Hi-Line Boys BB: Wildcats stun the Beeters; Longhorns cruise

It has been another exciting weekend for Hi-Line boys basketball, with many district rivalries and out-of-conference matchups among the fun games. On top of that, there were three days in-a-row where games took place for the Hi-Line, starting Thursday.

Thursday saw three games, with the first being between two Hi-Line teams looking to keep their season strong. The Harlem Wildcats and the Chinook Sugarbeeters fought a close bout, with the Wildcats just scraping away with the win over the Beeters 47-45. The first quarter stayed tight, with Harlem and Chinook staying in pace with one another, but the Wildcats kept ahead 11-10. The second period saw Harlem break out a bit with 19 points, but Chinook put up 11 to stay close at the half 30-21. After the intermission, the Wildcats dropped 15 points to continue their lead, with the Beeters answering with 11 once more. Chinook then pushed to comeback in the fourth with a 13 point performance, but Harlem managed to keep the edge to come out on top and win. Senior Brad Cichosz led Harlem with 19 points, followed by R.J. Ramone with eight. Chinook was led by Levi Jensen with 19 points while Reese Elliot racked up 12.

The Wildcats picked up another win Friday over the Glasgow Scotties 74-44. Harlem actually started down 13-11 after the first stanza, but a 29 point second quarter propelled the Wildcats into the lead 40-24 at the break. Harlem continued to put on a dominate performance in the second half, putting up 34 more points and holding the Scotties to just 20 to take another win to close of a big week. Brad Cichosz once again led the Wildcats with 27 points and Daniel Lawrence was not far behind with 25 on the day.

Chinook bounced back from the loss against Harlem and beat the Turner Tornadoes last Saturday, 67-24. The Beeters opened the game with a 10-point lead over Turner 18-8, then followed with an explosive second period and put up 32 points before the intermission to lead 50-10. Chinook and the Tornadoes had some back-and-forth in the final eight minutes, but the Beeters lead at the half was large enough to snag the victory over the District 9C rival. Ethan Bell led the Sugarbeeters with 14 points, while the Tornadoes were led by Austin Welsh, who put up 11.

The Fort Benton Longhorns was another team that picked up two wins over the weekend, starting with the Thursday win over non-conference Denton-Geyser-Stanford 58-44. The first stanza stayed close between the teams, but the Longhorns had a thin lead 17-15. The second quarter saw Fort Benton add 14 more to the board, while the defense held DGS to seven to lead 31-22 at the half. The Longhorns pushed their lead in the third period with 12 points and added 14 more in the final eight minutes, to take the first victory of the weekend, despite DGS trying to comeback with 16 points in the fourth quarter. Hayden Diekhans was the Longhorns' top scorer with 14 points, with Jace Thompson adding 11.

The second win of the weekend came against conference rival, the Box Elder Bears, with Fort Benton beating the Bears 77-54 Saturday. Once again, the Longhorns battled in a tight first stanza to lead 14-13, but another big second quarter put them well ahead of Box Elder 34-23 at the break. But Fort Benton had its biggest quarter of the game in the third, where the Longhorns dropped 28 points. The Bears pushed to fight back, but Fort Benton kept up the pace and took the win in the 9C showdown. This time around, Garrett Diekhans led the Longhorns with 24 points, while Maligue Rosette was the top scorer for Box Elder with 12 points.

But the Bears grabbed a 9C win over the Big Sandy Pioneers Friday, 81-75. The Pioneers led after the first period 17-16, but Box Elder put up a huge second quarter performance and racked up 25 points to lead at the half 41-31. Big Sandy cut the game closer with two major 20-plus point stanzas, but the Bears kept the Pioneers at bay to stay on top in the end. Box Elder's Gabe Saddler was the top scorer for the Bears with 18 points, while Big Sandy had a great performance from Ryan Roth with 36 points.

The Pioneers would pick up a 9C win over the North Star Knights last Saturday in a showdown. Big Sandy started off strong with a 27 point first half, while the defense held North Star to just 13 points in the half to lead 27-13. But the Knights fought back valiantly in the third quarter, putting up a 19 point stanza and thinning the Pioneers lead. Big Sandy managed to keep the lead enough to snag the close win. Roth led the Pioneers once again with 18 points, while North Star was led by Hayden Masser with 21 points.

The Rocky Boy Stars split the weekend with a loss to the Fairfield Eagles last Thursday 75-64 and a win over the Malta Mustangs 65-51 last Friday. At the same time, the Chester-Joplin-Inverness Hawks split the weekend as well, with a loss to North Star Friday 67-57 and a win over the Hays Lodge-Pole Thunderbirds 52-44.

The Thunderbirds did pick up a 9C win over Turner 84-54 Friday, though. HLP started the game off strong with a 46 point first half to lead 46-30 at the intermission. The Thunderbirds added another 24 points in the third stanza, while Turner fought to stay alive with 24 points in the second half. In the end, the three 20 plus point quarters kept HLP on top to take the victory. Austin Welsh once again led the Tornadoes with 30 points.

THURSDAY

Harlem 47, Chinook 45

Harlem 11 19 15 14 – 47

Chinook 10 11 11 13 – 45

Harlem – Brad Cichosz 19, Tyler Cichosz 7, RJ Ramone 8, Daniel Lawrence 6, Trent Main 5, Truth Brockie 2.

Chinook – Levi Jensen 16, Ethan Bell 4, Toby Niederegger 9, Reese Elliot 12, Ethan MacLeod 4.

Fort Benton 58, Denton-Geyser-Stanford 44

Fort Benton 17 14 12 14 – 58

DGS 15 7 6 16 – 44

Fort Benton – Devin Bird 4, Jace Thompson 11, Hayden Diekhans 14, Max Lane 4, Logan Giles 4, Garrett Diekhans 2.

DGS – Dylan Taylor 9, Kein Carpenter 7, Ace Becker 10, Parker Donaldson 15.

FRIDAY

Box Elder 81, Big Sandy 75

Box Elder 16 25 18 22 – 81

Big Sandy 17 14 20 24 – 75

Box Elder – Gabe Saddler 18, Tyrus LaMere 14, Kadyn Duran 10, Maligue Rosette 11, Jayden Jilot 3, Tayce St. Pierre 10, Jayden Gopher 6, Cameron Eagleman Jr. 7.

Big Sandy – Brock Proulx 12, Ryan Roth 36, Kody Strutz 1, Clint Darlington 18, Kade Strutz 8.

Harlem 74, Glasgow 44

Harlem 11 29 18 26 – 74

Glasgow 13 11 9 11 – 44

Harlem – Brad Cichosz 27, Tyler Cichosz 5, RJ Ramone 6, Daniel Lawrence 25, Trent Main 6, Cassius Johnsen 2, Teagan LeValdo 3.

Glasgow – Kobe Sibily 4, Jace Nickles 1, Alec Bolond 5, Trevor Kllnd 2, Jaysen Turner 2, Tim Wageman 4, Bergen Miller 2, Keegen Skolruol 24.

Hays Lodge-Pole 84, Turner 54

HLP 26 20 24 14 – 84

Turner 14 16 12 12 – 54

HLP – no stats reported.

Turner – Trever Kimmel 2, Charlie Calvert 2, Ryan Doyle 3, Shane Kimmel 19, Austin Welsh 30.

SATURDAY

Chinook 67, Turner 24

Chinook 18 32 7 10 – 67

Turner 8 2 10 4 – 24

Chinook – Levi Jenson 4, Ethan Becc 14, Hunter Neibauer 4, Damon Hannum 4, Braden Eoff 2, Benton Elliot 8, Toby Niederegger 8, Reese Elliot 10, Ethan MacLeod 2, Oskar Pula 9, Braxton Inman 2.

Turner – Austin Welsh 11, Jack Harmon 7, Shane Kimmel 6.

Big Sandy 52, North Star 47

Big Sandy 14 13 12 13 – 52

North Star 5 8 19 15 – 47

Big Sandy – Lane Demontiney 4, Ryan Roth 18, Kody Strutz 5, Clint Darlington 13, Kade Strutz 12.

North Star – A. Hensen 1, Caden Rettig 11, Garrett Spicher 2, Payne Ditmar 3, Hayden Masser 21, Gavin Spicher 5, E. Federspiel 4.

Fort Benton 77, Box Elder 54

Fort Benton 14 20 28 15 – 77

Box Elder 13 10 13 18 – 54

Fort Benton – Devin Bird 10, Jace Thompson 12, Stephen Gannon 6, Nick Marias 2, Hayden Diekhans 12, Logan Giles 5, Jackson Schmele 1, Garrett Diekhans 24, Andrew Bakantyne 2.

Box Elder – Gabe Saddler 7, Tyrus LaMere 9, Kadyn Duran 8, Maligue Rosette 12, Jayden Jilot 2, Tayce St. Pierre 5, Jayden Gopher 5, Cameron Eagleman Jr. 2.