With all the scoring of an NBA game, and at least twice the defense, Team Big Sky ran past Team Treasure State late in the third quarter and hung on for a 111-104 victory in the the boys’ version of the annual Southwest Montana All-Star Classic Basketball game Tuesday at the “Great Western HPER.”

Trailing 72-58 with four minutes left in the third period, the Big Sky stars went on a 21-3 run fueled by a pair of 3-pointers and a deuce from Butte Central’s Colin Hollow. Butte High’s Cody Carriger and Whitehall standout Layne Simon each scored four points in the run as well.

The spurt put the Big Sky team up 79-75, and though Treasure State tied it early in the fourth, they never led again.

Big Sky was made up of players from Butte High, Butte Central, Whitehall, Drummond and Ennis. The Treasure State all-stars hailed from Dillon, Anaconda, Twin Bridges, Sheridan and Deer Lodge.

The contingent from Dillon was easily the most impressive single unit, as the five Beavers combined for 81 points in the loss. Carroll-bound J.T. Linder led all scorers with 29 points, including six 3-pointers. Linder was 10 of 12 from the field and 3 of 4 from the stripe.

Not far behind was teammate Wes Knox, who put on a show with a pair of slams in scoring 21. Ben Folsom knocked down 17, Chevy Reed had 14 and Austin Williams added two for the Beaver representatives.

Big Sky got 17 points each from Hollow and Carriger, while Simon chipped in 16. Butte High guard Brock Bond tallied a pair of 3-pointers in scoring 11, while Keegan McCarthy of Butte Central netted 10.

Area schools were well represented, even by teams with a single player on the squad. Robert Stone of Deer Lodge stacked up well against the competition in scoring seven, while Anaconda’s Jon Allick played well in scoring four.

On the Big Sky side, Drummond standout Mac Bignell played a hard-nosed game and came up with nine points, while Ennis representatives Jackson Goodman and Blake McKitrick combined for 15 points.

BIG SKY — Keegan McCarthy 4-14 2-2 10, Colin Hollow 5-9 3-4 17, Brady Tippett 2-3 2-2 6, Zach Kasperick 1-2 2-4 4, Austin Davis 2-7 1-2 5, Cody Carriger 6-10 5-6 17, Brock Bond 3-9 3-4 11, Layne Simon 7-16 0-0 16, Casey McLean 0-4 1-2 1, Mac Bignell 3-9 1-2 9, Jackson Goodman 4-10 0-0 8, Blake McKitrick 2-2 1-2 7. Totals 39-95 21-30 111.

TREASURE STATE — Wes Knox 8-14 2-2 21, J.T. Linder 10-12 3-4 29, Chevy Reed 5-11 1-1 12, Ben Folsom 6-11 2-3 17, Austin Williams 1-5 0-0 2, Jon Allick 2-3 0-0 4, Cody Pierson 2-4 0-0 5, Tyler Lott 0-3 0-0 0, Jory Chrest 1-3 0-0 2, Kenneth Schandelmeier 1-6 0-0 3, Robert Stone 3-6 1-2 7, Cole Miotke 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 40-80 9-12 104.

Big Sky 21 25 33 32 — 111

Treasure State 23 31 21 29 — 104

3-point goals - BS 12 (Hollow 4, Bond 2, Simon 2, Bignell 2, McKitrick 2), TS 15 (Knox 3, Linder 6, Reed 1, Folsom 3, Pierson 1, Schandelmeier 1).

Another round of good music and good dancing was on display in the Montana Tech HPER Complex Tuesday night.

Oh yeah, a pretty high grade of basketball was played there, too.

Entertainment from Butte, Anaconda and Twin Bridges helped keep the mood lively with the cheering, dance and acrobatic shows, and the musicianship. All complemented the star players in the fourth annual Southwest Montana All-Star Classic basketball games for high school standouts from the area in the recently completed prep hoops season.

The girls’ game saw the Butte High/Butte Central-based Big Sky All-Stars outscore the Anaconda/Dillon-anchored Treasure State All-Stars 86-71 in front of a nice crowd.

“It’s an honor to one of the players (chosen),” Harrison senior Taylor Statton said after scoring nine points, grabbing a pair of rebounds and snagging back-to-back scoring sreals to aid the Big Sky win. “It was amazing.”

Statton was also a finalist in the girls’ 3-point contest, finishing runner-up to Twin Bridges’ Peyton Ferris, by a 14-12 count, in the contest championship. Ferris, this year’s Montana Gatorade Player of the Year honoree, did not play in Tuesday’s game, but served as an honorary captain and took part in the trey event.

The boys’ 3-point contest winner was Dillon’s Ben Folsom by a 13-9 over fellow finalist Colin Hollow of Butte Central. Other honorary captains were injured players Bobby Davies of Butte High in the boys’ game and Hailey Hoagland of Butte High in the girls’ contest.

Hoagland, however, tested her knee strength and shooting eyeing a 2-for-3 performance from the foul line as a pinch shooter for a couple of teammates.

Big Sky took the lead for good on a Statton shot that broke a 29-all tie with 6 minutes, 27 seconds left in the first half. The bucket began a 23-6 spree that pushed Big Sky to a 52-35 command after three quarters.

“We really gelled together as a team,” Statton said about the winning performance in a reference that could have been the same for the Treasure State collection. “We had fun. I was just here to have fun.”

Big Sky scored the first five points of the fourth quarter as Jordan Powers, of Jefferson High in Boulder, knocked in two rebound baskets around a free throw by Butte Central senior Brynne Kambich.

Treasure State’s best quarter was a 24-point total in the third period behind the scoring of Twin Bridges’ Hannah Konen and Anaconda’s Jayme Stergar. The surge was largely in the early parts of the half that pulled Treasure State from a 27-19 halftime deficit into the 29-all knot.

Powers led the Big Sky with 17 points and five rebounds. She and Statton are both headed to the Universityof Great Falls to play basketball next year. Statton will also be a thrower on the Argos’ track team.

Sammy McGree of Butte High backed them with 12 points and Danee Leary of Butte Central finished with 10. Leary also pulled down a game-high eight rebounds. Treasure State was led in scoring by Konen with 12 points. She was subbed onto the roster to replace Ferris and more than held her own with the other all-stars.

Charlee Hahnkamp of Dillon and Jacqueline Verlanic of Anaconda each scored eight points for next-high on the team. Kansas Suenram of Dillon led on the boards with seven rebounds.

Statton said she wasn’t really interested is seeing how she, from the Class C ranks, compared with the stars from schools in larger enrollment classifications, such as Class AA or A.

“I played it in last year,” she said. “I was just here to have fun, and we did.”

TREASURE STATE — Stephanie DiGiovanna 1-1 2-4 4, Sara Dustin 3-9 0-0 6, Charlee Hahnkamp 4-13 0-0 8, Kansas Suenaram 3-8 0-0 6, Courtney Linder 0-2 4-4 4, Courtney Moodry 2-8 0-0 4, Jacqueline Verlanic 2-4 4-4 8, Jayme Stergar 2-5 0-0 5, Abby Stanberry 0-4 2-2 2, Shelby Applegate 3-6 0-2 6, Bailee Senecal 2-3 2-3 6, Hannah Konen 5-8 2-2 12. Totals 27-71 16-21 71.

BIG SKY — Brynne Kambich 4-7 1-2 9, Kaci McKeon 3-7 0-2 6, Danee Leary 5-10 0-0 10, Natalee Faupel 0-2 4-4 4, Sammy McGree 4-7 4-4 12, Hattie Thatcher 0-1 0-0 0, Taylor Statton 4-9 0-0 9, Mikayla Sullivan 1-5 2-6 4, Tori Durham 0-1 1-2 1, Brooke Lueck 3-3 0-0 6, Jordan Powers 5-9 7-7 17, Ayla Martell 2-5 1-2 6, Hailey Hoagland 0-0 2-3 2. Totals 31-66 22-32 86.

Treasure State 19 16 24 12 — 71

Big Sky 27 25 20 14 — 86

3-point goals — Treasure State 1-7 (Dustin 0-1, Hahnkamp 0-1, Moodry 0-2, Stergar 1-1, Stanberry 0-1, Applegate 0-1), Big Sky 2-15 (McKeon 0-4, Leary 0-2, Faupel 0-1, Thatcher 0-1, Statton 1-3, Sullivan 0-1, Martell 1-3). Fouled out —non-applicable. Total fouls — Treasure State 15, Big Sky 17. Technicals — none. Rebounds — Treasure State 35 (Suenram 7, Hahnkamp 6, Stanberry 6), Big Sky 42 (Leary 8, Sullivan 7, Kambich 6). Blocks —Treasure State 3 (Suenram 1, Moodry 1, Verlanic 1), Big Sky 9 (Faupel 3, Sullivan 3, Kambich 2). Assists — Treasure State 5 (Konen 4), Big Sky 11 (Sullivan 3, Durham 3). Steals — Treasure State 7 (Konen 3), Big Sky (15 (Sullivan 3). Turnovers —Treasure State 23, Big Sky 18.