T-Birds soar to third

If there is one thing you can say about the North Star Knights, it's that when it comes to postseason basketball, they are a tough team to eliminate - just ask Hays-Lodge Pole.

Saturday night, at the HHS gymnasium, both North Star and HLP were fighting for their postseason lives as they battled each other for the third-place trophy at the 9C boys basketball tournament and the spot at the Northern C Divisional that goes along with it.

Last season, the Thunderbirds lost to Fort Benton in the consolation game and they were determined to avoid that fate again and, thanks to some clutch shooting late, HLP narrowly defeated North Star 68-63.

"I am really proud of these guys," HLP head coach Derrick Shambo said. "Getting back to divisionals was a big goal for us. It has been a couple of years now and you have to give credit to North Star, they battled the whole way, we just were able to make some plays at the end."

In the first quarter, the two teams went back and forth but at the end of the opening stanza, Kyle Young Jr. knocked down a 3-pointer to put the T-Birds up 17-12. In the second, HLP continued to add to its lead and its defensive pressure forced a number of North Star turnovers, which led to some easy buckets for HLP and a 31-22 halftime advantage.

Down by nine, the Knights came out firing in the second half and starting with eighth-grader Garrett Spicher, North Star began to hit. Spicher connected from beyond the arc and soon after, both Caden Rettig and Payne Ditmar hit from three, keeping the Knights within striking distance at 45-39.

Yet the T-Birds pressure defense, which forced North Star into 24 turnovers when it was all said and done, got a quick bucket off a steal before the third ended, leading to a 52-41 edge with eight minutes remaining.

However, the Knights wouldn't go quietly into the night. With their season on the line, Ditmar and Rettig each hit again from downtown. Rettig, a junior, then hit a floater and with 5:52 left, North Star trailed by only three.

HLP answered a lot of North Star's blows, but the Knights kept them coming and Ditmar, who finished with 13 points, knocked down his fourth trey of the game to get North Star within four. An old-fashioned 3-point play by Rettig got the HLP advantage down to 56-55 with 4:56 remaining.

All the momentum it seemed, was with North Star, however, it only took one shot to change that and it came on a triple by Young Jr., who led the T-Birds with 17 points. That put HLP up five and eventually up eight, 65-57. But the Knights had one last punch in them. Hayden Massar converted a 3-point play and Rettig, who also scored 17 points, hit another three, this one with less than 10 seconds remaining.

It got the Knights within three, yet only six seconds were on the clock. North Star attempted to get a steal but was forced to foul and HLP converted two free throws to wrap up the five-point win, which will send the T-Birds back to the Northern C for the third time under the direction Shambo. HLP won the Northern C championship back in 2017.

"The boys fought hard and they played hard," Shambo said. "We took care of the ball. That has been an issue for us all year but some of our seniors stepped up. They took care of the ball and hit some big shots when we needed them."

The T-Birds had to begin their march back to Great Falls after their tough semifinal loss to Fort Benton Friday night with a Saturday morning loser-out game against Big Sandy. And while the Pioneers had a great season, they were no match for HLP. The T-Birds scored 48 points and led by 32 points at halftime in a 90-52 win that vaulted them into the consolation game. Jeremy Pretty Paint paced five T-Birds in double figures with 16 points, while Ryan Roth scored 20 as the Pioneers were eliminated.

North Star's rise to the consolation game was a little more difficult. Saturday morning, the Knights had to come back for a second time in three days, and they did just that, edging Turner 64-61. The win eliminated the Tornadoes, but they went out fighting, as they led 17-13 at the end of the first quarter, and erased a double-digit third-quarter deficit to nearly knock off the Knights. Cody Welsh poured in a game-high 24 points for Turner, while Hayden Massar scored 18 and Bailey Spicher added 17 for the Knights.

The 9C boys tourney also saw Big Sandy eliminate Chester-Joplin-Inverness with a 54-47 loser-out win Friday morning. Roth poured in 26 points for the Pioneers, while Andrew Woods and Kyle Harmon scored 11 each for the Hawks.

Turner stayed alive Friday with a thrilling 74-70 overtime win over Box Elder in another loser-out game. Turner trailed by as many as six points in the fourth quarter, but stormed back to force overtime, then outscore the Bears 12-8 in the extra frame. Welsh scored a tournament-high 30 points for the Tornadoes, while Kobe Sutherland scored 21 and Chris Burns added 19 in what was Box Elder's final game.

HLP will open its quest at the Northern C Wednesday night against Heart Butte. Tip-off time at the Four Seasons in Great Falls will be set for 7 p.m.

Hays-Lodge Pole 68, North Star 63 (3rd)

North Star 12 10 19 22 - 63

HLP 17 14 21 16 - 68

HLP - Gilbert Snow 14. Jeffrey Stiffarm 5, Jeremy Prett Paint 14, Kenneth BlackCrow 14 Kyle Young Jr. 17, Tyshawn Shambo 1. W. BringingGood 3.

North Star - Bailey Spicher 10, Caden Rettig 17, Garrett Spicher 3, Payne Ditmar 13, Gavin Spicher 4.

Big Sandy 54, Chester-Joplin-Inverness 47 (lo)

Big Sandy 15 13 5 21 – 54

CJI 13 9 9 16 – 47

Big Sandy – Ryan Roth 26, Kody Strutz 7, Crawford Terry 6, Parker Proulx 2, Jeremiah Genereux 8, Kade Strutz 5.

CJI – Andrew Woods 11, Kyle Harmon 11, Noah Bender 4, Spencer Richter 10, Evan Dahinden 5, Tyler Wanken 6.

Turner 74, Box Elder 70, OT, (lo)

Box Elder 13 21 17 11 8 – 70

Turner 12 18 18 14 12 – 74

Box Elder – Jayden Elliot 8, Zander Parisian 11, Kadyn Duran 4, Chris Burns 19, Malique Rosette 4, Tayce St. Pierre 3, Kobe Sutherland 21.

Turner – Austin Welch 5, Cody Welsh 30, Shane Kimmel 14, Shay Humphreys 13, Chantry Jorgenson 12.

North Star 64, Turner 61 (lo)

North Star 13 14 22 15 – 64

Turner 17 8 17 19 – 61

North Star – A. Hanson 6, B. Spicher 17, C. Rettig 13, G. Spicher 6, Pa. Ditmar 2, H. Massar 18.

Turner – A. Welsh 7, K. Calvert 1, C. Welsh 24, S. Kimmel 14, S. See 5, T. Heilig 10.

Hays-Lodge Pole 90, Big Sandy 52

Big Sandy 9 7 22 14 – 52

Hays-Lodgepole 23 25 19 23 – 90

Big Sandy – R. Roth 20, Ko. Strutz 9, C. Terry 9, P. Proulx 3, J. Genereux 7, Ka. Strutz 4.

HLP – G. Snow 8, J. Stiffarm 9, J. Pretty Paint 16, D. Shambo 2, S. Grandchamp 6, K. Blackcrow 13, K. Young 5, M. Cliff 6, D. Shambo 11, T. Shambo 2, W. Bringinggood 9, E. Grandos 3.