'Heads and shoulders above: Copperheads win District 6B Boys Basketball Tournament on their home court; girls take third as both head to divisionals

Boys will face Plains, girls to take on T-Falls in opening round at Western B Divisional Tourney, which runs March 5-7 in Pablo

For years, Loyola-Sacred Heart has battled it out with Florence-Carlton for 6B District supremacy, but not this time as the Anaconda Copperheads had something else to say about it – on their own home court no less. That's where their string of successes against the Rams in 2025-2026 continued on Saturday, Feb. 28 with a 67-62 overtime win in the district championship game at the Memorial Gym to give the 'Heads a coveted No. 1 seed in the upcoming Western B Divisional Tournament.

They'll be joined by the Lady Copperheads, who also punched their ticket to divisionals after reaching – and then winning – the third-place game at districts, by the score of 53-23 on Saturday over Darby, a team that had given them a scare earlier in the first round of playoff basketball for Class B. 

Divisionals marks the next level of high school post-season hoops, with the Western B tourney set to start tomorrow – Thursday, March 5 at Salish Kootenai College in Pablo, and will run through Saturday, March 7. 

As a 1-seed, the Copperhead will face No. 4-seeded Plains in their opener at divisionals on Thursday at 3 p.m., while the 3-seeded Lady Copperheads will take on No. 2-seeded Thompson Falls in their first-round match on Thursday at 8:15 p.m. 

With a win, the 'Heads would take on the winner of Arlee vs. Troy in the semifinals on Friday, March 6 at 4:45 p.m., while a loss would mean facing an elimination game against the loser of that same game, with that one played at 9:45 a.m. The other side of the Western B boys' bracket includes Eureka vs. Powell County and Mission vs. Loyola. (No Florence, however, who were ousted from the playoffs by Arlee on Saturday morning at districts.) 

For the Lady Copperheads, a win over Thompson Falls would mean taking on the winner of Loyola vs. Eureka at 8:15 p.m. on Friday, while a loss would mean an elimination game against the loser of that same game on Friday at 1:15 p.m. The other side of that bracket includes Mission vs. Darby and Plains vs. Florence. 

That's the initial run-down on divisionals; now, here's how districts went down, beginning at the end with Anaconda's thrilling overtime win over Loyola in the title game, which the 'Heads advanced to after a first-round bye and then a 49-39 win over Powell County in the semifinals on Friday. 

The finals would prove far closer, and would require quite the comeback on Anaconda's part as Loyola would lead by as much as 14 points in the third quarter and by 9 at the start of the fourth – but come back the 'Heads would do, and then some. But that's getting ahead of ourselves. 

Loyola got on the scoreboard first with a bucket after the tip-off, but Shane Schalk leveled the score with a put-back off the offensive glass. Schalk had the next three points for Anaconda as well, one at the line and two via a spinning drive to the basket, but by then the Rams had made two more two-pointers of their own. They would add two more to go up 10-5 before Ryder Anderson drained a baseline three-pointer while falling backward to get back to within a score, but Loyola then went on a 9-0 run to close out the first quarter with an 11-point lead, 19-8.

The 'Heads attempted to chip away at that lead in the second quarter, first with Travis Dye opening up with a steal-and-score, then Kyson Patrick followed that up by following his shot for a put-back to pull to within seven points. Loyola went back up by nine, but then Jesse Jones scored on three straight possessions – a strong baseline drive to start, then on an offensive rebound and finally down low from Brody Galle as the 'Heads climbed back to within three. The Rams stretched it back out to an eight-point lead with a two and a three, but Anderson answered both of those, first with a baseline jumper and then a three-pointer that shook and rattled the rim before rolling in. Loyola though would score the final four points of the quarter to take a 30-23 lead into halftime. 

Things began to look bleak after the break as the Rams scored six unanswered points to go up 13 with about 6 minutes left in the quarter. Patrick scored Anaconda's first basket of the half on a darter across the key from Dye, but a three-pointer by the Rams gave them their biggest lead of the game. 

It would not last. Schalk split the defenders to the basket, then Anderson swished a baseline jumper after a series of offensive rebounds by the 'Heads and, after a free throw by Loyola, Schalk again split the defense to cut the lead to nine points. The Rams answered though with a two to go back up by 11, yet Patrick scored on back-to-back possessions – a drive into the lane and then underneath from a Teague Cromwell inbounds pass – to cut the lead back to seven. Loyola closed out the quarter with a basket, however, and led by nine entering what was expected to be the fourth and final frame.

Yet as noted above, the 'Heads had something else to say about that.

The comeback began with another trey by Anderson, this one off the dribble, and he followed it up with a free throw on the next possession. A steal-and-slam by the Rams seemed to turn the momentum back to the Rams, but Patrick answered it with a put-back to pull back to within four. A three-point play by Loyola, a two and a pair of free throws, however, were only answered by one point at the line from Patrick, and with AHS now down by 10 with 3:38 left, head coach Dakota Norris called time. It worked, and now it was Galle time. The 5'8" senior stepped up and nailed a long three-pointer, then followed that up on the next possession with a walk-up trey from NBA range and the 'Heads were back to within four. Make it three as Schalk added a free throw after being fouled off a steal, and Anderson secured the offensive board after the miss as Anaconda called time at 1:47.

That next 107 seconds will live on in Copperhead sports legend. Patrick took the ball down low for a two-pointer to cut the Rams' lead to a single point, and then a steal-and-score by Dye off the inbounds gave the 'Heads their first lead of the game. Loyola got those points back, and then the teams traded steals until Anaconda fouled with 18.9 seconds left, and being in the bonus the Rams shot two – and made both to take a three-point lead. Needing a trey to tie with little time left, it was still Galle time – and time again, as the senior launched a three, which clanged off the rim, but he followed his shot and getting his own offensive rebound at the top of the key with just 11 seconds left he fired off another shot from beyond the arc and ... swish. Nothing but net. Tie game. Running clock. Less than 10 seconds left. Inbounds pass. Loyola takes it up the court – but Dye and Anderson have the angle. Loyola tosses up a prayer from the baseline. The players, the coaches, the crowd packing the Snake Pit to the rafters all watched and held their breath to see whether it would be game over or overtime. But the final shot of the fourth quarter bounced off the rim and so overtime it was, with the score tied 57-all at the end of regulation. 

AHS would go on to own OT, outscoring the Rams 10-5 on the way to victory. Anderson struck first, earning two points at the free-throw line, then earned the ball back for the 'Heads by drawing a charge. Yet Loyola got it back and with it drew back to a tie game. Jones however answered those points with a steal-and-score, and Galle netted what ultimately would prove to be the winning points as he leaned in and launched a floater just as the shot clock was about to expire to put Anaconda up 63-59. Dye appeared to put the game firmly out of the Rams' reach with a baseline drive to give the 'Heads a six-point lead with less than a minute remaining, yet Loyola had just a bit of life left in them as they nailed a three-pointer and called time with 31.1 seconds to go. Called upon one more time, Galle bobbed and weaved his way up the court, running the clock down before dishing to Patrick who was fouled with 16.6 seconds left. After going 1-for-2 at the line, the Rams were still in it at least in theory as they were down by four, but Anaconda got the ball back with about seven seconds left, Jones was fouled where he effectively ended the game with one free throw as AHS took an insurmountable 67-62 lead. And that's where it ended, and with it the District 6B Boys Basketball Tournament crown for the 'Heads. 

Anaconda 67, Loyola 62

LSH 19 11 14 13 5 62

AHS 8 15 12 22 10 67

Scoring: Ryder Anderson 17, Kyson Patrick 13, Brody Galle 11, Shane Schalk 10, Jesse Jones 9, Travis Dye 6. 

Turning to the Lady Copperheads, they had a longer route to their third-place finish as their tournament began with the same team where it ended, the Darby Lady Tigers. After surviving a scare as they were down by as much as six points at multiple points in the first half of their opener on Thursday, the Lady Copperheads came back for a 42-32 win to advance to the district semis. There they faced Florence, who went on to soar to a 65-15 win over Anaconda to send them to the consolation bracket where they took on Arlee in an elimination game on Saturday morning. That one went solidly in Anaconda's favor, winning 54-42 to punch their ticket to divisionals and earn them a chance at third place.

Darby was their opponent once again, and this time the Lady Copperheads controlled the game practically from the opening tip-off. After the Lady Tigers struck first with a basket, Addie Jovanovich turned around and hit one of her trademark turn-around baseline jumpers to even the score. That would be the start of a 15-0 run for the Lady Copperheads, with Jade Moses the next up with a steal-and-score. Addie Olson made it 6-2 with a bucket off the offensive glass, and Moses swished a trey from the baseline to go up 9-2. Addie Case made it 11-2 with a steal-and-score, and Averie Sandoval added two more baskets in the exact same fashion to go up 15-2. Darby finally got back on the board, but Case drained a long two-pointer and the scoreboard read 17-4 in Anaconda's favor at the end of the first quarter. 

The Lady Tigers came out roaring in the second quarter, scoring six points early, but then so did the Lady Copperheads with five – a Sandoval trey and a long-range J from Moses – as Anaconda retained their lead at 22-10. They would soon double it, going on a 12-0 run that began with a three-pointer from Quincy Saltenberger, continued on with a pair of buckets by Moses plus a free throw, then Jasmine Johnson getting in on the action with an offensive rebound, and Olson capped off the run with two points at the line as the Lady Copperheads now led 34-10. Darby would put two more points on the scoreboard before the half ended, though the game was effectively out of reach, and it soon would be completely.

Anaconda opened up the second half with yet another run, this one 8-2 as a Jovanovich offensive rebound, a pair of Case steals and lay-ins and a long two by Saltenberger were book-ended by free throws by Darby as the Lady Copperheads now led 42-14. The Lady Tigers closed out the third quarter with a 6-0 run, but by then the damage was done. 

The Lady Copperheads weren't quite done, however, as they had one more run left in them – this one lasting the entire quarter as they outscored Darby 11-3 to close out the game. A free throw by Jovanovich, an offensive rebound by Sandoval, a free throw by Johnson and another offensive rebound by Sandoval, all before the Lady Tigers could score, which they did via two free throws as Anaconda put the bench in with a few minutes left to play. Ryleigh Boyd made it 50-22 with a jumper from the baseline, then Jovanovich had one more turn-around and Jorie Olson capped it off with a point at the line as the Lady Copperheads won the game, 53-23, and third place in the district along with it.

Anaconda 53, Darby 23 

DHS 4 8 8 3 23

AHS 17 17 8 11 53

Scoring: Jade Moses 11, Averie Sandoval 11, Addie Case 8, Addie Jovanovich 7, Quincy Saltenberger 5, Addie Olson 4, Jasmine Johnson 3, Ryleigh Boyd 2, Jorie Olson 1.

And that's not the last of it. Want some visuals of all that late-game roller-coaster action from the boys' district championship game? Just turn to page 14 for photos from the end of the fourth quarter and overtime. Want more photos and more game summaries from the rest of the tourney? Check back in with us on Friday as we finish off this first set of postseason basketball games and head into the next round with divisionals in Pablo.