Hi-Line Boys BB: One week left in the 9C regular season

Tournament time is coming. So, on the Hi-Line, every game counts. Last week saw area boys basketball cross the halfway point of the regular season, starting with games Tuesday night.

The week started with plenty of District 9C action, including the North Star Knights edging Chester-Joplin-Inverness 47-34 in Chester. The Hawks led at halftime, but the Knights held CJI to just 11 points in the second half.

Garrett Spicher scored 15 points and Gavin Spicher added 13 for the Knights, while Bryce Kammerzell paced the Hawks with 13.

Tuesday night was also exciting for Hays-Lodge Pole, and while the Thunderbirds lost a close game to Turner, they were just happy to be back on the court after missing two weeks due to COVID-19. HLP played the Tornadoes tough, but Turner exploded for 25 points in the fourth to win the game.

Shane Kimmel scored 17 points and Charlie Calvert chipped in with 14 for the Tornadoes, while Estevan Grenados scored 22 points for HLP.

Tuesday night also saw Chinook dominate Box Elder 70-39. The Sugarbeeters led from start to finish and got 14 points from Reese Elliot in the win. Oskar Pula also scored for the Beeters. While Tyus St. Pierre totaled nine points for the Bears.

It was a tough start to the week for the Rocky Boy boys. The Stars are in a dogfight in the 1B standings, but they lost a non-conference game to Malta Tuesday night, 62-47. Malta raced out to a 23-8 lead, and the Stars, who got 19 points by Sean Gibson, never recovered. Of course, the game also ended controversially, as a plethora of unusual technical fouls were called against the Stars late in the game, and ultimately led to Rocky Boy head coach Adam Demontiney pulling his team from the game with just under four minutes left. Later last week, Demontiney released a statement on the situation.

"Last night, Rocky Boy traveled to Malta to play our second non-conference game. During the game there was some calls we questioned, we felt that some of these calls were inaccurate. Because of the inconsistency and inaccuracies of the officiating during the fourth quarter, it became apparent that safety was not an issue for the officials, to the point where we felt our player got fouled but was called for a technical instead. We reviewed the film and feel that I made the right decision to remove our team before someone was seriously hurt. If I had to do it again, I would protect our players 100 percent of the time regardless of any punishment," Demontiney said.

He went on to also say that rumors about poor treatment from Malta fans was not true, and later in the week said, "As a team, we have to be better about handling our emotions. It doesn't look good on us walking off the court. We lost our composure but now we all need to put this behind us and move forward."

Fort Benton continued its dominance in the Northern C Thursday night with a 74-44 win over Denton-Geyser-Stanford. The Longhorns broke things open with a 25-10 run in the second quarter, while Nick Marias led all scorers with 15 points.

The Longhorns then jumped back into 9C play Friday night, when they crushed Turner 75-37. Hayden Diekhans scored a game-high 28 points for the Longhorns, while Shane Kimmel scored 13 and Austin Welch added 10 for the Tornadoes.

Friday night also saw Chinook dominate Chester-Joplin-Inverness 8-1-42 in Chester. Chinook got going early, and the Hawks never caught up, as Toby Niederegger scored 22 points and Reese Elliot added 20 for the Beeters. Kyle Harmon led the Hawks with 12 points.

Friday night also saw the North Star Knights grab another key win in the 9C standings, as they defeated HLP 72-56. North Star started the game on a 22-10 run, and got 19 points from Gavin Spicher and another 14 by Jaden Sargent. Daniel Henry poured in a game-high 25 points for the T-Birds, while Estevan Granados scored 18.

And in a huge 9C showdown Friday night, Box Elder continued its fine play with a 64-57 win over Big Sandy. The Bears led by double digits at halftime, while Big Sandy rallied in the second half. Gabe Saddler scored 14 points and Jayden Jilot and Tyrus LaMere each added 13 for the Bears. Brayden Cline had a game-high 20 for the Pioneers while Kody Strutz added 16.

What was a difficult week for the Rocky Boy Stars didn't get any easier Friday night when they lost to District 1B rival Fairfield 69-53. The Stars led by one at halftime, and were down just one in the fourth quarter, but the Eagles finished the game on a 22-7 run. Joe Demontiney had 17 points and Ben Crebs added 16 in the tough loss for the Stars.

Saturday night also saw HLP get a much-needed win, as the Hawks beat CJI in overtime 54-41. The game was tight throughout, but HLP pulled off a late run to send it to OT, before outscoring the Hawks 7-4 in the extra frame. Tyshawn Shambo led the T-Birds in double figures with 18 points, while Keraly Haaland scored 20 and Blake Harmon added 14 for the Hawks.

Meanwhile, Chinook blasted Turner 91-30 Saturday night with Ethan Bell scoring a game-high 25 points, while Reese Elliot, Oskar Pula and Toby Niederegger all reached double figures as well. Turner got 17 points from Shane Kimmel.

In another big game Saturday night Big Sandy turned away North Star, 68-55. A 22-13 run in the second quarter by the Pioneers turned out to be the difference. Kade Strutz put up 22 points for the Pioneers, while Rhett Wolery scored 11 for the Knights.

Saturday night also saw Fort Benton blow past Box Elder 68-50 to keep its hold on first place in the 9C standings. This week marks the final week of the 9C regular season.