Daniel Horton Havre Daily News gferguson@havredailynews.com
There is just a handful of games left to play for boys basketball teams across the Hi-Line, but in these last games leading to tournament play anything can happen. Kicking off the weekend, the secondplace 2B Harlem Wildcats were on the road where the 1B Shelby Coyotes defeated them 61-53 on Thursday night. The Wildcats fell behind early, trailing 27-22 at the half. And even with the 19-point surge in the fourth quarter, the they weren’t able to overcome the Coyotes. Elias Goes Ahead led the Wildcat offense with 20 points, while Devon La- Sarte had 19 and Taylor First Raised had 12. Thursday also brought a 9C upset to the table. In conference play, the lastplace Hays-Lodge Pole Thunderbirds defeated the Chinook Sugarbeeters 53-52 in Chinook. The Beeters started the game on top 11-10 after the first quarter, but the Thunderbirds stepped up to score 16 points to the Beeters nine in the second quarter. And in the third, the Thunderbirds tacked on 16 more to take a 42-33 lead heading into the fourth. Cole McCabe led all scoring with 28 for the Thunderbirds, while Jess Werk and Stephen Gone added eight each. Lane Schmitt led the Beeters with 12 points, and Taylor Erskine added 11. And Dylan MacLean had nine, while Chris Haider finished with 8. On Friday the Beeters played again, but suffered another conference loss in the 9C. The second-place Big Sandy Pioneers defeated the Beeters 64-51 in Big Sandy. With the second loss of the weekend, the Beeters fell to 4-6 in the conference. The Beeters started well again on Friday night, taking a 14-10 lead after the first quarter, but they couldn't hold the lead. In the second quarter, the Beeters were held to nine points, while the Pioneers laid down 17 to take a 27-23 lead into the lockerroom at half. In the third, the Beeters came powering back with 18 points to cut the lead to two. But the Pioneers had another big quarter in the fourth, hanging 21 on the Beeters to get the win. Dylan MacLean led the Beeters with 17 points, and Lane Schmitt followed with 13. But the remarkable 39 points from the Pioneers' Corbin Pearson proved to be too much. Friday also brought another dominating win by the undefeated, 9C leading Rocky Boy Stars. The Stars defeated the Highwood Mountaineers 70-46 on the road. It was a quick start for the Stars as they went on to put 23 points up in the first quarter, and from there the game belonged to them. Mike Sangrey Jr. Led all scoring with 25 points, and Jerod Parker added his 13. And Eric Schildt delivered another 10 points for the Stars in their lopsided 24-point victory. The North Star Knights brought more 9C action on Friday night, but the games results wasn’t exactly what they were looking for. The hosting Sunburst Refiners defeated the Knights 76-71, dropping the Knights overall record to 4-11. Both teams started out with good offensive productivity, but the Knights found themselves trailing the Refiners by two, 22-20 at the end of one quarter of play. But in the second quarter the Refiners opened up the gap too far, scoring 24 more pints while holding the Knights to 13. A 38-point run was made by the Knights in the third and fourth quarter, but the Refiners big first half, and 30-point second half was enough to hold them off. Skyler Melby dropped 16 points and Zack Halter added 11 in a valiant effort by the Knights, but Cole Kleinert’s 32 points for the Refiners was the biggest difference maker. The Hi-Line also some 10C play on Friday. The second-place Chester/JI Hawks were on the road, where they defeated the third-place Power Pirates 46-36. With the win the Hawks improved to 8-2 in the conference. The Hawks had three players in double to figures to lead their scoring. Garrett Graff had 14 points, Anthony Markuson had 13 and Trevor Violett had 10. Saturday only brought four matchups to the Hi-Line, but the 9C meeting between the Turner Tornadoes and the Big Sandy Pioneers was probably the biggest of the weekend. The hosting, fourth-place Tornadoes shocked the second-place Pioneers 54-50. With the win the Tornadoes advanced to 4-5 in the conference, while the Pioneers dropped to 8-3 with the loss. The Pioneers led through the first quarter, but when the Tornadoes managed to score 14 points in the second, they escaped to halftime with a onepoint lead. And in the third quarter, the Tornadoes held the Pioneers to six points, while scoring 10 of heir own to increase their lead to 37-32. And with an 18-point performance in the fourth, the Pioneers came up just short of the conference win. Blake Brumwell and Corbin Pearson both had 15 points for the Pioneers. And Travis Daniels from the Tornadoes led his team with 15 while Clint Van Voast added 14 and Justin Paul and Taylor Forts added 12 each in Turner's biggest win of the season. Rocky Boy got another big win on Saturday, but this time it came against the 2B Harlem Wildcats. The Stars defeated the Wildcats 64-60. To remain unbeaten. With their second loss of the weekend, the Wildcats dropped to 8-8 overall, and with the there second win of the weekend, the Stars improved to 16-0 on the season. At the halfway point the Stars were clinching on to a one-point lead, but in the third quarter they were able to build on it with the addition of 18 points to the Wildcat’s 10. But in the final frame, the Wildcats came roaring back with 17 more points. It was close up till the end, but the Stars managed to score 12 more fourth-quarter points to take the fourpoint victory and stay undefeated. A. J. Long Soldier led the Wildcat offense with 14 points, but got help from Elias Goes Ahead with 12, Isaiah martin with 11 and Taylor First Raised who finished with nine. And for the Stars, Jared Parker led with 16 points and Eric Schildt added 14. The North Star Knights suffered a loss on Friday, but were able to bounce back on Saturday. The Knights were playing at home where they defeated the Chester/J-I Hawks 40-32. With the win the Knights moved to 5-10 overall, and with the loss the Hawks moved to 10-6 overall in the 10C. It started out looking like the Hawks were looking at their second win of the weekend, but the Knights overcame a four-point deficit after the half on two defensive quarters. In the third, the Hawks were held to six points, and in the fourth they were held to only five. But on the other side, the Knights put up nine in the third, and 14 in the fourth to come from behind and get the win. Trevor Violett led the way with 11 points for the Hawks, and Garrett Graff pitched in his 10. The Knights only had one player in double figures, with Kellan Warren leading with 13 points. And wrapping up this weekend's play were the 9C Box Elder Bears. But in a tough loss, the Heart Butte Warriors defeated the Bears 79-63. With the loss the Bears dropped to 6-9 overall. The Bears were able to enter the game and put up 14 points in the first quarter, but the Warriors 24 points stole the show. And from that point, the Bears were playing from behind. At the halfway point the Bears trailed by five, with another 18-point quarter from the Warriors they moved further out of reach. When it was all said and done, the Warriors built on their quick start, and got the 17-point victory over the Bears. Daniel Nault gave an outstanding effort with a season-high 36 points, but being the only Bear in double figures wasn’t enough to get past the Warriors who ended with four players with at least 11 points.
