BILLINGS — Sophomore Breanna Williams poured in 25 points on 7 of 8 shooting, including 11 of 12 at the charity stripe, and grabbed seven rebounds to lead Billings Skyview to its first state championship in program history, 54-44, over Missoula Hellgate on Saturday inside First Interstate Arena in Billings.
Williams had a monster performance against her biggest competition. Literally.
Hellgate junior Alex Covill, who stands 6-foot-6, presented the longest defender Williams had seen in her brief high school career. She stayed aggressive to lead the Falcons to the promised land.
"I just had to do my role. I knew I had to be physical," Williams said. "She was taller than me, obviously, but I just had to get her out of the paint, get the rebounds and do my job."
Skyview led wire-to-wire, opening up a 24-16 halftime lead and pushing it to 10, 34-24, after three quarters.
Hellgate would crawl back within three, 47-44, after a three-point play by Bailee Sayler with less than two minutes to play, but free throws from Williams and Cami Harris helped ice Skyview's championship.
Brooke Berry scored 15 points and grabbed four rebounds for the Falcons and was in tears as the clock wound down. Berry remembers her freshman year when the Falcons went 1-19.
"Going through all those struggles, having people ask me if I was going to transfer, and I said, 'No. We're going to build. I know what we're going to do. I know the potential this program has.' We built it up and we made history every single year," Berry said.
"There's always some excitement with this group," Skyview head coach Brent Montague said. "Every challenge that I've ever given them, they've always conquered it. This was the last final challenge I gave that group of seniors. Unbelievable."
Skyview avenged an early-season loss to Hellgate, meaning the Falcons beat every team they faced this season.
Sayler led Hellgate with 18 points. Lauren Dick added 10. Skyview finished 15 of 26 from the floor and 22 of 28 from the foul line, while holding Sentinel to 36.4 percent shooting.
