ROCKY BOY RISES UP

The Rocky Boy Stars didn’t quite reach their goal of winning a Class B boys state championship this past weekend at Dahlberg Arena, but following a memorable three days, they still brought home some state tournament hardware.

For the second time in the last four years, Rocky Boy brought home a third-place trophy at the Class B state tournament. This time, the Stars did it in Missoula, following an 80-70 win over Lodge Grass on the campus of the University of Montana. Ben Iron Eyes scored 22 points for the Stars, Kendall Windy Boy added 20.

"We were hoping that we could make the championship game, and I thought we had the team to do it,” Rocky Boy head coach Adam Demontiney said. “We just came up a little short, but we kept our composure, won those last two games. I knew that we would come together and get that third-place trophy.”

After a win over Three Forks Thursday, the Stars found themselves just one victory shy of the Class B state championship game. Yet, a 60-45 loss to eventual state champion Bigfork, kept the Stars from getting a rematch with Northern B rival Shelby for the state title. The Coyotes, and Montana State University-Northern commit T.J. Reynolds ended up as the Class B runner-up, dropping the title game to Bigfork, 60-56.

Ben Iron Eyes did his best to get the Stars to the final game of the tournament, with 22 points, but it wasn’t enough to overcome unbeaten Bigfork. The Stars hung around for the the first half, trailing 31-22 at the break, but after getting outscored 12-6 in the third quarter, the deficit was too big to overcome and Rocky Boy went down by 15.

Yet, Saturday morning, Rocky Boy rallied back and knocked off Colstrip 70-56 to keep its hopes alive for a trophy. The score was tied after the first quarter, 13-13, but the Stars poured in 22 points in the second quarter and 20 in the third to cruise to the 14-point victory. Windy Boy had a stellar outing for the Stars with 23 points to lead the way; senior Kordell Small also pitched in with 22. Iron Eyes also had 15.

That win got the Stars into the consolation game Saturday night against Lodge Grass, but thanks to a 31-point third quarter, the Stars rolled to victory. Early on, the game was much tighter. Rocky Boy led 14-9 at the end of the opening stanza, but after Lodge Grass won the second quarter 22-17, the game was tied at halftime, 31-31.

Then, Iron Eyes, Windy Boy and the Stars exploded. Iron Eyes finished the game with five 3-pointers, with a few coming in the third quarter as Rocky Boy built a 15-point lead. Iron Eyes scored 22 points in his final game. Windy Boy finished with 21, Wyatt Caplette had 13 and Small had 12. Frank Bacon also had seven.

The third-place trophy was the second under head coach Adam Demontiney. The last came in 2015.

“It means a lot,” Demontiney said of getting third. “It shows what kind of student athletes we have. We could have folded in that Saturday morning game, but we got it together and they wanted it. That’s what I wanted out of them. When we lost we said we don’t want to come all this way for some hardware, but win or lose, I would have been proud of them.”

Bigfork defeated Shelby in the championship game Saturday night.

The Rocky Boy girls saw their fantastic season come to a close Friday morning with a loss to Deer Lodge in a loser-out contest. Three Forks defeated Colstrip for the Class B girls state title Saturday night.

Bigfork 60, Rocky Boy 45, SF

Bigfork 16 15 12 17 - 60

Rocky Boy 10 12 6 17 - 45

Bigfork - Anders Epperly 21, Clayton Reichenbach 3, Colton Reichenbach 3, Logan Gilliard 9, Beau Santistevan 15, Luke Schmit 2, Randy Stultz 2, Chase Chappuis 5.

Rocky Boy - Kordell Small 8, Ben Iron Eyes 22, Olin Arkinson 3, Kendall Windy Boy 10, Wyat Caplette 2.

3-point goals - Gilliard, Santistevan 2, Iron Eyes 4, Arikonson. Total fouls - Bigfork 13, Rocky Boy 19. Fouled out - none.

Rocky Boy 70, Colstrip 56, LO

Rocky Boy 13 22 15 20 - 70

Colstrip 13 17 15 11 - 56

Rocky Boy - Kordell Small 22, Ben Iron Eyes 15, Frankie Bacon 4, Wyatt Caplette 4, Kendall Windy Boy 23.

Colstrip - Caleb Wheatley 4, Rivers Anderson 3, Kellen Bighead 3, Payton Means 14, Joel McCrae 15, Kobee Bigback 2, Isaiah Williams 15.

3-point goals - Small 4, Bighead, Williams 2. Total fouls -Rocky Boy 15, Colstrip 17. Fouled out - none.

Rocky Boy 80, Lodge Grass 70, 3rd

Rocky Boy 14 17 31 18 -- 80

Lodge Grass 9 22 16 23 -- 70

Rocky Boy -- Kordell Small 12, Ben Iron Eyes 22, Frankie Bacon 7, Olin Arkinson 3, Kendall Windy Boy 20, Kade Galbavy 1, Wyatt Capplette 13, David Russette 2.

Lodge Grass -- Mylon Blacksmith 20, Elijah Rogers 9, Ethan Dust 28, Josh Stewart 3, Hank Prettyontop6, Colton Collins 4.

3-point goals -- Small 2, Iron Eyes 5, Caplette, Blacksmith 2, Rogers 1, H. Prettyonop. Total fouls -- Rocky Boy 18, Lodge Grass 19. Fouled out -- none.