Frontier Notebook: Frontier women's race going right down to the wire

Just two weeks remain in the Frontier Conference' regular season, and nothing is for sure as of yet.

However, the Lewis-Clark State men sure are as close to a sure thing as there is. The Warriors swept Providence and Montana State University-Northern last weekend, and now have a three-game lead in the Frontier men's standings with four to play. LC State has won 16 straight games and has just one loss in league play. The Warriors are three games clear of Carroll College, which would need LCSC to lose four in a row to grab the outright title, Providence is another game back at 9-5, while Northern has pulled ahead of Montana Tech for the fourth seed and a first-round home game in the upcoming playoffs.

The women's side is a much closer race. Defending national champion Western sits at 9-5, just one game in front of LC State and Carroll. Rocky isn't out of the picture yet either, as the Battlin' Bears sit at 7-7 in league play, while Providence is 6-8, setting up what could be a wild finish to the Frontier season.

Last Nights

Speaking of finishing. The MSU-Northern men and women are playing their final home games of the regular season this weekend in the Armory Gymnasium. Northern is playing six of its last eight on the road, so this weekend's contest against Western and Rocky are big ones. The MSU-N men are 2-0 against the Dawgs and 1-1 against Rocky, and swept them on the road just two weeks ago. The Skylights are 1-1 against both teams, have swept at home back in December, but having lost to both earlier this month on the road.

It will be a big two nights in the Armory, as Northern honors its host families Friday night, then honors its seniors Saturday night.

It's also a big weekend of basketball in Havre, as the District 9C Tournament will be held this week. Interestingly, the Armory was home to the 9C tourney for many years, before it shifted to Havre High School.

More MSU-N Alums coaching

Last week saw a host of former Northern alums announced as coaches around Montana. Former Light Kyle Samson added ex-Lights Khalin Anderson, Travis Dean and Ryne Nelson to his staff at Montana Tech. Former MSU-N hooper Micheal Claxton was named head basketball coach at the new Gallatin High School in Bozeman, and Hunter Chandler, a former Northern football standout, was given the head football job at the new high school in Bozeman, as well.

Frontier Honors

University of Providence' Zach Darko-Kelly was named the Frontier Conference Men's Player of the Week. Darko-Kelly averaged 37 ppg for the Argos, who went 1-1 last week.

LC State's Jamie Nielsen was named Frontier Women's Player of the Week. She averaged 28 ppg in LCSC's home split last weekend.

MSU-N's Adam Huse and McKenzie Gunter were also nominated for the awards.