C boys stun AA in HIT chipper

Coming into the 2018 version of the Hi-Line Invitational Tournament, the Class AA boys team was looking to capture its fourth consecutive title. However, a close loss to the Class C team in the championship game, left the AA team just four points shy of a 4-peat.

The 32nd edition of the HIT, played at Montana State University-Northern starting last Thursday, concluded with the championship game Saturday evening. After building a 15-point lead at the half, the Class C team hung on for a 95-91 win over the AA's.

Despite being down by 20 points, the AA team trimmed the margin to just two points with less than 30 seconds to go. However, an untimely turnover ended their hopes and gave Class C the four-point win. Will Mesteth of Arlee was the star of the show, knocking down five 3-pointers on his way to a game-high 31 points. Caleb Bellach of Manhattan Christian added 27 and Treyton Pickering of Sunburst finished with 12. Rollie Worster of Missoula Hellgate, who was the MVP and scoring champion, scored 27 in the loss.

Unlike the Class C girls, the Class C boys couldn't post an undefeated record on the way to the team title, although it did finish 3-1. The first win came Thursday against Class A, 100-84. Brody Grebe of Melstone led Class C with 24 points, Bellach also added 22. Tanner Goligoski of Hamilton scored 14 to lead Class A, while Bridger Larson of Sidney had 13.

After falling to Class C Thursday, the Class A team attempted to rebound early Friday against the Class AA team, however Class A came up short, losing the game 97-86. Worster scored 26 to lead Class AA. Tanner Trafton of Lewistown paced Class A with 12. Jaden Graham, also of Lewistown, finished with 11.

Also Friday, Class B handed Class C its only loss of the tournament. Thanks to 25 points from Sayer Patton of Choteau, as well as 18 from Ben Iron Eyes and 14 from Kendall Windy Boy, both of Rocky Boy, Class B squeaked out a 111-109 victory. Pickering scored 23 for Class C. Riley Spoonhunter also contributed with 18 in the loss.

Following two losses to open the HIT, Class A got on the board against Class B, notching a 115-109 victory. Chrishon Dixon of Billings Central managed 16 points, while Carter Kearns, a senior from Hamilton matched him. Iron Eyes led Class C with 22 points. Patton finished with 18 and Windy Boy had 14.

While Class A rebounded Friday, so did Class C, which bounced back from the loss to Class B to earn a 99-91 win over Class AA. Pickering had another huge outing, scoring 22 points. Phillip Malatare wound up with 17. On the other side, Worster scored 28 in a losing effort.

The loss to Class C, meant Class AA needed to beat Class B Saturday morning to get a rematch for the championship and after putting on a show from 3-point range, Class AA cruised to a 133-88 win. Worser knocked down seven 3-pointers and finished with 32 points. Sam Vining added 22 and Jesse Owens finished with 21. Taylor Matthews of Malta led Class B with 20. Windy Boy also added 13, as did Iron Eyes.

The loss put Class B into the consolation game against Class A Saturday. But for the second straight day, Class A emerged victorious. Graham led the way with 17 points, although Belgrade's Dawson Fowler also stood out with 16. Iron Eyes poured in a game-high 27 points in the loss. Windy Boy also had a stellar outing with 24.

Despite his team finishing second, Worster was named MVP and won the scoring title after scoring an average of 28.25 points per game. Goligoski was the 3-point champion. Malatare, a two-time state champion from Arlee, won the assist and rebounding titles. His teammate Mesteth was the steals leader. The Mr. Defense award went to Tyson Cade of Billings Best; The Mr. Hustle award went to C.J. Nelson of Scobey and the Slam Dunk Champion was Bellach.

Hi-Line Invitational Tournament Boys

Thursday

Class C 100, Class A 84

Class C 13 28 27 32 – 100

Class A 19 22 18 25 – 84

Class C – Will Mesteth 17, Philip Malatare 8, Riley Spoonhunter 9, Caleb Bellach 22, Treyton Pickering 6, CJ Nelson 9, Brody Grebe 24, Trevor Herzog 5. Totals 42-91 3-5.

Class A – Chrishon Dixon 9, Dawson Fowler 5, Carter Kearns 11, Jaden Graham 9, Tanner Goligoski 14, Hunter Omlid 12, Rydell Floyd 9, Tanner Trafton 2, Bridger Larson 13. Totals 32-80 9-13.

Friday

Class AA 97, Class A 86

Class AA 14 19 30 34 – 97

Class A 21 15 26 24 – 86

Class AA – Jesse Owens 12, Rollie Worster 26, Sam Vining 9, Garrison Rothwell 11, Sam Elliot 5, Cade Tyson 4, Kendall Kynett 2, Blake Thelen 16, Tyler Johnson 10, Jake Olsen 2. Totals 38-92 7-10.

Class A – Chrishon Dixon 11, Dawson Fowler 10, Carter Kearns 9, Jaden Graham 11, Sam Gray 9, Tanner Goligoski 2, Hunter Omlid 9, Rydell Floyd 4, Tanner Trafton 12, Bridger Larson 9. Totals 38-84 3-5.

Class B 111, Class C 109

Class B 26 28 30 27 – 111

Class C 26 18 33 32 – 109

Class B – Ben Iron Eyes 18, Marcus Zeiler 2, Sayer Patton 25, Taylor Mathews 12, TJ Reynolds 2, Tayler Rowlison 8, Max Feight 19, Aaron White 11, Kendall Windy Boy 14. Totals 46-91 2-5.

Class C – Will Mesteth 5, CJ Nelson 7, Brody Grebe 11, Trevor Herzog 6, Treyton Pickering 23, Phillip Malatare 12, Riley Spoonhunter 18, Isaac Bell 4, Caleb Bellach 23. Totals 45-93 9-14.

Class A 115, Class B 109

Class B 27 16 28 38 – 109

Class A 28 27 29 31 – 115

Class B – Tayler Rowlinson 12, Ben Iron Eyes 22, Max Feight 11, Aaron White 8, Kendall Windy Boy 14, Marcus Zeiler 11, Sayer Patton 18, Taylor Mathews 13. Totals 46-95 3-3.

Class A – Chrishon Dixon 16, Dawson Fowler 13, Carter Kearns 16, Jaden Graham 7, Bridger Larson 14, Tanner Goligoski 14, Hunter Omlid 11, Rydell Floyd 12, Tanner Trafton 6, Sam Gray 6. Totals 45-91 14-17.

Class C 99, Class AA 91

Class C 22 30 24 23 – 99

Class AA 21 29 16 25 – 91

Class C – Will Mesteth 8, CJ Nelson 4, Brody Grebe 15, Caleb Bellach 13, Trevor Herzog 5, Phillip Malatare 17, Riley Spoonhunter 9, Isaac Bell 6, Treyton Pickering 22. Totals 41-83 11-12.

Class AA – Jesse Owens 9, Rollie Worster 28, Sam Vining 8, Garrison Rothwell 6, Sam Elliot 8, Cade Tyson 3, Kendall Kynett 9, Blake Thelen 7, Tyler Johnson 9, Jake Olsen 4. Totals 34-82 12-17.

Saturday

Class AA 133, Class B 88

Class AA 33 36 44 20 – 13

Class B 30 26 14 18 – 88

Class AA – Jesse Owens 21, Kendall Kynett 3, Rollie Worster 32, Blake Thelen 10, Sa, Elliot 9, Cade Tyson 13, Sam Vining 22, Garrison Rothwell 7, Tyler Johnson 10, Jake Olson 6.

Class B – Ben Iron Eyes 13, Marcus Zeiler 8, Sayer Patton 17, Aaron White 9, Taylor Mathews 20, Tayler Rowlinson 4, Max Feight 4, Kendall Windy Boy 13.

Class A 118, Class B 110 (consolation)

Class A 31 34 29 24 – 118

Class B 25 25 24 36 – 110

Class A – Crishon Dixon 15, Dawson Fowler 16, Carter Kearns 11, Jaden Graham 17, Bridger Larson 11, Tanner Goligoski 14, Hunter Omlid 5, Rydell Floyd 7, Tanner Trafton 14, Sam Gray 8.

Class B – Tayler Rowlinson 5, Ben Iron Eyes 27, Max Feight 18, Aaron White 5, Kendall Windy Boy 24, Marcus Zeiler 2, Sayer Patton 11, Taylor Mathews 18.

3-pointers – Dixon, Fowler 2, Graham 3, Goligoski 2, Omlid, Floyd, Gray; Rowlinson, Iron Eyes 5, Feight 2, White, Patton 3, Mathews.

Class C 95, Class AA 91 (championship)

Class AA 15 22 35 19 – 91

Class C 22 30 24 19 – 95

Class AA – Jesse Owens 17, Kendall Kynett 4, Rollie Worster 27, Blake Thelen 9, Sam Elliot 11, Cade Tyson 9, Tyler Johnson 10, Jake Olsen 4. Totals 33-86 16-20

Class C – Will Mesteth 31, Phillip Malatare 8, Brody Grebe 7, Caleb Bellach 27, CJ Nelson 5, Isaac Bell 5, Treyton Pickering 12. Totals 35-84 17-23.

3-pointers – Owens 3, Worster, Thelen, Elliot, Tyson, Johnson 2; Mesteth 5, Bellach, Nelson, Bell.

Boys All-Star Team

Rollie Worster-Missoula Hellgate

Caleb Bellach-Manhattan Christian

Brodie Grebe-Melstone

Treyton Pickering-Sunburst

Jesse Owens-Billings West

Phillip Malatare-Arlee

Ben Iron Eyes-Rocky Boy

Jaden Graham-Fergus

Chrishon Dixon-Billings Central

Sayer Patton-Choteau

Will Mesteth-Arlee

Boys Awards:

Most Valuable Player-Rollie Worster-Missoula Hellgate

3-Point Champion-Tanner Goligoski-Hamilton

Assist Leader-Philip Malatare-Arlee

Rebound Leader-Philip Malatare-Arlee

Scoring Leader-Rollie Worster-Missoula Hellgate

Steals Leader-Will Mesteth-Arlee

Mr. Hustle-CJ Nelson-Scobey

Mr. Defense-Cade Tyson-Cade Tyson-Billings West

Slam Dunk Champion-Caleb Bellach-Manhattan Christian