Frontier Notebook: Northern duo leads Frontier in 3-pointers

This is it. One weekend for all the marbles. That's what the Frontier Conference men's and women's basketball season has come down to. And when it's over, the postseason will be here.

And heading into the final weekend, the Frontier races couldn't be any closer either.

On the men's side, UM-Western entered Thursday night with a one-game lead on Carroll College and two games up on Lewis-Clark State. With a weekend sweep, the Bulldogs can clinch the regular season title and the top seed in the upcoming Frontier playoffs. Carroll needs a sweep and a Western loss to win the league title outright, while LC State needs a sweep and some help to win the Frontier crown for the second straight year. The winner of the regular season crown gets a first-round bye in next Tuesday's playoffs, while second and third place host home games in the first round, as does the fourth-place team, which is a battle between Rocky Mountain College and Montana State University-Northern.

Providence is locked into sixth and Montana Tech is locked into seventh.

On the women's side, the league title is Carroll's to put away. Heading into this weekend's action, Carroll had a two-game lead on both RMC and Western. The Bulldogs and Bears are likely playing for who will host through the semifinals, while Providence is locked into fourth place and a home first-round game. LC State is locked in at fifth, Montana Tech is sixth, and MSU-Northern is seventh.

So there's obviously a lot that's going to happen over the next two nights in the Frontier, but perhaps the most interesting thing about the final week of the regular season is no one ran away and hid from the field this season. The Carroll women entered the weekend on a six-game winning streak but still lost three times in Frontier play, while four losses tops the men's standings, indicating that, on both sides, there was a ton of parity in Frontier play this season.

Last Night in Butte

For the MSU-Northern Lights, tonight's game in Butte against Montana Tech is a huge one. The Lights trail RMC by a half a game for fourth place in the Frontier standings, so they must beat Montana Tech tonight to at least tie Rocky for fourth. And if the Lights do tie Rocky, they'll host a first-round game next Tuesday in the Armory, as Northern beat RMC all three times this season, so the Lights have any tiebreakers needed over the Bears. Northern is 2-0 against the Orediggers this season, but with so much on the line, head coach Shawn Huse isn't taking anything for granted.

"We have to go play very well at Montana Tech," Huse said after the Lights beat Providence Friday night. "Our guys are very focused on what we're trying to achieve, as far as the conference standings go. And they know how there are no easy nights in this league, and that includes Montana Tech. They're a very good team, so we have to go down there prepared to play well."

Things are a bit different for the Skylights. They know they'll be the No. 7 seed in the upcoming playoffs, and travel to either UM-Western or RMC for a playoff game Wednesday night. But Northern is also looking to finish the regular season on a high note - something the Skylights have been so close to doing. After a much-needed win at LC State two weeks ago, the Skylights have lost their last three (Carroll, Rocky, Providence) by an average of just four points. MSU-N is also 0-2 against the Orediggers this season.

"We're playing well, just not well enough to finish games right now," MSU-N head coach Chris Mouat said. "I think we've improved a lot of the last month. Our kids have battled and battled. They've stayed the course. We just have to put together a 40-minute game."

The Skylights take on Tech tonight at 5:30 in Butte, followed by the men's game at 7:30.

Leaders

As the season winds down, it's time to take a look at the Frontier leaders with just two games left in the regular season. On the men's side, the scoring champion is a close race with Carroll's Ryan Imhoff leading the way at 20 points per night. RMC's Jared Samuelson is second at 19 ppg, followed by Western's Dom Robinson at 18. MSU-N's Ryan Reeves leads the league in rebounding at 8.3 ppg, and blocked shots at over three per contest. Robinson is first in the conference in assists at 5.5 per night, while Imhoff is first in steals at three per outing. Northern's Adam Huse also has the most 3-pointers in the league this season with 71.

On the women's side, Western star Brianna King is tops in scoring at 19 ppg, while Steph McDonagh of UP is a close second at 18 per night. UP's Parker Esary, Carroll's Hannah Dean and Western's Britt Cooper are all averaging eight rebounds per night, while LCSC freshman Peyton Souvenir leads the Frontier at five assists per outing. Dean is also tops in the Frontier in blocks at two per night, while Northern's Peyton Filius has the most triples in the Frontier with 69.