Hi-Line Boys Roundup: Chester/J-I, HLP sweeps 9C games

As district tournaments creep ever closer for teams along the Hi-Line, this past weekend was an important one for boys basketball teams in the area as they tried to improve their position in the standings, while also trying to play their best basketball with the postseason right around the corner.

Things started off in Chester last Thursday, when the Chester/J-I Hawks played host to the North Star Knights in a battle of District 9C foes. The Hawks, who are new to the 9C this season, took control of the game right from the start, outscoring the Knights 21-7 in the first quarter. By halftime, the Hawks’ lead was 39-15 and from there, they cruised to the 62-33 win.

Brandon Richter played a key role in the win for C/J-I with a total of 16 points. Corey Richter pitched in with 13 and Justin May added 12. Devon Miller finished with 14 points in the loss for North Star. Matthew Helmbrecht also contributed with eight.

Friday, the Hawks turned around and paid a visit to the Big Sandy Pioneers, looking for their second straight win in district play and thanks to a 20-point effort from Justin May, that is exactly what they got, defeating Big Sandy 54-32. Brandon Richter had another solid game with 10 points, while Geno Menard led the Pioneers with 15. Big Sandy also got 11 points from Kyle Strutz in the loss.

In other 9C action Friday night, the first-place Box Elder Bears continued their dominance of the league with an 82-44 road victory over Fort Benton-Geraldine. Jerrod Four Colors led all scorers for the Bears, who managed to get four players in double figures. The others were Jake Jones with 17, Clayton Morsette Jr. with 14 and Pernell Morsette with 13. Ben Hulme led the way for FB-G with 14 points. Toren Andreason finished with 11.

In the only other district game of the night, the Hays-Lodge Pole Thunderbirds paid a visit to the Turner Tornadoes and, thanks to some lights-out shooting, the T-Birds cruised to a 102-66 victory over Turner. HLP scored at least 30 points in all four quarters of the game. The Tornadoes kept pace for a while and after the first quarter, they trailed just 31-22. But in the second quarter, the T-Birds really got a leg up by outscoring Turner 30-13, which gave HLP an insurmountable 61-35 halftime lead.

Tyson Shambo led the T-Birds with 22 points. Brian Wing also had a good night for HLP with 18, while Frank Runs Above added 17. Tough Snow also contributed with 10. Despite the loss, Lucas Reed had an outstanding game and posted a game-high 24 points. Tristian Billmayer added 18 and Brett Van Valkenburg also had 14.

Chinook, the other only 9C team in action Friday, paid a visit to Class B rival Shelby and despite a solid effort, fell short 55-40. Lane Seymour led the Sugarbeeters with 17 points in the loss. Cody McCraken pitched in with 10 and Travis Hamilton added eight.

Following the news that the Rocky Boy Northern Stars would have to forfeit all nine of their previous wins last Friday, the Stars got back on the court that same night against the Malta Mustangs and took out their frustrations with a 77-66 victory. Malta jumped out to a 25-21 lead at the end of the first quarter, but Rocky Boy battled back in the second, and after holding the Mustangs to just two points in the stanza, the Stars held a 32-27 halftime advantage.

In the third quarter, Rocky Boy extended its lead by six more points and then put together a 23-point fourth quarter to hold off Malta for the non-conference victory. Bubby Gopher led the way for Rocky Boy with 18 points. Cecil LaFromboise continued his strong season with 17, Junior Day Child added 14 and Skylar Parisian had 11.

In other Class B action Friday, the Harlem Wildcats of the District 2B took on conference rival Glasgow on the road and put together a respectable showing in a 79-63 defeat. The Scotties, who came into the game undefeated in district play, jumped out to a 25-16 lead after one but the Wildcats wouldn't go away and by the time the fourth quarter rolled around, Harlem trailed just 54-52. Yet, the Scotties outscored the Wildcats 25-11 in the final stanza to seal the 16-point victory. Tristan Gone put together another solid performance in the loss for Harlem as he finished with a game-high 24 points. Corbin Brockie contributed with 11 as did Keanhna Little. Dutch Helgeson added 10.

After falling to Glasgow Friday, the Wildcats returned home on Saturday to take on Shelby in non-district play. And again, the Wildcats played tough, and after an incredible third quarter, in which the Wildcats outscored Shelby 33-10, they led 59-45 going into the fourth. Yet, Harlem could not hold the lead as Shelby scored 27 in the fourth to force overtime, where the Coyotes would eventually come out on top by the score of 86-76. Markus Henry had a solid outing in the loss for Harlem with 21 points. Gone scored 17 and Brockie also pitched in with 12.

One night after knocking off Malta, Rocky Boy paid a visit to Choteau in a battle of District 1B teams. The Stars were looking for their second straight win but in the end, it was not meant to be as the Bulldogs ran away from Rocky Boy 64-47.

After falling to Shelby in non-conference play, Chinook hosted Turner Saturday night and got back to its winning ways with a 75-35 trouncing of the Tornadoes. Ian McIntosh had a breakout game with 22 points to lead all scorers. Seymour played up to his usual standards with 17, while McCraken added 14 as did Wade Schneider. Billmayer led the way for the Tornadoes with 11, Reed had seven.

Also Saturday in the 9C, Box Elder welcomed Big Sandy to the Bears' den and it was not a pretty sight as the Bears ravaged the Pioneers by a final score of 78-22. Morsette Jr. finished with a game-high 21 points to lead Box Elder. Four Colors added 15. Menard was the only Pioneer to reach double figures and finished with 10 points.

Rounding out the weekend action in the 9C Saturday was the T-Birds paying a visit to Fort Benton-Geraldine. HLP, which is among the top teams in the 9C, certainly played liked it and trounced the Longhorns by the score of 83-50.

Thursday

Chester/J-I 62, North Star 33

North Star 7 8 11 7 - 33

C/J-I 21 18 12 11 - 62

North Star - Willie Gilead 2, Gavin Spinler 5, Devon Miller 14, K. Borlaug 2, Matthew Helmbrecht 8, T. Nerat 2.

C/J-I - Brandon Richter 16, B. Hawks 1, Brandon Theel 5, J. Miles 2, Troy Harmon 9, Corey Richter 13, Justin May 12, B. Tempel 4.

Friday

Chester/J-I 54, Big Sandy 32

Big Sandy 8 6 4 14 - 32

C/J-I 16 3 23 12 - 54

Big Sandy - L Edwards 6, Geno Menard 15, Kyle Strutz 11. Totals: 13 3-8

C/J-I - Brandon Richter 10, B. Hawks 2, Brandon Theel 8, J. Miles 2, Troy Harmon 7, Corey Richter 5, Justin May 20. Totals: 24 5-8.

3-pointers - Strutz 3, C. Richter. Total fouls - BS 10, CJI 11.

Box Elder 82, Fort Benton-Geraldine 44

Box Elder 24 19 24 15 - 82

FB-GER 8 10 14 12 - 44

Box Elder - Brandon The Boy 6, Clayton Morsette Jr. 14, Jake Jones 17, Jerrod Four Colors 18, Chas Robertson 3, Pernell Morsette 13, Shane Ketchum 2, Jacob Bradley 6, Petey Azure 2, Alex Gardipee 2. Totals:

34 5-11.

Fort Benton-Geraldine - R. Kurtz 2, T. Arganbright 3, E. Toon 6, Sean Bronec 5, R. Briese 2, Ben Hulme 14, T.oren Andreasen 12. Totals: 19 2-9.

3-pointers - The Boy 2, C. Morsette Jr., Jones 3, Robertson, P. Morsette 3, Arganbright, Hulme 2. Total fouls - BE 13, FBG 8.

Shelby 55, Chinook 40

Chinook 11 7 13 9 – 40

Shelby 17 8 16 14 – 55

Chinook: Lane Seymour 17, Ian McIntosh 3, Cody McCracken 10, Travis Hamilton 8, Wade Schneider 2. 16 4-7 40.

Shelby: TJ Reynolds 8, Aaron White 12, Andrew Johnson 2, Ryan Clark 11, Brad Fretheim 10, Tyler White 12. 20 12-18 55.

3pointers: McIntosh, McCracken 2, Hamilton, A White 3. Fouled out: Seymour. Fouls: Chinook 18, Shelby 16.

Rocky Boy 77, Malta 66

Malta 25 2 16 23 -- 66

Rocky Boy 21 11 22 23 -- 77

Malta: N. Costin 23, G. Galt 5, T. Carney 7, J. Costin 6, A. Williamson 19, J. Bishop 2, O. Welch 4. Totals: 25 11-15.

Rocky Boy: Bubby Gopher 18, Isiah Murie 2, Skylar Parisian 11, Junior Day Child 14, Shadow LaForge 4, Lance Parker 2, Lonnie Plain Bull 9, Cecil LaFromboise 17. Totals: 32 12-14.

Fouls: Malta 16, Rocky Boy 16. Fouled out: Galt, N. Costin. 3-pointers: N. Costin 4, T. Carney 1, Gopher 3, Parisian 1, Plain Bull 1.

Hays-Lodge Pole 102, Turner 66

HLP 31 30 30 31 – 102

Turner 22 13 15 16 – 66

Hays-Lodge Pole – Jasper Lewis 6, Elijah Blackcrow 2, Tyson Shambo 22, Damon Castillo 8, Brian Wing 18, Lance Strike 7, Sterling White Cow 7, Frank Runs Above 17, Darnell Parisian 5, Tough Snow 10. Totals: 45 10-15.

Turner – E. Harmon 3, T. Humphreys 7, Tristian Billmayer 18, Brett VanValkenburg 14, Lucas Reed 24. Totals: 24 15-37.

3-pointers – Wing, Whitecow, Harmon, Humphreys, Billmayer. Total fouls – HLP 26, Turner 14. Fouled out – Whitecow. Technical foul – White Cow

Glasgow 79, Harlem 63

Harlem 6 19 17 11 – 63

Glasgow 25 16 13 25 – 79

Harlem – Corbin Brokie 11, Dutch Helgeson 10, Marcus Henry 3, Michael Butterfly 4, Keahna Little 11, Tristan Gone 24.

Glasgow – Jason Thibault 21, Jake Page 11, Chase fossum 24, Keil Krumwiede 14, Jake Kolstad 8, Zach Miller 1.

3-pointers – Brockie, Helgeson, Henry, Little 3, Gone, Thibault, Kolstad. Total fouls – Harlem 26, Glasgow 13. Fouled out -- Helgeson, Henry, Fossum. Technical fouls – Harlem bench.

Saturday

Chinook 75, Turner 35

Turner 8 9 5 13 – 35

Chinook 29 25 8 13 – 75

Turner: Welsh 3, Harmon 3, Humphreys 9, Tristian Billmayer 11, Brett Van Valkenburg 2, Lucas Reed 7. Totals: 10 9-13.

Chinook: Lane Seymour 17, Ian McIntosh 22, Cody McCracken 14, Zach Schellin 2, Travis Hamilton 6, Wade Schneider 14. Totals: 31 12-19.

3-pointers: Welsh 1, Harmon 1, Humphryes 2, Billmayer 2, Seymour 1.

Shelby 86, Harlem 76, OT

Shelby 19 16 10 27 14 -- 86

Harlem 19 7 33 13 4 -- 76

Shelby – TJ Reynolds 7, Aaron White 7, Andrew Johnson 13, Ryan Clark 25, Brad Fritheim 5, Tyler White 29. Totals: 24 30-41.

Harlem – Corbin Brockie 12, Dutch Helgeson 3, John Bell 3, Markus Henry 21, Harry Sandcrane 2, Michael Butterfly 7, Keahna Little 9, Tristan Gone 17. Totals: 28 9-16.

3-point goals – Reynolds 1, A. White 1, Johnson 1, T. White 5, Brockie 3, Henry 2, Butterfly 2, Little 1. Total fouls – Shelby 14, Harlem 37. Fouled out – Brockie, Helgeson, Henry, Little, Gone. Technical fouls – Henry, Harlem Coach.

Box Elder 78, Big Sandy 22

Big Sandy 7 6 7 2 -- 22

Box Elder 20 23 28 7 -- 78

Big Sandy – L. Edwards 4, S. Wing 2, J. Belcourt 2, G. Menard 10, K. Strutz 4. Totals: 8 6-15.

Box Elder – Bodis Duran 8, Clayton Morsette Jr. 21, Jake Jones 8, Jerrod Four Colors 15, Talon Morsette 6, Elias Robertson 2, Quinn Baker 5, Pernell Morsette 3, Shane Ketchum 4, Alex Gardipee 4, Jacob Bradley 2. Totals: 33 6-8.

3-point goals – C. Morsette Jr. 3, Four Colors 1, T. Morsette 2. Total fouls – Big Sandy 9, Box Elder 15. Fouled out – None.