Lights throttle Bison, Skylights fall to NAIA powerhouses

Both Montana State University-Northern basketball teams were in action on the road this past weekend and in the case of the Skylights in particular, they got a chance to face a pair of elite teams in the NAIA.

The Skylights were taking part in the Great Falls Classic, which gave them the opportunity to play No. 22 Arizona Christian Friday night in Great Falls followed by a conest with No. 8 Westmont Saturday. Northern held its own against the two nationally ranked teams, however, the Skylights dropped both games, losing to Arizona Christian 75-63 and Westmont 68-56.

In the first game of the weekend, against Arizona Christian, the Skylights got off a to solid start and trailed just 14-10 at the of the first quarter. Yet, in the second stanza, turnovers and easy layups did in MSU-N, as the Firestorm outscored Northern 26-15 to grab a 40-25 lead at haltime.

“We had a lot of things that were very much self-inflicted,” Skylights head coach Chris Mouat said. “We got off to a bad start and we fell into the trap of turning the ball over. I think they ended up scoring 30 points off turnovers. We battled in the last quarter and a half. We got better shots, we just dug a hole we couldn’t get ourselves out of.”

Sydney Hovde put together a solid performance in the loss for the Skylights, as she finished with a team-high 17 points to go along with four rebounds. Sam Caruth also scored 17 off the bench for the Skylights, thanks in part to a 3-of-7 night from 3-point range. Peyton Kehr also contributed with 12 points and Jessia Curl also reached double figures with 10.

Northern was hoping to achieve a different result Saturday against Westmont, the eighth-ranked team in the country and once again, the Skylights were competitive in the first quarter, trailing just 19-14 after 10 minutes of play. However, Westmont pushed the lead to 44-31 by the half and Northern hung tough, yet never threatened the lead in the 68-56 loss

Turnovers were the big issue Friday night for the Skylights, but against Westmont, the 3-point shot is what doomed MSU-N. Westmont connected on 11 triples in the game, including five from Maud Ranger, who scored 15 points. Sydney Brown also added 21 for Westmont, which limited MSU-N to just one 3-pointer. Hovde had another good night for the Skylights, scoring a game-high 22 points thanks to an 8-of-10 performance from the field. Lily Hinderbrand also pitched in with 12 points in the loss for the Skylights, who are now 3-2.

“I think that there were some positive things,” Mouat said. “So we just need to focus on those and keep moving hard. We are just really beat up right now, but I am proud of the way that we fought through.”

While the Skylights were in Great Falls over the weekend, the Lights were also on the road and paid a visit to Salish Kootenai College. Northern hosted Salish Kootenai earlier in the season and won handily and Saturday afternoon, it was essentialy a repeat of that outcome. The Lights poured it on, scoring 115 points in a 115-54 thrasing.

Five players scored in double figures for the Lights, including Mascio McCadney, who had 20 points and drilled four 3-pointers. His 20 points matched a team high with Justin Dunsmore, who also added six rebounds. Adam Huse, Kamari Burnside, Kavon Bey and Cedric Crutchfield all pitched in with 12 points. Crutchfield also grabbed 15 rebounds to record a double-double. Devin Bray fell just short of doing the same thing, finishing with 10 points and eight assists.

“I thought we did a good job of playing our game,” Lights head coach Shawn Huse said. “The guys did a great job of moving the ball like a hot potato, creating some open looks for each other. I believe we took a step forward which we need to do as we move into this tough stretch ahead of us.”

The Lights, who are now 2-1 on the season will take on Dickinson State Tuesday in an important non-conference matchup. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.

Arizona Christian 75, Skylights 63

Arizona Christian 14 26 18 17 - 75

MSU-N 10 15 14 24 - 63

Arizona Christian - Courtney Christmas 10-18 7-7 27, Jada Willingham 7-14 1-2 15, Makayla Enders 5-11 2-2 13, Toni Davis 4-6 2-2 12, Jac Moddy 1-2 -0- 2, Baylee Slaughter 2-4 0-0 4, Brooke Polite 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 30-58 12-13 75.

MSU-N -Sydney Hovde 6-9 5-8 17, Peyton Kehr 5-10 0-0 12, Gocke Aslan 0-3 3-4 3, Alix Goldhahn 0-0 0-2 0, Sam Caruth 6-13 3-7 17, Jessica Curl 4-4 2-2 10, Sabin Keo 1-7 1-2 4. Totals: 22-48 13-20 63.

3-point field goals: Arizona Christian 3-13 (Makayla Enders 1-3, Toni Davis 2-2); MSU-N 6-16 (Peyton Kehr 2-6, Gojce Aslan 0-1, Sam Caruth 3-7, Sabin Keo 1-2). Rebounds: Arizona Christian 30 (Enders 7); MSU-N 27 (Hovde 4, Carush 4, Keo 4). Fouls: Arizona Christian 13, MSU-N 13. Fouled out -- none.

Westmont 68, Skylights 56

Westmont 19 25 11 13 - 68

MSU-N 14 17 13 12

Westmont - Sydney Brown 9-12 2-4 21, Maud Ranger 5-11 0-0 15, Kaitlin Larson 4-10 3-5 11, Lauren Tsuneishi 3-7 0-0 9, Lyree Jarrett 1-7 2-2 5, Krissy Miyahara 1-3 0-0 3, Gabriella Stoll 0-1 2-4 2, Stefanie Beberabe 0-1 2-2 2. Totals: 23-52 11-17 68.

MSU-N - Sydney Hovde 8-10 6-11 22, Jessica Curl 2-6 2-2 6, Allix Goldhahn 1-1 1-2 3, Sam Caruth 1-1 0-0 3, Gokce Aslan 0-4 2-2 2, Lily Hinderbrand 4-9 4-5 12, Sabin Keo 2-4 1-2 5, Peyton Kehr 1-2 1-2 3. Totals: 19-37 17-26 56.

3-point field goals: Westmont 11-27 (Sydney Brown 1-1, Maud Ranger 5-10, Kaitlin Larson 0-1, Lauren Tsuneishi 3-7, Lyree Jarret 1-5, Krissy Miyahara 1-3); MSU-N 1-5 (Sam Caruth 1-1, Gocke Aslan 0-2, Peyton Kehr 0-1, Sabin Keo 0-1). Rebounds: Westmont 29 (Stoll 7) MSU-N 25 (Hovde 6). Fouls: Westmont 20, MSU-N 15. Fouled out -- Stoll.

Lights 115, Salish-Kootenai 54

MSU-N - Mascio McCadney 7-9 2-2 20, Justin Dunsmore 7-11 2-2 20, Adam Huse 4-13 0-0 12, Kavon Bey 6-6 0-0 12, Cedric Crutchfield 4-8 4-612, Kamari Burnside 5-7 0-2 12, Devin Bray 4-11 0-0 10, Caulin Bakalarski 3-5 0-0 8, James Fry 2-4 0-1 5, Joe Fons 2-6 0-0 4. Totals: 44-80 8-13 115.

SKC - Christian Lopez 5-15 3-3 13, Will Meseth 3-13 0-0 8, Tristen Redhorn 2-4 3-3 7, Jeremiah North Piegon 3-8 0-0 6, Louis Mohr 3-9 0-0 6, Tanner Cook 1-1 2-5 5, Shylon Stewart 1-2 2-2 5, Kenny Louie-McGee 1-5 0-0 2. Totals: 19-57 10-13 54.

3-point field goals: MSU-N 19-39 (McCadney 4-5, Dunsmore 4-6, Huse 4-13, Burnside 2-2, Bray 2-3, Bakalarski 2-4, Fry1-3, Fons 0-3); SKC 4-14 (Meseth 2-6, Tanner Cook 1-1, Stewart 1-1, Louie-McGee 0-3). Rebounds: MSU-N 35 (Crutchfield 15); SKC 16 (Lopez 7).