Wildcats, Stars hunt trophies in Belgrade

The Rocky Boy Stars made it all the way to Saturday night at the Class B state tournament a year ago and after qualifying again out of the Northern B, Rocky Boy is hoping to add another trophy this weekend in Belgrade.

For the second straight year, Rocky Boy will take part in the combined Class B state tournament which will take place at the Belgrade Special Events Center on Wednesday through Saturday. Joining the Stars will be the Harlem girls basketball team, which won the Northern B. The Wildcats will play in the opening game of the girls tournament Thursday at noon against Forsyth. Rocky Boy will open Wednesday night at 7:30 against Missoula Loyola.

"It means a lot for us," Harlem head coach Marlin Lawrence said. "This is a great group of girls and they have worked really hard to give themselves this opportunity."

Last season, the Rocky Boy boys used hard work and some incredible performances from Ben Iron Eyes and Kendall Windy Boy to play their way to third place at state and this time around, the Stars are going to need something similar to happen. The top candidates this year are Frankie Bacon, who scored just under 17 points a game during the Northern B Divisional and Blake Cantrell.

While Bacon and Cantrell have been key contributors for the Stars all season long, Rocky Boy has a solid amount of depth and will need guys like Wyatt Caplette, Olin Arkinson, Jordan Tyner and Joe Demontiney to step up in a big way.

In Missoula Loyola, the Stars will battle a team that has been ranked near the top in Class B all season long and like Rocky Boy is fresh off a loss in its divisional championship game. Bigfork, which won the Western B and will open the tournament against Big Timer, a No. 3 seed from the Southern B, defeated Loyola at divisionals, but the Rams still bring plenty of talent to Belgrade, highlighted by Ryan Tirrell, who signed to play football for the Griz. Other key contributors for the Rams are Jacob Hollenback and Jack Lincoln.

Poplar, who ended up as the champion of the Northern B should be a contender and it will take on Three Forks, the second-place team in the Southern B. The Indians, who knocked off Rocky Boy, will be led by Chris Ciglan, Wynn Main, Kenny Smoker and Wilfred Lambert while Three Forks will counter with Colter Miller, Byrce Olson and Dustin Dalke.

The winner of Three Forks and Poplar will take on Bigfork or Big Timer, while the winner of Rocky Boy and Loyola will take on either Colstrip, the champion of the Southern B or Shelby, which was third in the Northern B. The Colts come into the tournament sporting a 23-0 record and a number of talented players such as Kellen BigHead, J.T. Baer and Kobee BigBack. Shelby is headed back to the state tournament and will be led by Tanner Parsons and Rhett Reynolds.

That semifinal game would be Thursday night at 8 if the Stars were to advance. The other semifinal would be at 6:30, and the championship game is set for Friday night at 8.

The Class B boys state basketball tournament is getting underway Wednesday, however, the girls will be waiting until Thursday and Harlem will kick off the girls competition with a battle against Forsyth, the second-place team from the Southern B.

The Dogies (20-3) are led by Jordan Cookman, who scored 11 points in the championship game against Columbus and Lindsey Hein, a 6-footer that can wreak havoc inside. They will take on a Harlem squad led by L'Tia Lawrence and Skylee Dirden that is making its first-ever appearance at the Class B state tournament.

"We have had a lot of support throughout the season," Lawrence said. "And I think we will have a lot of people coming down to support us because it is such a big thing for the community."

If Harlem is able to win its quarterfinal matchup, the Wildcats will head to the semifinals Friday night at 3:30 against either Florence-Carlton, the champion of the Western C or Three Forks, the defending state champion and third-place team from the Southern B.

On the other side of the bracket, Columbus (20-4) will be a lot to deal with and the Cougars bring a veteran team into the tournament that features seniors Alexa Riveland, Morgan Kirch and Talyn Richard.

The Cougars will take on Fairfield, the third-place team from the Northern B in the opening round Thursday at 3:30 p.m. Following that game will be Wolf Point, who lost to Harlem at divisionals in the championship game and Missoula Loyola, the No. 2 seed from the West. Wolf Point brings dominant post player Imani Bighorn as well as Mya Fourstar.

The semifinal on that side of the bracket will be Friday night at 5, while Harlem, if it advances past Forsyth, will Friday at 3:30 p.m. The state championship game will be Saturday at 8 p.m.