Rocky Boy thumps Arlee for a spot in the semis

The first day of the Class B boys and girls state tournaments had plenty of fireworks, with some teams pushing forward and others taking some tough blows. These scenarios would be the cases for the Rocky Boy boys basketball team and the Harlem girls basketball team, who both were fighting for a spot in the semifinals at the Butte Civic Center in Butte.

In the case of the Stars, they overcame a tough challenge in the Arlee Warriors Thursday afternoon, beating the Warriors 62-46.

But earlier Thursday morning, the Ladycats suffered a tough loss at the hands of a Missoula Loyola comeback, falling to the Breakers 56-51.

The Ladycats opened the bout against the Breakers with a great battle. L'Tia Lawrence and Taya Trottier drove to the basket and sank their shots to help elevate the Ladycats into a good lead, but Loyola pushed back to keep it close, only down 13-10 after the first quarter.

Harlem kept up the pace from the beginning of the game in the second stanza, continuing to drop baskets, while the Breakers, led by Lani Walker and Sam Clevenger, stayed neck-and-neck all the way. The Ladycats still had the lead at halftime 23-21, but Loyola was close behind still.

The third period continued that trend, with both teams trading buckets and staying close. Harlem and the Breakers dished blows back-and-forth, each putting up 17 points in the quarter, with the Ladycats keeping the lead 40-38.

Then, early in the fourth stanza, Syd Koppang sank a 3-pointer and Clevenger hit a field goal in the first minute to lead Harlem 43-30, but the Ladycats kept fighting back. Harlem would trail Loyola, as Lawrence nailed a trey in the final minute to bring the score closer, but the Breakers ran away with the comeback win in the end.

Lawrence led the Ladycats with 20 points against Missoula Loyola, while Trottier was right behind her with 18 points.

Then, later that day, Rocky Boy and Arlee took the court.

The Stars opened the game strong with Joe Demontiney and Blake Cantrell making multiple shots, while the Warriors racked up their own buckets. Rocky Boy stayed with Arlee, but the Warriors had a close 15-13 lead after the first quarter.

Sean Gibson kept up the pace for the Stars in the second stanza, while Arlee did not let Rocky Boy run away with the score. The two teams continued to trade baskets and blows, with the score tied 30-30 at the break.

After halftime, the Stars gained some momentum, but not until after the Warriors opened with a 9-0 run. That is when Rocky Boy responded by going on a 12-0 run, answering the challenge and taking the lead 42-39 with 3:14 left in the third. The Stars added two more field goals, but the Warriors scored the last seven points to tie it again 46-46 after the third period.

But then Rocky Boy locked down in the fourth quarter. Sage Bradley, Cruz Sun Child, Cedric Belcourt and the Stars started racking up points, while the Rocky Boy defense became a brick wall and did not allow Arlee to score a single point in the final eight minutes, sealing the win for the Stars. Cantrell led Rocky Boy with 20 points, Demontiney followed with 19 and Gibson had 17 points in the game against the Warriors.

Next up, the Stars will take on Lodge Grass in the semifinals tonight at 6:30 in the Butte Civic Center in Butte for a shot at a chipper. Meanwhile, the Harlem girls battled with the Colstrip Colts this morning to try and continue their state tournament.

Rocky Boy 62, Arlee 46

RKB 13 17 16 16 – 62

ARL 15 15 16 0 – 46

RKB – Blake Cantrell 20, Sean Gibson 17, Joe Demontiney 19, Sage Bradley 2, Cruz Sun Child 1, Cedric Belcourt 2.

ARL – Levi Fullerton 5, Billy Fisher 13, Cody Tanner 11, Micah Johnson 3, Tapit Haynes 14.

Missoula Loyola 56, Harlem 51

MSL 10 11 17 18 – 56

HAR 13 10 17 11 – 51

MSL – Natalie Clevenger 8, Syd Koppang 16, Lani Walker 17, Sam Clevenger 15.

HAR – Taya Trottier 18, L'Tia Lawrence 20, Taeshon Schaeffer 7, Aria Owens 2, Alaynee Hawley 2, Gabi Bell 2.