Hi-Line Boys Basketball: Bears, Longhorns roll into the new year

The holiday break is over and many teams across the Hi-Line got back onto the court. Some games were rivalries among class or district, while others were non-conference matchups. Either way, Friday and Saturday saw a series of exciting games.

Friday, the Fort Benton Longhorns defeated the Hays-Lodge Pole Thunderbirds in a 9C game. Fort Benton and HLP battled it out, but the Longhorns took the win 68-49. Fort Benton outscored the Thunderbirds in every quarter of play and each quarter was in double figures. The Longhorns had the biggest performances from the brotherly duo of Hayden Diekhans, who led the team with 24 points, and Garrett Diekhans, who was right behind his brother with 18 points. For the Thunderbirds, Tyshawn Shambo led with 16 points, followed by Estevan Granados with 10 points. Fort Benton and Hays-Lodge Pole both had two players in double figures

Fort Benton grabbed another win last Saturday against Big Sandy, as well, to sweep the weekend. The Longhorns once again put up a big game, with every quarter being in double digits. Fort Benton and the Pioneers fought tough in the first quarter, but the Longhorns broke away to take a big lead at the half 28-16. The fourth quarter was where both teams played their best, with Fort Benton dropping 21 points to seal the win, but Big Sandy had a good performance with 16 points. Once more, the Diekhans brothers led the team as the top two scorers, Garrett Diekhans with 22 and Hayden Deikhans with 13. Ryan Roth led the Pioneers with 13 points and Clint Darlington followed with eight.

Big Sandy had another tough game last Friday against Denton-Geyser-Stanford. The Pioneers fell in a close game to DGS 64-61. Big Sandy had a big first half with the second quarter surging them into a 33-32 lead at the half. But DGS picked up the pace in the second half and edged out the Pioneers with an 18-point fourth quarter to take the win. Big Sandy had three players in double figures, with Roth putting up 22 points, Darlington dropping 18 and Kade Strutz adding 11 to the game.

Hays-Lodge Pole fell again Saturday to a tough Chinook Sugarbeeters team. Chinook took a major lead in the first half with a 27-point first quarter and a 26-point second quarter, outscoring HLP to take the lead 53-23. The Chinook defense held the Thunderbirds from scoring higher then 12 points each quarter, as well. The Beeters had four players in double figures, with Reese Elliot at the top with 19 points, followed by Toby Niederegger with 17. HLP had one player in double figures in Tyshawn Shambo putting up 10 points.

Chinook picked up another 9C win over Chester-Joplin-Inverness 72-41 to sweep the weekend and further solidify the team as a state contender. But CJI snagged a win over the Valier Panthers Saturday, 72-45, to try to keep up the hard work in the tough 9C.

Turner had a rough weekend, as well, and fell to Dodson last Friday and Box Elder Saturday. The Tornadoes were routed by Dodson, who put up an early lead in the first quarter, 24-7, followed by three more quarters above 10 points. Turner was not able to keep up with its opponent's duality on the court, but the Tornadoes had a player in double figures in Austin Welsh, who led the team with 16 points against Dodson.

Turner battled against Box Elder next with the game having an overtime period. The Tornadoes put up a big fight in the first half with two 18-point quarters, but the Bears kept a close lead, 38-36, at the half. The third quarter was a big one by Box Elder, who put up 23 points compared to Turner's 12, but a fourth-quarter 22-point surge by the Tornadoes sent the game into overtime. In the end, the Bears scored 11 points and held Turner to four to claim a big 9C victory. Welsh once again led the Tornadoes with a big 23-point game.

Rocky Boy and Harlem had a big battle last Saturday, too. The first quarter opened with a shoot-out and a defensive battle to get the crowd excited. Brad Cichosz put up five points in the quarter to keep the Wildcats close, but the Stars had the lead 20-14. Blake Cantrell put on a show for Rocky Boy before the half, putting up 13 points to put the Stars ahead 47-32 at halftime. Cantrell and the Cichosz brothers battled it out in the second half, with the three trying to keep their team in the lead or in the game. In the end, the Stars kept a good pace and stunned Harlem 83-55. The Wildcats were led by R.J. Ramone, who put up 11 points, while Cantrell dropped 23 points and Ben Crebs put up 21 points for Rocky Boy.

Rocky Boy head coach Adam Demontiney was proud of his teams' effort against a tough Harlem team.

"I knew they were going to come out aggressive," Demontiney said. "I knew it was going to be a pretty tough game. I expected a lot more pressure. We came in with a game plan making their guys play defense. We got it going early, so it worked out for us."

North Star won a thriller game against Conrad Saturday. The Knights started off down in the first half after the Cowboys blazed into a 34-28 lead, but then Caden Rettig and Hayden Masser put up a big game in the second, including a 30-point third quarter to take the lead and take a major victory over Conrad. Rettig put up 29 points, seven steals, six assists and five rebounds, alongside Massar's 16 points and seven rebounds on the day.

North Star didn't have quite the same night Monday at home. Visting Box Elder exploded for 24 ponts in the second quarter, then held off the Knights for a 66-61 win.

Gabe Saddler scored 27 points for Box Elder, while Hayden Massar had 15 for the Knights.

FRIDAY

Fort Benton 68, Hays Lodge-Pole 49

Fort Benton 24 18 14 12 – 68

HLP 13 10 19 7 – 49

Fort Benton – Devin Bird 5, Jace Thompson 7, Stephen Cannon 4, Nick Marias 2, Hayden Diekhans 24, Logan Giles 4, Max Lane 3, Jackson Schmele 2, Garrett Diekhans 18.

HLP – Estavan Granados 10, Tyshawn Shambo 16, Deshawn Shambo 9, Siris Grandchamp 3, Wyman Bringinggood 9, Lane Kirkaldie 2.

Dodson 70, Turner 37

Dodson 24 13 11 22 – 70

Turner 7 14 8 8 – 37

Dodson – Kadin Racine 2, Jeremiah Benson 12, Corbin Lone Bear 24, Shawn Ball 9, Alex Wenk 5, Zack Jones 10, Dwight Werk 8.

Turner – Austin Welsh 16, Jack Harmon 7, Shane Kimmel 11, Trent Billmayer 1, Ryan Dogle 2.

Denton-Geyser-Stanford 64, Big Sandy 61

DGS 24 8 16 18 – 64

Big Sandy 12 21 12 16 – 61

DGS – Dylan Taylor 23, Kein Carpenter 11, Ace Becker 5, Ark Ayers 11, Parker Donaldson 14.

Big Sandy – Brock Proulx 2, Ryan Roth 22, Kody Strutz 8, Clint Darlington 18, Kade Strutz 11.

SATURDAY

Rocky Boy 83, Harlem 55

Rocky Boy 20 27 20 16 – 83

Harlem 14 18 14 9 – 55

Rocky Boy – Joe Demontiney 12, Ben Crebs 21, Sean Gibson 16, Joe Standing Rock 11, Blake Cantrell 23. 3-pointer: Crebs 3, Standing Rock 3, Cantrell 2.

Harlem – Brad Cichosz 9, Tyler Cichosz 11, RJ Ramone 11, Daniel Lawrence 9, Trent Main 8, Truth Brockie 2, Cassius Johnson 2.

Box Elder 81, Turner 74

Box Elder 16 22 23 9 11 – 81

Turner 18 18 12 22 4 – 74

Turner – Austin Welsh 23, Trever Kimmel 3, Shane Kimmel 39, Jack Harmon 9.

Box Elder – no stats were reported.

Fort Benton 59, Big Sandy 35

Fort Benton 15 13 10 21 – 59

Big Sandy 4 12 13 16 – 35

Fort Benton – Devin Bird 7, Jace Thompson 4, Stephen Gannon 2, Nick Marias 2, Hayden Diekhans 13, Max Lane 1, Logan Giles 6, Garrett Diekhans 22.

Big Sandy – Ryan Roth 13, Kody Strutz 3, Clint Darlington 8, Wylee Snapp 1, Jeremiah Genereux 2, Kade Strutz 6.

North Star 74, Conrad 70

North Star 10 18 30 16 – 74

Conrad 21 13 19 17 – 70

North Star – Caden Rettig 29, Garrett Spicher 3, Payne Ditmar 6, Hayden Masser 16, Gavin Spicher 2, Jaden Sargent 10, Rhett Wolery 8.

Conrad – J. Shephard 10, C. Huntenjre 14, B. Bokma 11, E. Wittmier 13, D. Ginthre 2, K. Howard 20.

Chinook 81, Hays Lodge-Pole 38

Chinook 27 26 12 16 – 81

HLP 12 9 11 6 – 38

Chinook – Ethan Bell 11, Hunter Neubauer 10, Benton Elliot 7, Toby Niederegger 17, Reese Elliot 19, Ethan Macleod 4, Oskar Pula 7, Hunter Molyneaux 6.

HLP – Wyman Bringinggood 9, Deshawn Shambo 4, Lane Kirkaldie 4, Siris Grandchamp 6, Tyshawn Shambo 10, Estevan Gronadous 1, E Werk 4.

MONDAY

Box Elder 66, North Star 61

North Star 11 8 22 20 - 61

Box Elder 11 24 14 17 - 66

North Star - Austin Hansen 1, Caden Rettig 6, Payne Ditmar 10, Hayden Massar 15, Gavin Spicher 11, Jaden Sargent 13, Rhett Wolery 5.

Box Elder - Gabe Saddler 27, Tyrus LaMere 13, Kadyn Duran 6, Malique Rosette 16, Tayce St, Pierre 2, Jayden Gopher 2.