Wildcats, Stars chase state tourney dreams

There has been a great rivalry between two Class B Hi-Line teams for quite some time, but now the Harlem Wildcats and the Rocky Boy Stars will face off for a third time this season in the Northern B Divisionals in the Malta High Gymnasium in Malta today through Saturday.

Harlem (17-3) secured the No. 2 seed from the District 2B last weekend at the 2020 District 2B boys tournament. The Wildcats may not have secured the 2B championship but are still a lethal team to face on the court. Now, Harlem is on a quest for a Northern B championship and a spot in the Class B state tournament in March.

And Wildcats head coach Geno LeValdo is excited to compete in the Northern B Divisionals, especially since his team will play the Rocky Boy Stars in the first round this afternoon at 2:30.

"Demontiney usually has a really good game plan," LeValdo said. "His boys are naturally going to be ready to play, so we're going to match that intensity. We pretty much talked about our game plan and what we'd like to see. It's going to be a good game. We pretty much know each other and what we're capable of."

Of course, winning the Northern B will be no easy task for Rocky Boy or Harlem, but the two teams have some great players that can help them get to that goal.

In the case of the Wildcats, senior Brad Cichosz has been a force on the hardwood this season. Not only has Cichosz put up a record-breaking 68-point game, but he is a great leader and a team player on top of it. Meanwhile, others like RJ Ramone and Tyler Cichosz make up another part of the offensive attack.

Then comes the Stars (13-9), who have some steady players on the team, too. Joe Demontiney, Blake Cantrell and Ben Crebs compliment as a great trio on the offensive side of the ball, while JoJo Standing Rock pulls his weight for the team, as well. With head coach Adam Demontiney at the helm, Rocky Boy will be a big first obstacle for the Wildcats to overcome.

The winner of Rocky Boy and Harlem will move on to the semifinals to face off against the winner of the Fairfield versus Glasgow that takes place before the Hi-Line rivals play. That semifinal game will be Friday at 6:30 p.m.

Meanwhile, the other side of the bracket will see Wolf Point versus Cut Bank tonight at 6:30, followed by a matchup between Malta and Shelby at 8. The winner of those bouts will play against each other in the other semifinal game at 8 p.m. Friday. The victors of the semifinal games will punch a ticket to state and face off in the Northern B championship at 8 p.m. Saturday. In the end, the top three teams will be moving on to play in the Class B state tournament at the Butte Civic Centerl in Butte on Mar. 12-14.

But before that, Harlem (17-3) and Rocky Boy (13-9) will face off in a first-round bout this afternoon at 2:30 in the Malta High Gymnasium in Malta. The tournament moves through Saturday night's consolation game at 6:30 p.m. and the championship bout at 8.