Northern ends the Frontier regular season on a high note in Butte

In three final homes games, the Montana State University-Northern Skylights were so close. Yet, in all three games, against three of the top four teams in the Frontier Conference, the Skylights couldn’t find victory.

But, in all three losses, the Skylights knew they played well enough to win, and, in the final game of the regular season, they took all that frustration out on the Montana Tech Orediggers.

Friday night in Butte, Northern closed out Frontier play with a dazzling 75-54 win over the Orediggers, and now, the Skylights (11-18) can go into the postseason with some much-needed momentum.

“Our kids played pretty well the entire 40 minutes. And the great thing is that everyone contributed,” MSU-N head coach Chris Mouat said. “It was definitely a team effort. I thought we did some good things with full-court pressure that generated some points for us. All five starters scored in double figures, and we did a decent job on the boards. Peyton Kehr gave us a big lift on offense in the first half and really hit some big shots.”

Everybody did contribute to what was one of Northern’s best offensive outputs of the conference season. The Skylights shot nine 3-pointers while shooting 49 percent from the field for the contest. They also got off to a hot start, scoring 44 points in the first half, their best first half since Christmas break.

And, on the road, the Skylights refused to let that lead slip away. Northern had lost to Tech twice on the season, but, the Skylights put their foot on the pedal and never let the Orediggers back in the game. Behind solid shooting, especially a dominant performance inside from Kealani Sagapolu and a defensive effort that limited Tech to 36 percent shooting and a 4-for-20 performance from three, the Skylights turned a 44-30 halftime lead into a win going away.

“I'm just proud of our kids and their ability to bounce back from what was a really tough loss Wednesday,” Mouat said. “They didn't let it sink us. Instead they came out with a pretty complete effort. It was great to see everyone contribute to a big win. And the reality is we made shots. That has hurt us too many times, and tonight we made a ton of big ones when we needed them the most. It was a great win for our kids.”

A great win indeed, and a true team win at that. Sagapolu led all five starters in double digits with 17 points and nine rebounds, while Shiloh McCormick added 15 points and two of MSU-N’s nine triples. Peyton Filius scored 13 points, while Brandy Lambourne hit three trey’s and she and Tiara Gilham each scored 11.

Now, the Skylights will get ready for the Frontier playoffs.

Lights finish the mission

The Montana State University-Northern Lights needed one more win, on the last night of the regular season, to make sure they got to play one more game in the Armory Gymnasium this year.

And while it was never easy, the Lights did the job by beating Montana Tech 80-74 Friday night in Butte. The win gave the Lights a 9-9 record and sole possession of fourth place in the final Frontier Conference standings. Fourth place also means Northern will host Rocky Mountain College in a Frontier playoff game Tuesday night.

“I am very proud of the guys for getting the job done,” Lights head coach Shawn Huse said.

For a time Friday night, it looked like the job was going to be done early. The Lights came out firing on all cylinders, including canning five early 3-pointers on their way to a commanding 41-26 halftime lead.

But the Orediggers, who Northern swept on the season, didn’t give up their home floor without a fight. Tech outscored the Lights 48-29 in the second half, shooting 58 percent from the field, and, with less than a minute to go, had clawed all the way back to 77-74. The Lights, though, weren’t going to let the last game of the regular season get away from them however, and Northern sank several critical free throws in the final 30 seconds to seal the win, and a home playoff game.

“Tech never goes away and fights till the bitter end,” Huse said. “We had to weather some adversity to get it done — it was a total team effort and everybody chipped in.”

The Lights did weather the storm together. Northern shot 49 percent from the game, made five more threes in the second half and made 20 critical free throws on the night. They also got a monster night from Ryan reeves, who scored 18 points, grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds and blocked two shots. But, Reeves had plenty of help too. Gabe Porter sank four three’s and scored 16 points, while Caulin Bakalarski added 13 and Adam Huse scored 12. Justin Dunsmore and Charles Porter also chipped in with a combined 15 points, which helped offset the 44 points that Tech’s Chris O’Neill and Trent Molesworth scored.

Now, the Lights (19-11) will prepare for the postseason, which starts Tuesday with a fourth meeting against Rocky Mountain College. MSU-N has beaten the Bears three times this season thus far. The game tips off at 7 p.m. in the Armory Gymnasium, with the winner advancing to Friday night’s Frontier semifinals.

Skylights 75, Montana Tech 54

MSU-Northern 23 21 10 21 – 75

Montana Tech 20 10 13 11 – 54

MT – Hailey Crawford 3-4 0-0 6, Monica Landdeck 1-4 0-0 2, Kourtney Koverdell 5-13 0-2 14, Kaylynn Coverdell 4-7 0-0 8, Sammy McGree 2-6 0-0 4, Mesa Williams 1-4 2-2 4, Kaylee Zard 2-8 2-2 6, Shay Potter 4-8 2-2 10. Totals: 22-61 6-8 54.

MSU-N – Brandy Lambourne 4-6 0-0 11, Naomi Terry 1-1 0-0 3, Jessica Curl 0-2 0-0 0, Peyton Filius 5-12 1-5 13, Peyton Kehr 2-2 0-0 5, Shiloh McCormick 6-14 1-1 15, Lily Hilderbrand 0-1 0-0 0, Kealani Sagapolu 6-10 5-6 17, Tiara Gilham 5-12 0-0 11. Totals: 29-60 8-9 75.

3-pointers: MSU-N 9-20 (Lambourne 3, Terry 1, Filius 1, McCormick 2, Gilham 1), MT 4-20 (Kourtney Coverdell 4). Rebounds: MSU-N 35 (Sagapolu 9), MT 36 (Zard 9). Fouls: MSU-N 10, MT 10. Fouled out: None.

Lights 80, Montana Tech 74

MSU-N - Ryan Reeves 5-10 8-13 18, Justin Dunsmore 3-9 0-0 7, Charles Porter 3-4 0-0 8, Devin Bray 0-1 2-2 2, Adam Huse 3-7 5-7 12, Cayeveoon Jones 1-1 0-1 2, James Fry 0-0 0-0 0, Anthony Harper 1-2 0-0 2, Caulin Bakalarski 4-9 3-4 13, Gabe Porter 5-9 2-4 16. Totals 25-52 20-31 80.

MT - Kale Guldseth 1-1 0-1 2, John Chapman 0-2 0-0 0, Dylan Pannabecker 0-1 0-0 0, Nick Fitts 1-4 2-2 4, Chris O'Neill 10-19 4-4 24, Taylor England 3-6 0-0 6, Carson Dummer 0-0 0-0 0, Jake Miles 3-8 1-2 8, Iman Chatman 4-7 0-0 8, Derrius Collins 0-1 2-2 2, Gavin McPherson 0-0 0-0 0, Trent Molesworth 8-10 0-0 20. Totals 30-59 9-11 74.

Halftime: Northern 41-26. 3-pt FG:Montana State-Northern 10-22 (Dunsmore 1-3, Porter 2-2, Bray 0-1, Huse 1-3, Harper 0-1, Bakalarski 2-5, Porter 4-7), Montana Tech 5-13 (Chapman 0-1, Fitts 0-2, O'Neill 0-1, England 0-1, Miles 1-3, Molesworth 4-5). Rebounds: Montana State-Northern 37 (Reeves 16), Montana Tech 26 (TEAM 7). Fouls Montana State-Northern 15, Montana Tech 22. Fouled out: Pannabecker.

Frontier Women's Standings

(Final)

Conf. All

W-L W-L

Carroll College 14-4 22-7

UM-Western 13-5 23-7

Rocky Mountain 11-7 21-7

Providence 10-8 19-10

Lewis-Clark State 8-10 17-12

Montana Tech 4-14 14-16

MSU-Northern 3-15 11-19

Frontier Men's Standings

(Final)

Conf. All

W-L W-L

Carroll College 13-5 25-5

UM-Western 13-5 23-6

Lewis-Clark State 11-7 22-8

MSU-Northern 9-9 19-11

Rocky Mountain 8-10 17-13

Providence 5-13 11-17

Montana Tech 4-14 12-17