It was a good first day at the 4A West Regional Basketball Tournament in Evanston on Thursday as both the Lady Braves and Braves won their match ups with Riverton to advance to the semifinals.

in the 10:30 a.m. game the Lady Braves jumped out to a 16-point lead in the first half and led by 14 heading into the locker room. In the second half, Riverton racked up the steals to cut the lead down to seven on two occasions but ultimately could get no closer as Star Valley won the game 43-32.

Otessa Olsen had the game-high of 14 points, scoring ten of those in the second half. Page Nield scored 11 before fouling out late in the contest. McKenna Brog had six points and three steals and Addie Butler added six points and six rebounds.

Riverton was led by Alexxis Motisi who finished with 13. The Wolverines will face the Jackson Lady Broncs on Friday morning with the loser being eliminated. Star Valley will face Kelly Walsh at 3:30 p.m. with the winner earning a trip to the state tournament and advancing to the finals on Saturday.

In the boys game it was a rematch of a one-sided game in Fremont County and it was more of the same as Star Valley forced the 40-point running clock to begin the fourth quarter and then subbed in all five players in an eventual 58-23 win. In the prior three quarters the Braves had four players in double-figures led by Chase Merrell who had the game-high of 15. Hazen Erickson and R.J. Cazier finished with 11 each and Taylor Horsley scored ten.

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It was another torrid shooting performance by the Braves who hit 11 three-point baskets.

Star Valley will face off against the Rock Springs Tigers who edged Green River to advance to the semifinals. The Tigers lost by one point in Afton last month and had a last-second shot miss the mark. The semifinal game is scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. at Evanston High School.

SVI Media will be broadcasting the games with video and audio of the games across their digital platforms.