Stars advance at Northern B

The Rocky Boy Stars are not just the defending Class B state champions, but the defending Northern B state champs as well. And they got their Northern B title defense off to a good start Thursday in Shelby.

In the opening round of the 2011 Northern, considered the most difficult tournament in all of Montana high school basketball, the Stars took care of the Glasgow Scotties 62-40, setting up a semifinal date with No. 1-ranked Wolf Point tonight.

Glasgow stayed with Stars for a quarter, but then Rocky Boy turned on the jets. The Stars went on a 19-5 spurt in the second quarter and led 30-18 at intermission. In the third quarter, it was Rocky Boy's defense which helped put the Scotties away as Glasgow scored just one point and didn't record a field goal. By the time the third period came to a close, the Stars were up 43-19 and the game was all but over.

Senior Garrett LaFromboise had a huge game for the Stars, scoring 23 points and grabbing 18 rebounds. Skylar Laforge chipped in with 12 points and Jakoya Oats added 11. Glasgow got nine points from Chaz Gordon in the loss.

Now, Rocky Boy (19-3) will face Wolf Point, the only undefeated team in Montana. The Wolves had a scare from Choteau on Thursday afternoon, but survived 60-52, which means they'll take on the Stars tonight for a berth in the championship game. In the other first round games Thursday night, Shelby, coached by former Havre High standout Tom Reynolds, beat Plentywood 66-48 behind 24 points from Chase White. And in the nightcap, Cut Bank outlasted Malta 46-36 in a defensive scrum.

Tonight's Northern B semifinals start with Rocky Boy and Wolf Point at 6:30, followed by rivals Shelby and Cut Bank at 8. The top two teams from the Northern B advance to next week's Class B state tournament in Great Falls.

Wolf Point 60, Choteau 52

Choteau 13 8 13 18 — 60

Wolf Point 13 14 17 16 — 60

Choteau — Jacob Horn 1-3 1-2 4, Chase Crabtree 2-5 2-2 8, Kyle Gollehon 1-5 0-0 2, David Lightner 2-5 0-0 4, Nate Durocher 3-7 2-2 10, Austin Walker 2-4 0-0 4, Isaac Howard 4-14 4-8 13, Chris Schlesser 3-10 1-2 7. Totals: 18-53 10-16.

Wolf Point — Taylor Hanks 1-5 0-0 3, Jesse Driftwood 8-16 1-1 17, Easton Copenhaver 3-9 0-0 6, Matthew Weeks 2-6 0-0 5, Martin Weeks 2-6 0-0 4, Mechiah Ziloski 5-11 2-3 12, Jake Baur 6-8 1-2 13. Totals: 27-61 4-6.

Fouls: Choteau 10, Wolf Point 16. Fouled out: Baur (WP).

3-pointers: Horn 1, Chase Crabtree 2, Durocher 2, Howard 1, Hanks 1, Matthew Weeks 1.

Rocky Boy 62, Glasgow 40

Glasgow 7 11 1 12 — 40

Rocky Boy 11 19 13 19 — 62

Glasgow — Bryan Larson 1-9 3-4 6, Jeff Irving 0-1 1-2 1, Lane Herbert 2-6 0-0 4, Grant Legare 2-6 0-0 5, Kyle Stein 1-1 0-0 2, Walt Dalbey 0-1 0-0 0, Chaz Gordon 4-13 1-3 9, Seth Johnson 4-7 0-0 8, Derek Hopkins 0-6 0-0 0, T.J. Synan 2-5 1-1 5, Greg Fewer 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 16-56 6-11.

Rocky Boy — Leisin Oates 1-9 1-2 3, Garrett Anderson 1-1 0-0 2, Jakoya Oats 4-7 0-0 11, Skylar Laforge 5-8 1-4 12, Justin Running Bird 1-1 0-0 2, Shane Bacon 0-0 1-2 1, Kelsey Standing Rock 1-3 0-0 2, Cody Abbott 0-1 0-0 0, Cody LaMere 0-2 0-0 0, Garret Lafromboise 10-17 3-9 23, Darien Lafromboise 2-6 2-3 6. Totals:25-55 8-20.

Fouls: Glasgow 19, Rocky Boy 12. Fouled out: none. 3-pointers: Larson 1, Legare 1, J. Oats 3, Laforge 1.

Shelby 66, Plentywood 48

Plentywood 10 11 10 17 — 48

Shelby 13 14 21 18 — 66

Plentywood — Mark Angvick 0-1 1-2 1, Brady Osksa 0-1 0-0 0, Rob Nyby 4-13 0-0 10, Trey Howard 1-1 0-0 3, Cody Lindblom 4-6 0-0 9, Tyler Ordahl 1-1 0-0 3, Matt McCoy 2-8 2-2 6, Jackson Marsh 3-7 0-1 6, Pres Harris 3-7 1-1 7, Justin Rueb 1-2 0-0 3. 19-47 4-6.

Shelby — Brennan Hayes 1-1 1-2 4, Chase Ballantyne 2-9 1-4 6, Chase White 10-21 2-2 24, Robby Miller 1-3 0-0 3, Kellan Clark 2-2 0-0 4, Matt Alford 4-5 1-2 9, Jordyn Irvin 4-10 1-2 10, Dane Alford 3-4 0-0 6. 27-55 6-12.

Fouls: Plentywood 11, Shelby 10. Fouled out: none. 3-pointers: Nyby 2, Howard 1, Lindblom 1, Ordahl 1, Rueb 1, Hayes 1, Ballentyne 1, White 2, Miller 1, Irvin 1.

Cut Bank 46, Malta 36

Malta 12 4 13 7 — 36

Cut Bank 13 6 7 20 — 46

Malta — Kendall Denham 2-8 0-2 4, Landon Costin 0-4 0-0 0, Dane Stiles 4-13 0-0 10, Brett Amestoy 0-2 0-0 0, Zach Handley 3-5 2-2 9, Kyle Boos 1-6 0-0 2, Jarvis Grahm 5-8 1-2 11. Totals: 15-46 3-6.

Cut Bank — Zach Altenburg 0-5 3-4 3, Kyle Berkram 1-3 3-6 6, Zach Evans 1-2 0-0 2, Dylan Smith 6-8 2-3 14, Scott Broere 0-1 0-0 0, J.J. Lighthizer 0-11 7-10 7, Nate Kavanagh 1-3 0-0 2, A J Sheble 5-14 2-2 12. Totals: 14-47 17-25.