Saints keep streak intact in Havre

The Montana State University-Northern Skylights played great defense against the No. 11 team in the NAIA Friday night. Unfortunately Carroll College's defense was even better.

The Fighting Saints, who are alone in first place in the Frontier Conference, held the Skylights to just 30 percent shooting and 17 percent from the 3-point-line in a 47-40 win inside the Armory Gymnasium.

Northern, was nearly as good defrensively. Carroll shot just 37 percent from the floor and made only one 3-pointer, but, the Saints took advantage of their size inside as Michaela Dowdy and Hannah Dean each scored 17 points, and Carroll scored 40 points in the paint.

"Offensively, Carroll did a great job on the block," MSU-N head coach Chris Mouat said. "On the other end, they just play such great post defense. And they're physical and they made it really tough on us at times. But, we also have to shoot better. Across the board, we just didn't shoot it well enough. I was really proud of our kids for the way they played. They battled on the boards, they grinded defensively, and they took care of the ball. We played really well tonight. But we have to score more points, that's the bottom line."

Despite being outmanned inside, the Skylights battled to the end, in what was their second loss to the Saints in a month.

Jessica Curl capped a low-scoring first quarter with a bucket that left the Skylights trailing just 8-6 at the end of the first. Northern then went on a 7-0 run in the second stanza, sparked by a Peyton Filius trey, and beiefly grabbed the lead before Dowdy, who stands 6-1, went to work. She scored the last seven points of the first half, and Carroll led 19-15 at the break, as Northern shot just 23 percent in the first 20 minutes.

"I thought we did a much better job tonight of generating shots, and not turning it over, than we did in Helena," Mouat said. "But we just didn't make enough shots."

Despite their shooting woes, the Skylights were never out of the game. Tiara Gilham scored four points early in the third quarter, but Carroll got a three from Taylor Salonen, and when former Havre Blue pony Dani Wagner made a reverse layup, Carroll had went on a 12-2 run, and led 32-22 with 10 minutes left.

Then, in the fourth quarter, both teams started to break out offensively. Carroll got three straight buckets from Dean to lead by 10. But Brandy Lambourne, who scored seven points in the final stanza, drilled a triple to bring the Skylights back to within six. Filius also hit another bomb late, keeping the game close, but, the Skylights couldn't get any closer, and Carroll was able to close out the game at the free-throw-line.

"Our kids battled, they fought their tails off," Mouat said. "Carroll is really good. They're playing really well right now. But our kids played really well tonight too. Much better than the last time we played them. They battled and they gave themselves a chance tonight. I'm proud of them for that."

Northern out-rebounded the bigger Saints 35-31, but Dowdy and Dean were too much for the smaller Skylights to contend with. Dean had a double-double with 12 rebounds, while Dean added seven boards of her own.

The offensive struggles, in large part because Carroll is so tough defensively, led to the Skylights having just one double-digit scorer in Gilham, who finished with 11 points and eight rebounds. Filius and Lambourne each scored nine.

Carroll 47, Skylights 40

Carroll 8 11 13 15 – 47

Northern 6 9 7 18 – 40

CC - Michaela DOWDY 8-12 1-2 17, Bailey PASTA 1-7 2-4 4, Danielle WAGNER 1-1 0-0 2, Christine DENNY 0-1 0-0 0, Taylor SALONEN 2-4 1-2 5, Mikaela OLSON 0-1 0-0 0, Hannah DEAN 6-13 5-6 17, Brittney JOHNSON 0-2 2-2 2, Jaidyn LYMAN 0-5 0-0 0. Totals 18-46 11-16 47.

MSU-N - Peyton Filius 3-10 1-2 9, Brandy Lambourne 3-14 2-2 9, Kealani Sagapolu 2-2 3-8 7, Shiloh McCormick 1-10 0-0 2, Lily Hilderbrand 0-1 0-0 0, Jessica Curl 1-1 0-0 2, Naomi Terry 0-1 0-0 0, Tiara Gilham 5-11 1-2 11. Totals 15-50 7-14 40.

3-pt FG:Carroll (Mont.) 0-4 (PASTA 0-2, SALONEN 0-1, LYMAN 0-1), Montana State University- 3-17 (Filius 2-6, Lambourne 1-7, McCormick 0-3, Terry 0-1). Rebounds: Carroll (Mont.) 31 (DEAN 12), Montana State University- 35 (Gilham 11). Fouls Carroll (Mont.) 14, Montana State University- 16. Fouled out: none.

The last time the Montana State University-Northern Lights played the Carroll College Fighting Saints inside the Armory Gymnasium, the game was a battle right to the very end. And it was no different for Carroll's return trip to Havre.

The final result was also the same, as the No. 6 Fighting Saints topped the Lights 64-57 Friday night in Havre. The win was Carroll's sixth straight, and the Saints managed to take all three games from Northern this season.

But, it didn't come easy either. Northern, which lost its third straight game in Frontier play, shrugged off a 7-0 Carroll start, and an 8-0 Carroll run in the middle of the first half to trail just 38-29 at intermission. Three-pointers from Adam Huse, Charles Porter, and even 6-10 center Ryan Reeves helped the Lights close the halftime gap.

"I was extremely proud of the fight in out guys," MSU-N head coach Shawn Huse said. "They had to scarp and claw and fight tonight, and they did that. That's what this program has always been about, and this team has never disappointed me in that category."

Gabe Porter opened the second half with a triple, but Carroll was able to go back up by double digits with eight straight points from Ryan Imhoff. At that point, the Saints led 50-40 with 9:15 left. Imhoff added another deuce shortly after, but for the next six minutes, Northern's defense stiffened and held the Saints without a bucket. And when Reeves hit his second trey of the night, the Lights began to fight their way back.

Northern got to within four points when Reeves and Porter each made free throws, and at 55-51 with 2:47 left, the Armory was rocking. But, with 1:15 to play, Imhoff ended Carroll's drought with a bank shot, and though Justin Dunsmore answered right back, Carroll wasn't to be denied. Lorel Johnson matched Dunsmore's shot with one of his own, and it proved to be the game-winner. Carroll would make four key free throws to offset a late Gabe Porter triple, and, for the second time this winter, the Saints escaped Havre with a narrow win.

Reeves had yet another huge game for the Lights with 16 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks. He also made his first three's of his Armory career. Porter added 11 points, but Carroll's defense was stellar, holding the Lights to 42 percent shooting and eight three's, which is five below their season average. And while Northern defended really well, they once again had no answer for Imhoff, who scored 24 points, to go with 14 points from Matt Wyman.

"That's a really good ballclub Carroll has," Coach Huse said. "Hats off to them, they played extremely well, and they really made things tough on us. But I think tonight shows our guys belong. The way we played and fought back, there's a lot of basketball left this season, and we've shown we can play with anybody."

Carroll 64, Lights 57

CC - Dane WARP 0-0 0-0 0, Oliver CARR 4-4 0-0 8, Match BURNHAM 1-3 2-2 5, Kyle NICKOL 0-1 0-0 0, Patrick COLBERG 0-0 0-0 0, Lorel JOHNSON 1-2 0-0 2, Ryan IMHOFF 11-20 2-2 24, Matt WYMAN 5-10 0-0 12, Ife KALEJAIYE 1-6 3-4 5, A SANTOS PIQUERAS 3-5 2-3 8. Totals 26-51 9-11 64.

MSU-N - Ryan Reeves 5-9 4-7 16, Justin Dunsmore 1-4 0-0 2, Charles Porter 2-5 3-7 8, Devin Bray 2-5 0-0 5, Adam Huse 3-6 0-0 7, Cayeveoon Jones 0-2 0-0 0, James Fry 0-0 0-0 0, Anthony Harper 2-3 2-2 7, Caulin Bakalarski 1-4 0-0 2, Gabe Porter 2-5 4-4 10. Totals 18-43 13-20 57.

Halftime: Carroll 35-26. 3-pt FG:Carroll (Mont.) 3-9 (BURNHAM 1-2, JOHNSON 0-1, WYMAN 2-3, KALEJAIYE 0-2, SANTOS PIQUERAS 0-1), Montana State University- 8-20 (Reeves 2-2, Dunsmore 0-2, Porter 1-1, Bray 1-4, Huse 1-3, Harper 1-2, Bakalarski 0-2, Porter 2-4). Rebounds: Carroll (Mont.) 29 (IMHOFF 10), Montana State University- 25 (Reeves 11). Fouls Carroll (Mont.) 18, Montana State University- 10. Fouled out: none.