Knights never say die

The 2018 postseason was a magical one for the North Star boys basketball team. Then, graduation came, and the Knights came into 2019 younger, and far less experienced.

But, North Star still has that never-say-die attitude - that has never changed, and it was on full display in the Knight's opening round 9C tournament game with the Big Sandy Pioneers Thursday afternoon.

Fifth-seeded North Star trailed the fourth-seeded Pioneers 44-28 at the end of the third quarter, but in the end, the Knights pulled off an incredible rally, and upended the Pioneers 59-55 to advance to today's semifinal.

"We've battled back all year, but we can never get over the hump in these games," North Star senior Caden Rettig said. "And I'm not going to lie, down 16, I was pretty worried. But Cody (Donoven) believed in us, he kept up the belief that we could come back, and we fed off that. It fueled us."

Indeed. The Knights played with a fury in the final eight minutes. Trailing by 16 points, the Knights went on a 12-3 run, capped by a Rettig triple. That cut Big Sandy's lead to 47-42, and minutes later, eighth-grader Garrett Spicher sank another three to get the Knights closer. The Knights fed off of Spicher's three, and ultimately outscored the Pioneers 9-3 over the next two minutes with a Hayden Massar 3-point play lifting the Knights to a 52-51 lead with 1:18 left.

Big Sandy didn't quit either, though, and the Pioneers answered North Star's run with a Jeremiah Generuex trey that put the Pioneers back in front, 54-52.

From there, however, Massar would make three free throws and Rettig added two of his own to give the Knights a thrilling win via a 31-11 fourth-quarter run.

"Down 16, we really didn't change much," Donoven said. "I think it was more about the ball going in a couple of times and that really got the boys going. They started playing a little harder, got a little more fired up, and things kind of really got rolling from there."

The Knights certainly needed to get rolling.

Big Sandy controlled the game through three quarters. In the first stanza, Ryan Roth and Kade Strutz hit back-to-back threes, giving the Pioneers a 17-9 lead after one. Massar would score six points in the second period, but the Pioneers still led 28-19 at halftime, and Roth and Strutz were strong in the third as the Pioneers stretched their lead to as many as 18 points with just over 10 minutes left.

But again, the Knights refused to give in.

Rettig, the only returning starter from last year's Northern C team, finished with 17 points, while Massar had a huge 20 points and eight rebounds. Bailey Spicher chipped in with 11 points, as well.

Big Sandy (10-9) meanwhile, was left heartbroken after the loss.

The Pioneers, who have no seniors and start an eighth-grader, will try to rebound this morning against CJI in a loser-out game. Strutz led the way for Big Sandy with 15 points, while Roth had 10 before fouling out.

On the other side, the Knights are back in the semifinals and are just one win away from a return trip to the Northern C. Of course, today's semifinal against Chinook will be a tall order for the young Knights, but you can bet they won't give up, no matter how tough things get.

"I'm just really proud of the boys," Donoven said. "They played an incredible game in that fourth quarter, they never gave up. And we know Chinook is going to be tough. They're very good. But we have nothing to lose in that game and that's the way we're going to play.

"We knew this year was going to be a lot tougher," Rettig added. "Losing four of our five starters from last year, that's tough. But I'm so proud of this team. We've really gelled, we've really come together. We have eighth-graders stepping up, everybody has come together. I love this team, and I'm really proud of them. Today was a huge team win,, everybody stepped up, and we're going to try and keep it going."

Today's semifinal between the Sugarbeeters and Knights will tip at 4 in the HHS gymnasium. The winner moves on to Saturday night's championship game.

North Star 59, Big Sandy 55

Big Sandy 17 11 16 11 - 59

North Star 9 10 9 31 - 55

North Star - Brock Proulx 8, Ryan Roth 10, Crawford Terry 11, Parker Proulx 4, Jeremiah Genereux 7, Kade Strutz 15. Totals: 18-40 14-20.

North Star - Austin Hansen 4, Bailey Spicher 11, Caden Rettig 17, Garrett Spicher 5, Payne Ditmar 2, Hayden Massar 20. Totals: 22-59 10-12.

3-pointers: Roth 2, Genereux 2, Strutz 1, B. Spicher 1, Rettig 3, G. Spicher 1. Fouls: Big Sandy 16, North Star 20; Fouled out: Roth, Hansen.