T-Birds advance in Bozeman

There is always a lot of hype surrounding the Class C State tournament and with a number of exciting games played Thursday, it lived up to it.

Arlee, the Class C runner-up a season ago, opened the tournament with a 93-77 win over Plenty Coups. But after that, Hays-Lodge Pole and Fairview waged a tight battle that went down to the final seconds, before the Thunderbirds pulled out the 62-59 victory.

The other two games inside the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse in Bozeman featured Manhattan Christian knocking off Bridger 60-42, before Box Elder and Scobey took to the floor for a game that needed extra time on the clock to settle. In the end, the Spartans won 73-61, ending the Bears hope of a repeat. The loss also ended Box Elder’s nine-game winning streak at the state tournament that dated back to 1990.

While the Bears saw their run for a second straight state championship end, HLP won its first game at the state tournament since 2007, the last time the T-Birds won the Class C title.

However, getting through to the first round against Fairview was no easy task. HLP trailed at halftime 36-33 and despite a couple of 3-pointers right away in the third quarter by Tyson Shambo, Fairview still took a 52-46 lead into the fourth.

But with the game on the line, the T-Birds flipped the script in the final stanza, as they scored the first nine points in the quarter and grabbed the lead after a Shambo score with 4:30 left in the game. From there, the T-Birds managed to hang onto the lead and pushed it to three with a free throw in the final seconds. Fairview got off a desperation 3-point attempt, but it missed, giving the win to HLP.

Shambo was the game’s high scorer, finishing with 27 points. Frank Runs Above contributed to the winning effort with 18. Tanner Reynolds led Fairview with 19, Carson Cayko had 11.

“It wasn’t how we wanted it to go. It wasn’t how we planned it,” HLP head coach Derek Shambo told the Great Falls Tribune. “The kids had to dig deep and the other guys stepped up to fill those roles. They played some good, tough minutes.”

For Box Elder, a slow start made things difficult. The Spartans and Bears were tied 12-12 at the end of the first quarter, but a big second quarter for Scobey allowed the Eastern C champions to take a 29-20 lead at the intermission.

Yet, in the third quarter, Box Elder put together one of its patented runs to start the second half and after a 3-pointer by Trey Henderson, the score was tied 29-29 after a 9-0 run for the Bears. Box Elder grabbed its first lead at 38-37 following a jumper from Pernell Morsette, but thanks to last second three by Scobey, the two teams headed to the fourth quarter tied at 46-46.

Both teams spent a lot of time at the free throw line in the fourth quarter, but two key makes by Morsette late in the game helped send it to overtime with the score 57-57. But with a number of key players such as Dusty Weiss, Henderson and Tanner Parisian fouled out, the Bears ran out of gas. Scobey capitalized and outscored Box Elder 16-4 in the extra frame to come out on top.

Morsette scored 22 points in a losing effort for the Bears, including 17 points in the second half and overtime. Henderson added nine for Box Elder, while Weiss had eight. Peyton Nieskens led the Spartans with 21. Kobe Ralston also pitched in with 15.

Hays-Lodge Pole (22-2) will face Arlee in one semifinal tonight at 6:30. The other will feature Scobey and Manhattan Christian at 8. Box Elder (20-5) will face Bridger in loser-out action Friday morning.

Hays-Lodge Pole 62, Fairview 59

Hays-Lodge Pole 17 16 13 16 – 62

Fairview 16 20 16 7 – 59

Hays-Lodge Pole – Tyson Shambo 27. Kyle Young Jr. 2, Frank Runs Above 18, Ryan Foote 4, Chance Main 8, Elijah Black Crow 2, Chay-Chazz Shambo 1. Totals: 24 10-16.

Fairview – Cody Asbeck 5, Pat hardy 7, Carson Cayko 11, Tanner Reynolds 19, Josh Herron 8, Alex Schriver 9. Totals: 24 6-8

3-pointers – T. Shambo 3, Runs Above, Asbeck, Reynolds, Schriver.

Scobey 73, Box Elder 61

Scobey 12 17 17 11 16 – 73

Box Elder 12 8 26 11 4 – 61

Scobey – Peyton Nieskens 21, Preston Baldry 7, Riley Linder 2, Kole Ralston 8, Kobe Ralston 15, CJ Nelson 20. Totals: 22 21-28.

Box Elder – Pernell Morsette 22, Pete Azure Jr. 7, Tanner Parisian 7, Trey Henderson 9, Dusty Weiss 8, Wyatt Caplette 6, Lane Caplette 2. Totals: 23 10-19.

3-pointers – Nieskens 3, Baldry, Kole Ralston, Nelson 3, Morsette, Azure Jr. 2, Parisian, Henderson.

Arlee 93, Plenty Coups 77

Plenty Coups 19 21 23 14 – 77

Arlee 17 33 20 23 – 93

Plenty Coups – Arlo Male Bear Jr. 9, Blake DeCrane 18, Skylar Plain Feather 2, Kobe Guterriez 6, Miles Brien 4, Brendan Falls Down 5, Ethan Lambert 30. Totals: 28 14-18.

Arlee – Will Mesteth 26, Phillip Malatare 32, Lane Johnson 4, Tyler Tanner 22, Greg Whitesell 5, Ivory Brien 2, Issac Fisher 2. Totals: 35 17-27.

3-pointers – DeCrane 3, Falls Down, Mesteth 2, Malatare 3, T. Tanner.

Manhattan Christian 60, Bridger 42

MCHS 20 11 13 16 – 60

Bridger 10 8 15 9 – 42

Manhattan Christian – Kyle Frye 7, Matthew Amanrud 3, Joey Lodine 16, James Ramirez 17, Caleb Bellach 11, Ryan Busch 6. Totals: 25 6-11

Bridger – Colter Zentner 4, Ryan Zentner 3-15 2-4 10, Kolton Pospisil 12, Colby Zentner 1, Carson Roberts 15. Totals: 17 6-12.

3-pointers – Frye, Amunrud, Bellach 2, R. Zentner 2.