Frontier Notebook: Former Pony Dane Warp among top Frontier scorers

It was certainly an interesting two nights in the Armory Gymnasium as far as Frontier Conference men's basketball goes last weekend. Interesting in so many ways.

First, on both Friday and Saturday nights many fans inside the Armory were actually there pulling double-duty, as fans of the Lights, but also as fans of a pair of former area basketball stars.

Friday night, Northern played host to Rocky Mountain College, where Brandon The Boy, a four-time Class C All-Stater and two-time Class C state champion at Box Elder, made his Hi-Line debut for the Battlin' Bears.

The Boy originally committed to Rocky two years ago, but ended up forgoing his freshman season, before returning to Billings this fall. And it hasn't taken The Boy long to prove he belongs in the Frontier, as he moved into Rocky's starting lineup midway through the season and is currently second in the Frontier in assists.

Of course, throngs of local fans showed up to see The Boy play last Friday night, and he helped Rocky knock off the Lights with a barrage of 3-pointers.

Then came Saturday night, and the return of Havre High-great Dane Warp to the Armory. It wasn't Warp's first trip to Havre as a Carroll College Fighting Saint, but it was his first game in Havre in his current role - Warp is not only one of Carroll's top scoring threats, but also one of the best scorers in all of the Frontier. In a loss to Northern, Warp eclipsed his season average of 18 points by scoring 19 while also grabbing five rebounds.

However, Warp's outstanding game wasn't enough to help the Saints avoid losing their second straight game, as Northern banged in 15 3-pointers in the 11-point home win over Carroll. It was Northern's first win over Carroll in more than two years, and it was just the second win for Northern in head coach Shawn Huse' tenure over a team ranked No. 2 or higher in the NAIA Coaches Poll.

The victory was a big boost for the Lights, who can keep their momentum going with two more home games this week. Meanwhile, it was a blow for the Saints, who had run their record to 20-2, but will now likely drop in the next Top 25 Poll. Carroll could also likely be without star forward Matt Wyman, who suffered a bad-looking injury in Carroll's loss to Providence last Friday. And yet, the news wasn't all bad for Warp and the Saints this weekend, because, with how crazy the Frontier is right now, Carroll still has a two-game lead on the rest of the field with just three weeks left in league play.

Wagner Shines

Warp and The Boy weren't the only one's making a homecoming of sorts last weekend. Carroll sophomore Dani Wagner scored 14 points in the Fighting Saints' win over the MSU-Northern Skylights last Saturday night.

Wagner, a former Class A All-Stater in three sports, and a part of head coach Dustin Kraske's 2014 state championship squad, is having a breakout season in her third year at Carroll. She red-shirted her first year, then played key minutes as a freshman. But this season, she's not only starting, she's a catalyst for the Saints, who are currently alone in second place in the women's standings, but three games behind Western, who is threatening to run away with the regular season crown.

Wagner had plenty of family and friends in the stands Saturday night in Havre, including her uncle Jerry, who was recently named Northern's new head volleyball coach. Dani was a star volleyball player for the Blue Ponies during her time at HHS.

Scoring Watch

With time winding down on the Frontier regular season, the race for the league's scoring titles are on.

On the men's side, Jared Samuelson's 20 ppg for Rocky is just a fraction better than Carroll's Match Burnham, who averages 19.4 per night. Warp is third at 18.7 per game, while Northern's top scorer is Mascio McCadney, who averages 14 ppg, which is 12th overall. Adam Huse and his 13 ppg is 13th in the league.

On the women's side, this season has been all about Western's Brianna King. King not only leads the Frontier, but all of NAIA with her 23 ppg, and she's on her way to earning NAIA Player of the Year honors. Providence' Emilee Maldonado is second in the league at 16 points per game, while MSU-N's Peyton Kehr is seventh in the Frontier at 13 points per night.

Frontier Honors

Ausitn Starr of the University of Providence was named the Frontier Men's Basketball Player of the Week. Starr is a 6-7 senior from Las Vegas. In Providence' wins over Carroll College and Rocky Mountain College last weekend, Starr averaged 16 points, five rebounds and two assists per game.

Providence' Emilee Maldonado was named Frontier Women's Player of the Week. Maldonado is 0-5 sophomore from Sunnyside, Washington. In the Argo's games with Rocky Mountain College and Carroll College last weekend, she averaged 26 points, and six assists per game, and scored a career-high 31 points against RMC last Friday.

Northern's Adam Huse and Allix Goldhahn were nomnated for this week's awards.