Thunderbirds soar on day one

The first two games of the first round of the District 9C boys tournament turned out to be complete mismatches. But in the third game of the day, it looked like the North Star Knights were going to buck that trend.

However, the Hays-Lodge Pole Thunderbirds had other ideas. In a game that North Star led 7-2 in the first quarter, third-seeded HLP turned it into a laugher as the T-Birds buried the Knights 69-41 Thursday afternoon at the Havre High gymnasium.

With the win, HLP (14-5) advanced to tonight’s semifinal game where the T-Birds will battle with second-seeded Chinook.

“We always talk about staying patient,” veteran HLP head coach Charlie Ereaux said. “We’re a young team, and we need to learn to be patient on the offensive and defensive ends of the court. We always talk about not panicking if we get behind. And the boys didn’t do that tonight. I thought they stayed patient and let the game come to them.”

HLP’s patience paid off, as North Star came out and played inspired basketball early on. The Knights got two baskets inside from Payton Peterson, and when Gavin Spinler dropped an early 3-pointer, the Knights were ahead 7-2. From there though, HLP sharp-shooter Tyson Shambo took over. Shambo answered Spinler’s three with three straight triples, and in less than two minutes, the T-Birds had gone from being down five to leading 11-7. Sterling White Cow would add a three of his own to put the T-Birds ahead 16-10 after the first quarter.

And though the Knights were only down six points after eight minutes, the damage had been done. HLP rattled off a 17-2 run in the second quarter, including another bomb each from White Cow and Shambo. Matthew Helmbrecht stopped the run momentarily with an inside bucket, but two straight scores by Tough Snow and another by Shambo, as well as a full-court press that was causing the Knights all kinds of problems, sent the T-Birds into halftime with a commanding 42-15 lead.

“Our defense got us started tonight,” Ereaux said. “I thought we did a good job of keeping the pressure on them (Knights), and that got us some extra scores.”

North Star did what it could to turn things around in the third quarter. Behind the inside play of Peterson, the Knights outscored the T-Birds 16-10 in the third, and closed the gap to 51-31. But it wasn’t enough, and HLP cruised into tonight’s semifinals and a highly-anticipated showdown with Chinook.

“We’re going to have to play that well again on the defensive end tomorrow night,” Ereaux said. “That’s what gets us going. The offensive will come, but we have to play smart and play disciplined on defense.”

Shambo was spectacular Thursday, scoring a game-high 27 points, including four treys. White Cow hit three bombs and scored 12 points, while Snow added eight. North Star (5-14), which faces Big Sandy in a loser-out game today, got 11 points and nine boards from Peterson, while Helmbrecht had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Today’s second semifinal, between the T-Birds and Sugarbeeters will tip at 5:30 p.m. inside the HHS gymnasium. Chinook swept HLP in the regular season. The winner of today’s game will not only get a shot at the 9C title Saturday night, but will also clinch a berth in the Northern C next week in Great Falls.

Hays-Lodge Pole 69, North Star 41

North Star 16 26 10 17 – 69

HLP 10 5 16 10 – 41

North Star – Gavin Spinler 2-10 1-3 6, Jimmy Snow 2-4 2-3 7, Payton Peterson 4-8 3-8 11, Devon Miller 1-7 1-2 3, Keevan Borlaug 0-1 2-4 2, Mathew Helmbrecht 4-14 2-4 10, Chris Lavery 0-0 2-2 2. Totals: 13-53 13-28 41.

HLP – Jasper Lewis 2-5 0-1 4, Tyson Shambo 11-20 1-2 27, Damon Castillo 2-4 0-0 4, Brian Wing 1-2 1-2 4, Lance Strike 2-5 0-0 4, Sterling White Cow 4-10 1-1 12, Frank Runs Above 1-9 1-4 3, Darnell Parisian 1-3 2-3 4, Tough Snow 4-8 0-0 8. Totals: 28-73 6-13 69.

Halftime: HLP 42-15. 3-pointers: Shambo 4, White Cow 3, Spinler 1, Snow 1. Fouls: HLP 19, North Star 12. Fouled out: None.