Pioneers set a date for state

GREAT FALLS - Devin Genereux might not be the most dominant personality on the Big Sandy boys basketball team.

In fact, the unassuming Genereux is more likely to cut off coach Roy Lackner's pony tail rather than do something to draw attention to himself on the court.

Saturday night, Genereux's play drew plenty of attention. The junior guard harassed, harangued and hurried Dutton-Brady's Colby Bliss while sinking three big three-pointers to help lead the Pioneers to their first Northern C Divisional title and a berth in next weekend's Class C State tournament in Billings.

With the Pioneers, it can be easy to get caught up in the "Big 3" of seniors Gage Brumwell, Jay Jamieson and Mason Ophus, but it was Genereux and Skylar Pearson who put the markings on a Big Sandy championship.

Genereux drew the duty of shadowing the All-State Bliss in Big Sandy's diamond-and-1 defense and he proved up to the challenge. Bliss was hounded into a 3-10 shooting performance and finished with 12 points, about 12 under his season average, with most of the points coming with the game out of reach.

"Genereux did a nice job," Lackner said. "Bliss wasn't getting many shots. But he's going to get some points. He's smart and knows how to draw fouls and get to the free-throw line. But he wasn't getting much."

It wasn't the first time Bliss has seen a gimmick defense, said head coach Dean Gamradt. But it was the first time that he saw a defense that played it so well.

"The other teams haven't played it quite so well,"Gamradt said. "Against other teams, we usually shoot them out of it. But they have good players to support that defense."

With his teammates bottling up the rest of Dutton-Brady, Genereux was able to go from pine time to prime time. After barely playing in the Pioneers' semifinal win, he barely had time to catch his breath as he shadowed Bliss from end-line to end-line.

"Coach told me it was my job to keep him under 10 points," Genereux said. "I think we did a pretty good job. He wasn't getting many shots and after a while he just stopped trying to take them and looked to pass."

Unfortunately for Bliss, the recipients of those passes weren't faring much better than he was. With Big Sandy basically daring Dutton-Brady to shoot, the Cardinals bombed away from the outside, launching three-pointer after three-pointer. At first, the strategy seemed to work as Matt Tranmer and Orrie Gondeiro combined to knock down five three-pointers in the first half to keep things somewhat close.

"They did exactly what I thought they would do and slow it down and try and spread us out," Lackner said. "But they were hitting so many three-pointers early on that it kept them in the game."

Like so many teams that have tried to hand Big Sandy that first loss of the season, the D-Backs simply couldn't keep shooting at such a high percentage from long range.

Indeed, the shots that were falling so easily for Tranmer and Gondeiro started clanking harmlessly off the rim. And Big Sandy was there to gobble up the rebounds.

"We boarded well and only gave them one shot at a time," Lackner said. "If they're just getting one shot and it's a three-pointer, that's a tough way to win. We knew we were going to get points."

But the inside wasn't there early on. Initially, Gamradt packed the lane with a 1-3-1 zone in hopes of minimizing Big Sandy's size advantage while hoping that the Pioneers' shooting might not be hitting.

"We had to take a chance and give them some outside shots because we knew we couldn't defend them inside," Gamradt said. "But they were on fire."

Genereux sank all three of his three-pointers in the first quarter and Pearson added another as Big Sandy made Dutton-Brady pay for the wide-open looks, taking a 21-16 first-quarter lead.

The D-Backs really slowed it down in the second quarter, holding the ball outside for extended periods of time and even cut the lead to 23-22 on a Tranmer three-pointer. The Pioneers answered with a pair of Jamieson three-pointers and a nifty play in which he made an impossible catch on a fast break and hit a tough layup to close out the half.

"The way coach set up our offense, we knew we had a pretty good chance to get shots when we needed them," Jamieson said.

Big Sandy put Dutton-Brady away in the third quarter. Pearson's second three-pointer of the game sparked a 9-0 run that all but ended the D-Backs hopes.

Jamieson finished with a game-high 18 points and Brumwell added 16 in the win. Pearson finished with 10 and Genereux added nine.

Dutton-Brady was led by Bliss' hard-earned 12 points, while Tranmer added 11.

With high hopes and expectations all season, Lackner was just happy to come away with a victory and qualify for the state tournament.

"We're just happy we can't be challenged," Lackner said. "If you don't get to state, you can't win state. And the goal all along was to get to state."

Now that the Pioneers' have qualified for state, the goal is to win and complete their perfect season.

It's something that Gamradt sees as a possibility.

Bears drop both games

The Bears lost their torrid shooting somewhere in the drive to Great Falls. After shooting exceptionally well in the District 9C tournament from three-point range, the Bears were ice cold at the divisional, dropping a pair oftough games.

In Thursday's first-round, Box Elder managed just nine fourth-quarter points, losing to Highwood 54-45.

The Mountaineers slowed the pace of play down to a crawl. Box Elder was forced to foul to stop the clock and get possession and Highwood iced the game away from the free-throw line.

Aaron Henry and Tim Rosette scored 13 points each to pace the Bears.

On Friday morning, the Bears were eliminated by eventual third-place finisher Judith Gap. Box Elder's fourth-quarter woes continued as Judith Gap outscored the Bears 24-8 in the fourth quarter to break open a 43-42 game.

Tim Rosette led the Bears with 15 points and 11 rebounds in his final high school game. Neal Rosette bounced back from a tough shooting night with 12 points, while Aaron Henry added 11 in the loss. The Bears end their season with a 16-7 record.

Big Sandy 62, Dutton-Brady 41 (1st)

Big Sandy 21 10 17 14 - 62

Dutton-Brady 16 9 10 6 - 41

Big Sandy - Gage Brumwell 8-12 0-0 16, Jay Jamieson 5-11 6-6 18, Mason Ophus 3-7 1-3 7, Adam Butler 0-0 0-0 0, Skylar Pearson 4-7 0-1 10, Adam Jesperson 0-0 0-0 0, Aaron Andrade 1-1 0-0 2, Devin Genereux 3-5 0-1 9, Justin Willis 0-0 0-0 0, Jon Sheehy 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-44 7-11 62.

Dutton-Brady - Kyle Aitch 1-9 0-0 3, Orrie Gondeiro 3-9 0-0 8, Jesse Logan 0-0 0-0 0, Jeff Blanchett 0-0 0-0 0, Wesley Barnes 0-1 0-0 0, Colby Bliss 3-10 5-5 12, Donnie Chippewa 0-1 0-0 0, Nic Wells 1-3 1-1 2, Jeff Horak 0-0 0-0 0, Josh Pittman 1-2 0-0 2, Zach Kitchin 1-1 0-0 2, Matt Tranmer 4-14 0-0 11. Totals 14-50 6-8 41.

Total fouls - Big Sandy 10, Dutton-Brady 16. Fouled out - none. Technicals - none. 3-point goals - Big Sandy 7-13 (Jamieson 2-4, Pearson 2-4, Genereux 3-5), Dutton-Brady 7-34 (Aitch 1-9, Gondeiro 2-6, Bliss 1-7, Tranmer 3-11). Rebounds - Big Sandy 34 (Ophus 9), Dutton-Brady 25 (Tranmer 7).

Big Sandy 71, Heart Butte 59 (SF)

Heart Butte 12 8 14 25 - 59

Big Sandy 15 10 29 17 - 71

Heart Butte - Justin Wells 6, E.J. Aimsback 8, Lyman Tail Feathers 18, Joe Wagner 2, Carl Aimsback 17, Robbie Aimsback 8. Totals: 25 8-10.

Big Sandy - Skylar Pearson 7, Gage Brumwell 31, Mason Ophus 14, Adam Jesperson 5, Jay Jamieson 14. Totals: 29 10-15.

Total Fouls - Big Sandy 14, Heart Butte 15. Fouled out - none. Three-point goals - Pearson 1, Jamieson 1, Jesperson 1, C. Aimsback 1.

Judith Gap 67, Box Elder 50 (lo)

Box Elder 15 16 11 8 - 50

Judith Gap 12 19 12 24 - 67

Box Elder - Aaron Henry 3 4-6 11, Neal Rosette 5 1-3 12, Tyler Henry 2 0-0 5, Kyle Parker 3 0-0 6, Tim Rosette 6 3-3 15, Elliot The Boy 0 1-2 1. Totals: 19 9-14.

Judith Gap - Weston Merrill 6 1-3 13, Calvin Walker 0 1-5 1, Evan Volf 2 5-8 10, Cedric Snelling 6 6-10 20, Jim Page 7 5-8 19, Spencer Snelling 1 0-0 3, Bill Page 0 1-2 1. Totals: 22 19-36.

Total fouls: Box Elder 26, Judith Gap 18. Fouled out: N. Rosette, T. Henry, Parker. Three-point goals: Volf 1, C. Snelling 2, S. Snelling 1, A. Henry 1, N. Rosette 1, T. Henry 1. Rebounds: Box Elder 40 (T. Rosette 11), Judith Gap 48 (J. Page 14, Merrill 12).

Highwood 54, Box Elder 45

Highwood 16 6 11 21 - 54

Box Elder 13 12 11 9 - 45

Highwood - Reid Edwards 1-4 3-4 5, Brandon Gondeiro 1-8 11-12 13, Tyler Pasha 3-10 2-2 9, Brian Davison 1-3 0-1 2, Bret Bahnmiller 8-10 1-2 17, Tanner Ripley 2-4 0-1 4, Daid Schipf 0-1 0-0 0, Troy Kotthoff 1-5 0-0 2. Totals: 18-49 17-22.

Box Elder - Aaron Henry 6-13 0-1 13, Neal Rosette 1-13 0-0 2, Tyler Henry 2-7 0-0 5, Kyle Parker 3-4 0-0 6, Tim Rosette 6-12 1-4 13, Elliott The Boy 2-4 0-0 4, Dane Haley 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 21-56 1-5.

Total fouls: Highwood 9, Box Elder 17. Fouled out: None. Three-pointers: Pasha 1, Tyler Henry 1, Aaron Henry 1. Rebounds: Highwood 42 (Pasha 12), Box Elder 30 (Tyler Henry 6).

Big Sandy 89, Great Falls Central 57

GF Central 10 11 23 13 - 57

Big Sandy 19 19 22 29 -89

GF Central - Stephen Horras 2-5 2-4 6, Zach Person 0-4 1-2 1, Gabe Krebs 5-9 0-0 13, Josh Hudson 1-4 0-0 3, Zach Henry 4-6 0-1 9, David Bernica 4-10 0-0 10, Will Joshu 5-11 0-0 10, Ben Krebs 1-2 0-0 3. Totals 23-52 1-3 57.

Big Sandy - Gage Brumwell 8-18 0-0 16, Jay Jamieson 8-15 0-0 17, Mason Ophus 8-8 0-1 16, Adam Butler 4-6 0-0 8, Skylar Pearson 4-9 3-4 12, Adam Jesperson 2-3 0-0 5, Devin Genereux 3-4 0-1 7, Justin Willis 2-2 1-2 6, Karl Osterman 1-1 0-1 2. Totals 40-67 4-8 89.

Total fouls - GF Central 9, Big Sandy 4. Fouled out - none. Technicals - none. Three-point goals - Central 10-20 (Horras 2-4, Gabe Krebs 3-5, Josh Hudson 1-3, Zach Henry 1-1, David Bernica 2-6, Ben Krebs 1-1), Big Sandy 5-11 (Jamieson 1-6, Pearson 1-1, Jesperson 1-2, Genereux 1-1, Willis 1-1). Rebounds - Central 29 (Horras 6), Big Sandy 32 (Brumwell 10).