By John Robbins

Dillon Beavers 62 Butte Central 53

There will be a new Class A State Champion this season, as the Beavers handed the Maroons a loss for their first time in 4 tries, this time when it mattered most.

In the fourth matchup of the year between the two teams, the opening quarter started electric, with the Beavers coming out and firing on all cylinders. The three ball was falling early but Central hung in there with a bucket from Kyle Holter, followed by an Eric Loos lay in.

Jack Keeley hit a buzzer beater from behind the backboard that didn’t count but came out and stroked a 3 ball in the 2^nd to knot it at 20 apiece with 4:47 to go in the first half.

The Maroons kept feeding Eric Loos down low as he had 8 points early on to lead his squad to a 22-20 lead with 50 seconds to play in the first half, the Beavers kept pressing the issue and didn’t go away but Central kept calm and took the two-point advantage to the locker room with them.

The Beavers came right out and continued to attack the bucket and got a quick lay in to begin the second half followed by a Kyle Holter put back for two. Eric Loos continued to pound it down low and drew a foul and hit one of two to give the Maroons a 1-point lead, 27-26 with 4:56 left in the quarter.

For the second straight game the Maroons really struggled offensively, and Dougie couldn’t get going as the Beavers clung to a 2-point lead with 3 minutes to go.

The Beavers played swarming defense and would take a 5-point lead 35-50 before Dougie was fouled but could not complete the and 1, 35-32 Beavers. Dillon came back down and splashed another triple to go up 6 with a minute left in the 3^rd.

The Beavers blistering defense led them to a 4-point advantage after 3 periods of play. Eric Loos fouled out early in the 4^th leading to a 4-point play for the Beavers, Dougie would splash a three of his own to cut it to three, but Dillon came right back down a buried another triple and took a 47-39 lead before a Butte Central timeout.

Both teams were in the bonus, Dillon knocked theirs down and Central missed theirs, the Beavers led by 9 with 2 minutes to go in the game. Missed free throws and lax defense hurt the Maroons tonight as the Beavers knock off the defending state champs 62-53 and will head to the Championship tomorrow night, while the Maroons will play for 3^rd place.

Dougie led the way with 21, Kyle Holter had 10, Eric Loos had 9, Jack Keeley with 6, Zane Moodry had 5, and Josh Sutton had 3 for Butte Central.