Rocky Boy Stars heading back to the Class B state tourney

It was quite the crazy weekend for Northern B basketball, especially, for the Hi-Line boys basketball teams Rocky Boy and Harlem. The two teams traveled to Malta to compete in the Northern B Divisionals, where they each aspired to get to the Class B state tournament.

The Wildcats fell just short of a chance for a state berth after losing to the Malta Mustangs in the consolation semifinals 59-54 Saturday morning. Meanwhile, the Stars will be heading to state once again after claiming the No. 3 seed, beating Malta 50-41 in the consolation game Saturday night.

Harlem head coach Geno LeValdo saw the tournament in Malta as a great challenge, even if his team hit a rock in the road toward the end.

"Overall, it was a pretty great tournament," LeValdo said. "Of course, the semifinal games take a lot out of you. We were spent and the next time we played Malta, we just were emotionally and physically spent. But, in the end, we gave it a good run."

But before all that, the two teams met each other for the third time this season in the first round of the tournament, where Harlem opened the weekend on a good note with a 57-50 win over Rocky Boy. Brad Cichosz led the Wildcats with 18 points, while Blake Cantrell put up 15 points to lead the Stars.

Then Friday, Harlem lost a close one to the Fairfield Eagles 68-66 in the semifinals to drop down to consolation. Brad Cichosz dropped 31 points to lead the Wildcats, with Tyler Cichosz putting up 14. On the same day, Rocky Boy won over the Glasgow Scotties to advance to the consolation semifinals. Joe Demontiney led the Stars with a 15-point game and Cantrell dropped 12 points versus Glasgow.

Rocky Boy then faced the deadly Wolf Point Wolves, but the Stars tamed the Wolves 71-57 to move on to the consolation championship, where Demontiney put up 14 points against the Mustangs, followed right behind by Cantrell with 13. When facing Wolf Point, Demontiney dropped 16, Sean Gibson put up 14, Sage Bradley racked up 13 and Cantrell added 13.

In the loss to Malta in the consolation semifinals, Harlem saw Brad Cichosz put up 21 points and R.J. Ramone added 14 points to the Wildcats day. But at the end of the day, LeValdo was glad to see his team improve drastically from the year before.

"Last year, we were 4-14," LeValdo said. "We were 18-5 this year, won our conference and broke quite a few records. We're just going to be hungrier and achieve what we want to, which is getting to state. Overall, the season was pretty great and divisionals was a good one."

Now, Rocky Boy will be the No. 3 seed in the Class B state tournament, with hopes of capping off another deep postseason run with a title. Meanwhile, Harlem awaits the next season for another shot at making some noise in Class B basketball.

The Stars join Northern B champ Fairfield and Shelby at the State B tourney March 12-14 in Butte.

SATURDAY

Rocky Boy 50, Malta 41, 3rd

Malta 5 10 16 10 – 41

Rocky Boy 19 11 6 14 – 50

Malta – Ben Costin 16; Kooper Oxarart 12; Tanner Smith 7; Kanyon Stiles 4; Rex Williamson 2.

Rocky Boy – Joe Demontiney 14; Blake Cantrell 13; Sage Bradley 7; Benji Crebs 7; Sean Gibson 4; JoJo Standing Rock 3; Cedric Belcourt 2.

Rocky Boy 71, Wolf Point 57, LO

Wolf Point 17 11 14 15 – 57

Rocky Boy 13 16 24 18 – 71

Wolf Point – Treyton Lilley 19; Tade Wallette 11; James Lien 10; Lance St. Germaine 10; Antone Manning 4; Nick Page 3.

Rocky Boy – Joe Demontiney 16; Sean Gibson 14; Sage Bradley 13; Blake Cantrell 13; Benji Crebs 11; Isiah Limberhand 2; Kellen Colliflower 2.

Malta 59, Harlem 54, LO

Malta 10 16 17 16 – 59

Harlem 12 14 18 10 – 54

Malta – Kooper Oxarart 29; Tanner Smith 15; Rex Williamson 10; Pierce Mortenson 2; Kanyon Stiles 2; Ben Costin 1.

Harlem – Brad Cichosz 21; R.J. Ramone 14; Daniel Lawrence 10; Tyler Cichosz 3; Trent Main 2; Cassius Johnson 2; Jehton Longfox 2.

FRIDAY

Fairfield 68, Harlem 66, SF

Harlem 20 18 14 14 – 66

Fairfield 18 23 12 15 – 68

Harlem – Brad Cichosz 31; Tyler Cichosz 14; Daniel Lawrence 9; R.J. Ramone 5; Truth Brockie 4; Trent Main 3.

Fairfield – Keeley Bake 33; Conner Murray 10; Gavin Mills 9; Kaelob Flores 8; Daniel Faith 8.

Rocky Boy 60, Glasgow 48

Rocky Boy 5 19 21 15 – 60

Glasgow 12 11 10 15 – 48

Rocky Boy – Joe Demontiney 15; Blake Cantrell 12; Sage Bradley 11; Sean Gibson 9; Benji Crebs 6; Cedric Belcourt 5; JoJo Standing Rock 2.

Glasgow – Alex Boland 18; Tim Wageman 12; Keigan Skolrud 8; Trevor Klind 6; Kobe Sibley 4.

THURSDAY

Harlem 57, Rocky Boy 50

Harlem 8 6 29 14 – 57

Rocky Boy 11 10 10 19 – 50

Harlem – Brad Cichosz 18; Tyler Cichosz 13; R.J. Ramone 10; Trent Main 6; Richard Hoops 4; Cassius Johnson 4; Daniel Lawrence 2.

Rocky Boy – Blake Cantrell 15; Sean Gibson 13; Joe Demontiney 9; Sage Bradley 5; JoJo Standing Rock 5; Benji Crebs 3.