Hi-Line Boys BB: Big weekend for Big Sandy and Harlem

The regular season is ending for Hi-Line boys basketball teams, with each trying to grab more wins before the postseason arrives. This past week saw quite a few games across the Hi-Line, with some teams sweeping the weekend and others still trying get more victories..

For Benton grabbed a non-conference win over the Denton-Geyser-Stanford Bearcats last Thursday 58-52, to start the week, with Fort Benton holding off a late DGS comeback in the fourth quarter to grab the win. Hayden Diekhans led the Longhorns with 17 points, followed by Logan Giles with 15 points.

Then, Fort Benton earned another conference win over the Box Elder Bears last Friday 74-57. The game kicked off at a close pace, with Fort Benton only up 19-11 after the first stanza. In the second period, the Longhorns pulled away with a 21-point game to lead 40-25 at the break. Box Elder fought back in the third quarter, putting up 18 points, but Fort Benton put up another 21 to extend their lead and keep it to win. Garrett Diekhans led the Longhorns with 19 points and Gabe Saddler led the Bears with 13 points.

The other game last Thursday saw the Harlem Wildcats pick up a conference win over the Glasgow Scotties, 86-55. The Wildcats and Scotties had a close game at the end of the first stanza, with Harlem leading 18-17, followed by a bit of a pull away to give the Wildcats a small lead 34-29 at the intermission. But in the second half, Harlem dropped 50 points to grab a huge win over Glasgow in the end. Tyler Cichosz led the Wildcats with 34 points, followed by his older brother Brad Cichosz with 20.

Harlem picked up a non-conference win over the Chinook Sugarbeeters last Friday, 86-71, too. The Beeters led the Wildcats 23-15 at the end of the first stanza, but Harlem pushed back to keep it close at the half down 40-33. After a 21-point third period, the Wildcats then dropped 32 points, while Chinook put up 25, but still fell to the Harlem comeback in the end. R.J. Ramone led the Wildcats with 28 points and the Beeters were led by Levi Jensen with 26 points.

Last Friday, another Class B team, the Rocky Boy Stars, fell to the Malta Mustangs 42-39. The Stars opened the first half strong, putting up 11 points in the first period and 16 in the second to put up a big 27-11 lead at halftime. But Malta drove back in the second half with an 18-point third quarter and a 13-point fourth stanza, while holding Rocky Boy to just 12 throughout the half, to come back and beat the Stars. Blake Cantrell led Rocky Boy with 15 points, while Joe Demontiney put up 11. The Stars then fell to Fairfield in a close one, 79-77, last Saturday.

Back in the 9C, the Hays-Lodge Pole Thunderbirds grabbed a win over the Turner Tornadoes Friday 73-67. Turner led at the end of the first period 18-7, but HLP put up 23 points to stay in the game at the end of the first half, only down 35-30. The Thunderbirds continued to drop big points, with 19 in the third quarter and 24 in the fourth, while the Tornadoes fought back with a 32-point second half but fell short in the end. HLP was led by Wyman Bringinggood with 15 points, while Shane Kimmel dropped 31 for Turner.

Then, Big Sandy snagged a win over Box Elder 60-51 to steal the No. 3 spot in the 9C. The Pioneers and Bears were close at the end of the first period, with Box Elder leading 15-14, but Big Sandy put up 24 points in the second stanza to grab the lead 38-26 at the break. After halftime, the Bears fought right back to bring it close again, but the Pioneers pulled away with a 12-point fourth quarter to take the victory. Ryan Roth had a huge 29-point game for Big Sandy and Kadyn Duran put up 12 points for Box Elder.

The North Star Knights picked up a victory over the Chester-Joplin-Inverness Hawks 63-52 last Friday, too. The two teams kept it close in the first half, with the Knights leading 32-24 at the intermission. North Star pulled away in the second half, dropping 31 points to CJI's 28 to snag the 9C win. Caden Rettig led the Knights with 16 points, while the Hawks were led by Caden Woods with 14.

But last Saturday, North Star fell to Big Sandy 57-37. The Pioneers were hot all game, dropping 28 points in the first half, while the Knights were held to 14, followed by a big second half by Big Sandy to pull away with the victory. Roth led the Pioneers once again, putting up 13 points, while Garrett Spicher paced the Knights with 10.

Chinook beat Turner 83-49 Saturday, with Chinook dropping a total of 53 points in the first half, followed by 30 in the second, while the Tornadoes pushed to stay alive in the game, putting up 17 points in the second and fourth quarter, but still fell to the Beeters. Reese Elliot led Chinook with 17 points and Austin Welsh put up 29 points to lead Turner.

HLP won over CJI last Saturday 67-57, as well with Lane Kirkaldie dropping 22 points for the Thunderbirds and Andrew Woods leading the Hawks with 15 points. CJI led HLP 20-10 at the end of the first quarter, but the Thunderbirds put up 27 points in the second period to help fuel a comeback win in the end.

As the District 9C Tournament approaches, Fort Benton still sits on the 9C throne with a 16-0 overall record, while Chinook is still secured in the No. 2 spot. Big Sandy sits at No. 3 at 9-7 and Box Elder follows in No. 4 at 7-9. North Star is No. 5 with an 8-7 record, followed by CJI at No. 6 with a 7-9 overall record. HLP sits at No. 7 with a 3-13 overall record, while Turner is at No. 8 still trying to grab a win before the regular season ends. In Class B, Harlem improves to 14-2 and Rocky Boy falls to 9-7.

THURSDAY

Harlem 86, Glasgow 55

Harlem 18 16 26 24 – 86

Glasgow 17 12 10 16 – 55

Harlem – Brad Cichosz 20, Tyler Cichosz 34, RJ Ramone 14, Daniel Lawrence 10, Truth Brockie 1, Richard Hoops 3

Glasgow – Alec Boland 22, Tim Wageman 16, Keigan Skolrud 15, Hunter Collinsworth 2.

Fort Benton 58, Denton-Geyser-Stanford 52

FTB 12 15 8 23 – 58

DGS 14 7 8 23 – 52

FTB – Jace Thompson 11, Hayden Diekhans 17, Max Lane 1, Logan Giles 15, Billy Ullery 4, Garrett Diekhans 12.

DGS – Dylan Taylor 3, Kein Carpenter 13, Ace Becker 2, Arik Ayers 10, Parker Donaldson 26.

FRIDAY

Malta 42, Rocky Boy 39

Malta 4 7 18 13 – 42

Rocky Boy 11 16 2 10 – 39

Malta – Connor Tuss 10, Tanner Smith 15, Ben Costin 6, Kooper Oxarart 9, Kanyon Stiles 2.

Rocky Boy – Gibson Janes 2, Cedric Belcourt 3, Blake Cantrell 15, JoJo Standing Rock 6, Sean Gibson 2, Joe Demontiney 11.

Hays Lodge-Pole 73, Turner 67

HLP 7 23 19 24 – 73

Turner 18 17 14 18 – 67

HLP – Tyshawn Shambo 8, Estevan Granados 8, Siris Grandchamp 5, Lane Kirkaldie 9, D. Henry 10, Deshawn Shambo 12, W. Has The Eagle 6, Wyman Bringinggood 15.

Turner – Shay Humphreys 2, Austin Welsh 24, Jack Harmon 4, Shane Kimmel 31, Charlie Calvert 2, Trever Kimmel 4.

Big Sandy 60, Box Elder 51

BSH 14 24 10 12 – 60

BXE 15 11 14 11 – 51

BSH – Ryan Roth 29, Kody Strutz 9, Clint Darlington 11, Parker Proulx 6, Jeremiah Genereux 3, Kade Strutz 2.

BXE – Jaden Jilot 3, Zander Parisian 3, Kadyn Duran 12, Tyrus LaMere 11, Malique Rosette 9, Tayce St. Pierre 6, Chris Burnes 7.

Harlem 86, Chinook 71

Harlem 15 18 21 32 – 86

Chinook 23 17 6 25 – 71

Harlem – Brad Cichosz 26, Tyler Cichosz 18, RJ Ramone 28, Daniel Lawrence 5, Truth Brockie 5, Jehton Longfox 2, Amari Stanley 2.

Chinook – Levi Jensen 26, Ethan Bell 10, Toby Niederegger 14, Reese Elliot 10, Oskar Pula 7.

North Star 63, Chester-Joplin-Inverness 52

NST 14 18 16 15 – 63

CJI 10 14 13 15 – 52

NST – Austin Hansen 2, Caden Rettig 16, Garrett Spicher 14, Payne Ditmar 9, Hayden Massar 13, Gavin Spicher 2, Jaden Sargent 2, Ethan Federspiel 5.

CJI – Bryce Ghekiere 6, Andrew Woods 5, Kyle Harmon 10, Spencer Richter 7, Bryce Kammerzell 1, Kealy Haaland 7, Caden Woods 14.

SATURDAY

Big Sandy 57, North Star 37

BSH 14 14 18 11 – 57

NST 4 10 7 16 – 37

BSH – Ryan Roth 13, Elijah Wagoner 2, Kody Strutz 2, Clint Darlington 11, Rusty Gasvoda 1, Parker Proulx 10, Jeremiah Genereux 8, Kade Strutz 8.

NST – Caden Rettig 5, Garrett Spicher 10, Payne Ditmar 2, Hayden Massar 5, Gavin Spicher 3, Jaden Sargent 7, Ethan Federspiel 5.

Chinook 83, Turner 49

Chinook 31 22 15 15 – 83

Turner 8 17 7 17 – 49

Chinook – Braxton Inman 5, Oskar Pula 8, Ethan MacLeod 6, Reese Elliot 17, Toby Niederegger 6, Benton Elliot 7, Braden Eoff 7, Damon Hannum 6, Hunter Neibauer 8, Ethan Bell 7, Brenden Fetter 6.

Turner – Jack Harmon 3, Charlie Calvert 2, Shane Kimmel 15, Austin Welsh 29.

Hays Lodge-Pole 67, Chester-Joplin-Inverness 57

HLP 10 27 14 16 – 67

CJI 20 5 11 21 – 57

HLP – Tyshawn Shambo 1, Estevan Granados 5, Siris Grandchamp 12, Lane Kirkaldie 22, Daniel Henry 7, Deshawn Shambo 2, W. Has The Eagle 1, Wyman Bringinggood 13, Ethan Werk 4.

CJI – Lane Fischer 3, Andrew Woods 15, Kyle Harmon 3, Spencer Richter 12, Kealy Haaland 10, Caden Woods 14.

Fort Benton 74, Box Elder 57

FTB 19 21 21 13 – 74

BXE 11 14 18 14 – 57

FTB – Devin Bird 7, Jace Thompson 7, Stephen Gannon 8, Hayden Diekhans 18, Max Lane 2, Logan Giles 7, Billy Ullery 5, Jackson Schmele 1, Garrett Diekhans 19.

BXE – Gabe Saddler 13, Tyrus LaMere 11, Kadyn Duran 11, Chris Burnes 1, Jaden Jilot 3, Zander Parisian 4, Tayce St. Pierre 9, Jayden Gopher 3.