Morning Stars make a great run at Northern B

At the start of the 2014 Northern B girls divisional tournament, few teams likely saw the Rocky Boy Morning Stars as a big threat to get to the Class B state tournament. But somebody forgot to tell Rocky Boy that.

Over the weekend at the Northern B in Conrad, the Morning Stars played their best basketball of the season and wound up finishing in third place. Rocky Boy didn’t earn a challenge game due to Fairfield beating Malta in the championship game Saturday night, but nothing will take away the great tournament the Morning Stars had. Since moving up to Class B five years ago, the Rocky Boy girls had only advanced to the Northern B one other time, but in their second trip to divisionals, the Morning Stars certainly made the most of it, and it ended with a thrilling win over Wolf Point in Saturday night’s consolation game.

The tournament started Thursday where the Morning Stars had to face unbeaten Malta in the first round. The 2B champion M-Ettes swept Rocky Boy during the regular season, but the Morning Stars gave Malta all it wanted Thursday. Trailing 26-16 at halftime, Rocky Boy’s defense stymied Malta in the second half. The Morning Stars clawed back into the game, and cut the Malta lead down to four points in the fourth quarter. Rocky Boy couldn’t get any closer and lost 41-32, but it was an impressive performance, and one that set the tone for the rest of the tournament.

Jai-lynn Day Child paced the Morning Stars with 12 points and Kylee Raining Bird added 10 in the loss.

Friday afternoon saw Rocky Boy bounce back in a big way, as the Morning Stars blasted Glasgow 70-54. Rocky Boy jumped out to a 23-11 lead and never let the Scotties get close. Chanal Standing Rock was the catalyst, scoring a game-high 28 points for Rocky Boy, while she got help from Day Child’s 15 points and 10 from Jude The Boy.

The win kept Rocky Boy’s season alive, and Saturday morning, the Morning Star’s took their season a step further when they bested 1B rival Conrad 51-45 in overtime. Rocky Boy held a slim lead in the first half, but the Cowgirls pulled ahead late in the third quarter. From there, it was a tense battle which saw the game tied at 39-39 at the end of regulation. But in the overtime period, Rocky Boy took over, outscoring Conrad 12-6 to advance to the consolation game.

Jude The Boy stepped up big for the Morning Stars, scoring a career-high 20 points, and Standing Rock added 11, keeping Rocky Boy’s dream of reaching the state tournament still very much alive.

And the Morning Stars did all they could to make that dream come true as they beat Wolf Point 41-38 in Saturday night’s consolation game. The Morning Stars raced out to a 15-5 lead in the first quarter, and led the whole way. They had to hold the Wolves off in the final minutes, but they did so and earned their highest finish ever at the Northern B.

In what turned out to be their final game of the season, the Morning Stars got 16 points from Standing Rock and 11 by Day Child. Rocky Boy ended the season with a 13-11 overall record.

The Northern B wasn’t as kind to the Harlem Wildcats, but just getting to Conrad was a big step.

Harlem was drubbed by eventual champion Fairfield, 64-11 Thursday night. The Eagles scored 33 points in the first quarter, and the team was able to pull its starters the rest of the way. Jaycee Werk scored three points for the Wildcats.

Harlem played better in Friday’s loser-out game, but was still eliminated from the tourney with a 53-32 loss to 2B rival Wolf Point. A 20-6 run by the Wolves in the second quarter was too much for the Wildcats to overcome. Teche Ereaux scored nine points and Werk added seven for the Wildcats, who finished the season with a 6-17 record.

In Saturday night’s much-anticipated championship game, the Fairfield Eagles ran their amazing winning streak to 100 games by beating Malta 58-45. It was the first loss of the season for the M-Ettes, but both teams will still move on to this week’s Class B state tournament in Bozeman.

NORTHERN B GIRLS

AT CONRAD

THURSDAY

Malta 41, Rocky Boy 32

Malta 9 17 9 6 - 41

Rocky Boy 8 8 9 7 - 32

Malta - Marley Manoukian 2 0-0 4, Sophia Stiles 3 2-3 8, Markelle Lett 2 0-0 5, Hailey Nicholson 4 0-0 8, Mercedes Stiles 4 0-2 10, Darby Schye 2 2-4 6. Totals: 17 4-9.

Rocky Boy - Minnie The Boy 0 2-2 2, Jailynn DayChild 5 1-2 12, Lauren Four Colors 1 0-0 2, Jurnei Laforge 1 0-0 2, Chanal Standing Rock 1 2-2 4, Kylee Raining Bird 5 0-0 10. Totasl: 13 5-6.

Total fouls: Malta 10, Rocky Boy 9. Fouled out: none. 3-pointers: Lett, Stiles 2, DayChild.

Fairfield 64, Harlem 11

Fairfield 33 14 9 8 - 64

Harlem 5 2 4 0 - 11

Fairfield - Jill Barta 4 0-1 9, Taleigh Isakson 2 2-3 6, Brooke Poor 1 0-0 2, Kourtney Coverdell 6 1-2 14, Kaylynn Coverdell 8 2-4 18, Allie Steinbach 2 1-4 5, Austin Rogers 0 1-4 1, Kaylee Baeth 2 0-0 4, Aspen Kolwyck 1 0-0 2, Claire Ruckman 1 1-1 3. Totals: 27 8-19.

Harlem - Mart Ereaux 1 0-0 2, Ticia Cliff 1 0-0 2, Monique Doney 0 2-2 2, Brooke Levaldo 1 0-0 2, Erin Lamere 0 0-2 0, Jaylee Werk 1 0-1 3. Totals: 4 2-5 11.

Total fouls: Fairfield 11, Harlem 16. Fouled out: Doney. 3-pointers: Barta, Kourtney Coverdell, Werk.

FRIDAY

Rocky Boy 70, Glasgow 54 (lo)

Rocky Boy 23 13 11 23 - 70

Glasgow 11 12 10 21 - 54

Rocky Boy - Minnie The Boy 3 2-5 9, Jaylynn Day Child 5 5-7 15, Lauren Four Colors 1 0-0 2, Cherise Day Child 1 0-0 2, Jude The Boy 3 4-6 10, Jurnee LaForge 1 0-0 2, Chanal Standing Rock 12 1-5 28, Kylie Raining Bird 1 0-0 2. Totals: 27 12-23.

Glasgow - Amanda Wolfe 0 1-3 1, Abbi Kolstad 4 10-12 18, Delaney Holzworth 4 0-0 10, Haylee Redfield 1 1-2 3, Khloe Krumwiede 3 1-2 7, Lexis Synan 3 3-10 9, Jordan Kulczyk 1 0-2 2, Leinie Hughes 1 2-6 4. Totals: 17 18-37.

Total fouls: Rocky Boy 23, Glasgow 21. Fouled out: Wolfe. 3-pointers: The Boy, Standing Rock 3, Holzworth 2.

Wolf Point 53, Harlem 32 (lo)

Wolf Point 7 20 12 14 - 53

Harlem 4 6 11 11 - 32

Wolf Point - Christean Holen 3 4-5 10, Shelby Hanks 3 4-6 10, Mariah Weeks 2 0-0 4, Sonica Archdale 0 2-4 2, Dawndra Greywater 2 5-5 10, Tia Black Eagle 2 1-2 5, Sarah Hafner 3 0-1 6, Ky'Lee Driftwood 1 0-1 2, Jessica Bauer 2 0-0 4. Totals: 18 16-24.

Harlem - Mari Ereaux 2 0-2 5, Teche Ereaux 2 5-11 9, Coco Moore 0 3-4 3, Ticia Cliff 1 1-2 3, Monique Doney 1 3-4 5, Brooke Levaldo 0 0-3 0, Jaycee Werk 2 3-7 7. Totals: 9 15-33.

Total fouls: Wolf POint 23, Harlem 18. Fouled out: Doney. 3-pointers: Greywater, M. Ereaux

SATURDAY

Rocky Boy 51, Conrad 45 (ot/lo)

Conrad 6 10 14 9 6 - 45

Rocky Boy 8 10 11 10 12 - 51

Conrad - Taryn Erickson 2, Haylet Orcutt 6, Makayla Barring 3, Michalea DeBoo 14, Emily Harwood 14, Morgan VanDyke 6. Totals: 15 14-20.

Rocky Boy - Minnie The Boy 6, Jai-lynn Day Child 4, Lauren Four Colors 4, Cherise Day Child 2, Jude The Boy 20 Jurnea LaForge 2, Chanal Standing Rock 11, Kylee Raining Bird 2. Totals: 15 19-29.

Total fouls -- CON 24, RB 19. Fouled out - Barringer, DeBoo. 3-pointers - VanDyke, J. The Boy, Standing Rock.

Rocky Boy 41, Wolf Point 38 (3rd)

Wolf Point 5 11 11 11 - 38

Rocky Boy 15 9 10 7 - 41

Wolf Point - Shelby Hanks 13, Mariah Weeks 3, Sonica Archdale 10, Tia Black Eagle 1, Ky'Lee Driftwood 11.

Rocky Boy - Minnie The Boy 2, Jailynn Day Child 11, Lauren Four Colors 4, Jude The Boy 2, Chanel Standing Rock 16, Kylee Raining Bird 6.