Hays-Lodge Pole beats Box Elder for Northern C Championship

For the Hays-Lodge Pole Thunderbirds, the glory of a Northern C Divisional championship has been a long time coming, 10 years in fact.

And after a classic game Saturday night inside the Four Seasons Arena in Great Falls, against the defending Class C state champion Box Elder, the T-Birds, who pulled out a 65-61 victory, got to experience that glory once again.

"It was just a great feeling," Tyson Shambo said. "It was a dream come true. I have another dream for two weeks, but we have to take it one at a time."

After HLP grabbed a 16-7 lead at the end of the first quarter and a 30-29 lead at the half, the T-Birds used an 11-2 run in the third quarter to push their lead to 47-39. In the fourth quarter, HLP led 56-45 with just more than six minutes remaining.

Yet, a 12-0 run by the Bears, with 10 points coming from Pernell Morsette gave Box Elder a 57-56 lead with 3:24 to play. But following an HLP timeout, Lance Strike drilled a three from NBA range to put the T-Birds up 59-57.

Morsette answered quickly, driving in for a layup to tie the game at 59-59. But on the ensuing possession, Frank Runs Above put in a shot off the glass to give the HLP the two-point lead with 26 seconds left.

"I have done things like that all my life," Runs Above said. "People think because I am smaller, I can't get inside, but I always have just found a way."

With a chance the tie, Box Elder was unable to convert. HLP got the rebound and was able to run more than 20 seconds off the clock. Runs Above made two free throws with 1.6 seconds on the clock, which wrapped up the divisional title and a berth in the Class C state tournament, which starts in Bozman March 8.

Runs Above, who scored the winning points for HLP, finished with 16. Strike added 13 and Jace Shambo contributed with 10. Morsette was outstanding in the loss for the Bears, scoring 28 points; Trey Henderson pitched in with 14.

Box Elder, which has won two of the last three Class C state titles, wrapped up a state tournament berth earlier in the day, as Belt took third.

"I told our kids how proud I am of them," Box Elder head coach Jeremy MacDonald said. "But that was a great win for Hays-Lodge Pole. A great win for their team and their community. We are just glad that we are moving on and going to state."

For the T-Birds, it will be their first trip to the state tournament since 2007, when A.J. Long Soldier led HLP to its last state championship. That was on the minds of all the T-Birds, as many of them dyed their hair to honor, the late-great, Long Soldier.

"I remember looking up to him and all those guys," Shambo said. "And that's how I want all these kids to view us. It just feels good to share this with my team and this community."