Bozeman senior Avery Burkart is fouled by Big Sky's Kaydynce Couture as she puts a shot up in a loser-out game at the Class AA girls tournament Friday at the Butte Civic Center.
Bozeman senior Tailyn Black brings the ball up the court against Big Sky's Sadie McGuinn in a loser-out game at the Class AA girls tournament Friday at the Butte Civic Center.
Bozeman’s bench celebrates a made shot giving the Hawks a late lead against Missoula Big Sky on Friday at the Butte Civic Center.
Shawn Raecke/For the Chronicle
Bozeman senior Avery Burkart is fouled by Big Sky's Kaydynce Couture as she puts a shot up in a loser-out game at the Class AA girls tournament Friday at the Butte Civic Center.
Shawn Raecke/For the Chronicle
Bozeman senior Tailyn Black brings the ball up the court against Big Sky's Sadie McGuinn in a loser-out game at the Class AA girls tournament Friday at the Butte Civic Center.
Shawn Raecke/For the Chronicle
Bozeman sets up thier defense against Missoula Big Sky in a loser-out game at the Class AA girls tournament Friday at the Butte Civic Center.
Shawn Raecke/For the Chronicle
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BUTTE — Right after Bozeman junior Ava Epler’s first free throw rolled off the rim, Missoula Big Sky called its last timeout.
During the break, Epler said assistant coach Devin Jones pulled her to the side. Jones told Epler how there was no pressure with this next shot because, even with a miss, the Hawks would be headed to overtime.
With that in mind, Epler didn’t feel the weight of the moment as she walked back to the free throw line with the game tied and 1.3 seconds left. It was hard to hide the emotion, though, as the shot went through and Bozeman held on for the win.
“Beyond excited,” Epler said. “I was so happy for everyone.”
After trading baskets throughout the game, and trailing by five with under two minutes to play, East No. 4 seed Bozeman beat West No. 3 Big Sky 32-31 with that final free throw Friday in a loser-out game at the Class AA girls tournament. Seniors Tailyn Black (10) and Tyra Opperman (8) led the Hawks in scoring.
With the win, Bozeman (6-18) will next face the loser of East No. 1 Billings West and West No. 2 Missoula Hellgate from Friday evening in a loser-out game at 10:30 a.m. Saturday. Bozeman bounced back well after a 48-37 loss to West No. 1 seed Kalispell Flathead late on Thursday evening.
Bozeman head coach Kati Mobley — who walked down the bench excitedly yelling, “Let’s go” as Epler went to the line — applauded her team for rising to the occasion.
“When people thought we couldn’t do it, we picked up and did the little things,” Mobley said. “I’m just super proud for our kids because we went through a lot this season. This is just a huge culmination of all that.”
After winning just three games during the regular season, the Hawks went 2-2 at the Eastern AA Divisional last weekend to advance to state. Epler said the chance to win a game at state was not lost on the Hawks Friday.
“We knew we wanted to win it all for each other,” Epler said. “So I think we each played our role together and just gave it our all.”
Mobley wanted a more cohesive effort on the glass against Big Sky (12-11) after senior Avery Burkhart pulled down 14 of the Hawks’ 26 rebounds against Flathead. Burkhart, despite fouling out in the fourth quarter, still led the team with nine boards against Big Sky. But Bozeman outrebounded the Eagles 26-19 overall.
“I thought we did a much better job tonight,” Mobley said. “We definitely made sure that we got the backside boards. When Avery fouled out, we talked about trusting it and making sure that each person did their role and did their job. I thought overall, we just brought it.”
Bozeman kept the game close early, with Black and Big Sky’s Sadie McGuinn trading 3s to end the first quarter. The Hawks trailed 11-6 after one.
Burkhart then got a putback and a mid-range jumper to fall to make it 11-10 Big Sky. On the next possession, a miss from senior Megan Schell turned into another Burkhart putback and gave Bozeman a 12-11 lead.
Big Sky’s Audrey Hale answered with a 3, but Bozeman still finished the second quarter down just 16-14.
After the break, Opperman hit a baseline jumper and junior Lucy Walling hit a pair of free throws to regain the lead. Schell then added a banked-in 3 and McGuinn got a reverse layup to fall. McGuinn added another jumper late in the quarter to put Big Sky up 22-21 entering the fourth.
Burkhart and Black each hit a layup to put Bozeman up 25-22. But then Big Sky’s Kaydynce Couture took over for a few minutes. Couture hit an and-1, a layup and 1 of 2 free throws in succession to put Big Sky up 28-25. Couture led the Eagles with 15 points and McGuinn added seven.
Couture added two more free throws to put Big Sky up five, but Black hit a 3 and Epler converted an and-1 to put the Hawks up 31-30 with 33.1 seconds left. Bozeman then called a timeout and Mobley reminded her team to focus on getting stops late.
“In the last two weeks, even before that, they have really stepped up and decided what they wanted to do as a team and for our program,” Mobley said. “And those five seniors have really been huge for us.”
Big Sky’s Avory DeCoite then hit a free throw to tie it at 31-31 before Epler’s final make.
Mobley said the Hawks “gutted one out” against Big Sky, a product of all the work put in this season.
“And we’ve been in a lot of close games in the last couple of weeks,” Mobley said. “We believe now. I think that’s huge.”
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