Border hoops with a Hi-Line feel

When looking back at the high school basketball season, there is no doubt that it was a special one along the Hi-Line, with a number of great players and teams emerging.

That's why it should come as no surprise that the teams headed to the Montana-Wyoming All-Star basketball game, have a heavy Hi-Line feel to them.

The annual series, which features two games between both the girls and boys all-star teams will get underway at 5:30 p.m., Friday in Sheridan, Wyoming. Then, the series will move to Billings, where the teams will play the second part of the series Saturday night. The girls game will once again be at 5:30 p.m. followed by the boys game at 7:30 p.m. Last year, Montana won all four games in the series.

Dane Warp, a recent graduate of Havre High is no stranger to accolades and after a season in which he averaged close to 25 points per game, he will join a group of fellow elite players in a battle against the state of Wyoming.

Warp, who has already committed to play college basketball for Carroll College next season, was a three-time Class A All-State selection and earned Central A All-Conference honors all four seasons he played for the Ponies. He also helped guide HHS to three consecutive appearances in the Class A state tournament.

Warp, who has been practicing with the team for its upcoming game, may be the only Havre player on the boys team, but he isn't the only local star to make it as two players from the Box Elder Bears state championship team were named to the squad.

Brandon The Boy and Jerrod Four Colors, who each earned Class C All-State honors this past season, helped the Bears to a 26-1 record and their second state championship in three years. The Boy is going to play at the University of Montana Western next season, while Four Colors has committed to MSU-Northern.

"It's just an honor being there and being able to represent Montana," Warp said. "It has been a really great experience."

Warp also said one of the things he has enjoyed the most is playing with other talented players.

"Everyone here can shoot and create shots for others, so it's been fun playing alongside them," Warp said. "They (The Boy and Four Colors) both work really hard and they both can really shoot."

While there is going to be an enormous Hi-Line presence on the boys squad, the girls team will have some as well as Havre's own Dani Wagner has played her way onto the team after a memorable senior season.

Wagner, who was a two-time All-State selection was the second-leading scorer in Class A this past season with more than 18 points per game. She saw minutes in the last three state tournaments for Havre and was part of its state championship team back in 2014.

"It's a really great honor," Wagner said. "I have really been looking forwarding to playing in it and seeing some great competition."

The other members of the Montana girls are team are Shiloh McCormick, Haylea Elkin, Nora Klick, Hailee Bennett, Janie McRae, Tiara Gilham, Hailey Nicholson, Emerald Toh and Raelynn Keefer.

The rest of the boys roster includes Jacob Hadley, Aaron Weidenaar, Nick Tranel, Payton Stott, Derek Durocher, Collin Archenbach and Dylan Pannabecker.