coach) does such a good job of letting his kids play. They are a little scary, aren’t they? It’s a good thing we ran out of time.”

Malta, returning to the state title game for the first time since 2017, had a number of double-figure scorers in its valiant effort.

Treyton Wilke and Jared Eggebrecht tossed in 14 apiece, Bohdi Brenden followed with 10 and Stockton Oxarart, playing on an ankle sprain suffered Friday, scored nine. It finished the season 19-7.

Loyola got 13 points, seven rebounds and three assists from Konzen in his last game as a Ram. Ethan Stack, who had games of 31 points and 21 points in earlier-round games, closed the tournament with 12.

When the Rams are done getting their police escort back into Missoula and finished celebrating their momentous first, the plan is to prepare so that they can do it all over again.

“Then we’ll get ready for next year because we only lose a couple,” Anderson said.  

A teary-eyed John Hollow stood off to the side of his Bigfork team’s third-place celebration early Saturday evening, taking in the scene.

The Vikings head coach was reminiscing on the year-long journey his team had just completed. It entailed a trip to Gonzaga University this past summer, offseason tournaments, weight training and open gyms.

It included a third-place game in which they were playing without multiple starters due to injuries or foul outs, yet they still prevailed 45-36 over Red Lodge to become the 2023 Class B third-place winners.

“These guys just showed so much grit and toughness,” Hollow said. “I’m super proud of them. They worked their asses off … they are reaping the benefit of their rewards.”

Some of Hollow’s recollections went back multiple years though, which is what led to the tears.

His mind brought him back to the core of Isak Epperly, Nick Walker, Bryce Gilliard, Landon Byerman and Levi Peterson — the team’s seniors. They came into the program at the same time as Hollow, right after Bigfork won back-to-back state titles in 2018 and 2019 under Sam Tudor.

“They let some guy from out of town move in and they bought in to what we were doing,” Hollow said. “At first, it wasn’t there, it wasn’t pretty the first year. It got better and it got better and it got better. I’ll remember these guys forever. I was the outsider that came in and they took me in.

“I’m speechless right now. I’m wiped out and I’m worn out and I’m so proud of them.”

The group went out in style, taking home some hardware that the seniors played a large part in getting.

Epperly was the leading scorer with 14 points, also pulling down a team-high seven rebounds. Byerman scored seven with another five rebounds. Gilliard fouled out late in the fourth quarter but was doing all the dirty work on the boards before that, finishing with five of his own.

It was their second time beating the Rams in the tournament, also ousting them from the winner’s bracket in the quarterfinals.

“They got us two times this tournament and although we were in both of those games and it felt like we could have won them right until the end, we didn’t,” Red Lodge head coach Todd Buchanan said. “Congrats to them.”

The Rams have no reason to hang their heads with the loss, though, returning to this stage for the first time since 1985.

While the goal once you get the tournament berth is always a title victory, of all teams in the field, that outcome was probably least important to the Rams. This team paved a path for sustainable success moving forward.

“We told our seniors tonight that the culture in Red Lodge is going to be more focused on basketball because of the passion, the focus and more than anything, the commitment that they made to put us in this position,” Buchanan said. “These kids lived, breathed and died for basketball for the last few months.

“And everyone says thank you to the coaches, the coaches are going to hear about it, but these kids deserve every bit of the credit … I forecast a lot of big runs for this Red Lodge program.”

The Rams lose just three seniors this offseason in Wyatt Goffena, Landen Tomlin and Jacob Stewart. Plus, they won’t have to worry about the Vikings anymore.

This was Bigfork's last Class B run before converting into a Class A program next season.

The Vikings responded to a semifinal loss at the hands of Malta by turning around for a double-digit victory the following morning. 

It was a balanced attack that led them past the Cougars. 

Isak Epperly had 12 points to lead the way, but Eli Thorness (11), Landon Byerman (11) and Wyatt Johnson (9) all made considerable contributions in the scoring column.

On the other end, Bigfork forced their hand defensively and took away Columbus' bread and butter - post play. 

Hayden Steffenson was contained to just 10 points on four shots while his interior counterpart Michael Curl scored four points on four shots.

Point guard Mason Meier had a game-high 21 to keep them afloat, but turnovers did them in. 

The Cougars coughed it up 20 times on the morning to end their season with a 19-7 record. 

Just two days ago, the Wolves were on top of the world after upsetting the Southern divisional's No. 1 seed, Columbus, on a buzzer-beating three-pointer.

Now, they are on their way home after back-to-back losses to Missoula Loyola and Red Lodge. 

As for the Rams, their journey through the consolation bracket has earned them a chance at revenge. With wins against Lame Deer and Wolf Point, they'll get a chance to finish higher than Bigfork, the team that sent them to the loser's bracket on day one.

In advancing to the third-place game on Saturday morning, Thomas Buchanan controlled the game with 23 points and 15 rebounds. 

Kraven Silk had his tournament-high 20 points for the Wolves who finished the year at 22-5.

Lucas Semb is the Griz football beat writer for the Missoulian. Follow him on Twitter @Lucas_Semb or email him at [email protected].