Wyoming Drops Basketball Games to Montana in Billings

The wrong type of streak continued for the Wyoming All-Stars who lost both basketball games in Billings to Montana Friday night.

The Wyoming girls fell 84-66, while the boys lost 103-100. It marked the sixth straight defeat for the girls and 15th in a row for the boys.

Maddie Miller of Thunder Basin in Gillette led Wyoming with 24 points, while Pine Bluffs’ Kammie Ragsdale added 13 and Abby Geer of Thunder Basin chipped in 10.

The Wyoming girls fell behind by five, 19-14, after the first quarter. They hung around in the second, but still trailed 39-32 at halftime. Miller drained a 3-pointer to start the second half, which helped Wyoming get within 39-35. Montana answered with a 24-6 run and built their biggest lead of the game, at 63-41, in that third quarter. The girls from the Cowboy state weren’t able to get back in it after that.

The Wyoming boys lost a tough battle, as they rallied from down 13 with seven minutes left, took a lead, but saw Montana make enough free throws and defensive stops to hold off the Cowboy state.

Five Wyoming players scored in double figures led by Davion McAdam of Kelly Walsh with 19 points. Thunder Basin’s Colton Larson scored 18, Sheridan’s Tristan Bower and Riverton’s Treyton Paxton added 11 points apiece, while Laramie’s Hudda Curry-Herrera chipped in 10 points.

Wyoming trailed by three after the first quarter and at halftime. Those scores were 26-23 and 51-48. Montana stretched its advantage to 77-68 after the third quarter. A pair of three’s put the Treasure state up 85-72 early in the fourth. Wyoming rallied and tied the game at 89-89 with just over four minutes left. Two free throws by Larson gave the Cowboy state a 93-91 lead with three minutes remaining. Montana countered with a three that made it 94-93, a lead they never gave up. A two-minute scoreless stretch late in the fourth quarter hurt Wyoming’s comeback attempt.

The teams combined for 57 free throws. Montana missed 13 free throw attempts, while Wyoming was 17-22 at the stripe. Both teams made 11 three-pointers.

Wyoming goes for its first win in the girls’ series since 2016 and in the boys’ since 2011 in Sheridan Saturday night. The games are at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. from the Golden Dome at Sheridan College.

Girls Game

Wyoming    14   18   19   15   = 66

Montana     19   20   29   16   = 84

Wyoming scoring:

Maddie Miller 24

Kammie Ragsdale 13

Abby Geer 10

Jennifer Aadland 10

Kendall Wright 4

Hailey Anderson 4

Alexandria Trosper 1

Noelle Peterson 1

Boys Game

Wyoming    23   25   20   32   = 100

Montana    26   25   26   26    = 103

Wyoming scoring:

Davion McAdam 19

Colton Larson 18

Tristan Bower 11

Treyton Paxton 11

Hudda Curry-Herrera 10

Erik Oliver 9

Jaren Fritz 8

Trase Olsen 6

Danny Gosar 4

Lain Mitchelson 4