Longhorns trample Knights

Last year, the Fort Benton Longhorns and North Star Knights made enemies out of each other in the postseason. In the District 9C championship game, the Knights got the better of Fort Benton for the title. In the Northern C Divisionals, Fort Benton got revenge for a spot in the state tournament that eventually led to a state title for Horns..

While both teams are much different from last year, the rivalry stays the same. And on Thursday at the Havre High Gymnasium, the two teams faced off again to begin postseason competition. Unfortunately, the game did not live up to the standards of the last year's matchups as No. 5 seed Fort Benton defeated No. 4 seed North Star 50-31. Even though they were the lower seed, Fort Benton head coach Eddie Fultz believes the Longhorns are finding their groove as they are getting healthier.

"It's the first time all year where we're finally kind of healthy," Fultz said. "They're finally starting to feel good physically and it started to show on the court at the same time."

The Longhorns started the game hot. A pair of free throws from Casha Corder gave Fort Benton the lead and a 3-pointer from Cloe Kalanick extended it to 5-0. After a score from Kira King, the Longhorns went on a 9-0 run. Hailee Wang led the way with four points during this stretch, her second bucket giving Fort Benton a 14-2 lead halfway through the opening quarter.

"They just came out a little more focused," North Star head coach Scott Bymaster said about the early deficit. "We came out hard, I'll give us that but they came out, took away our right hand and we just didn't make the adjustments in time."

Laynie Sattoriva tried to get the Knights back in it as she scored a pair of free throws and a bucket to cut the deficit to 14-6 at the end of the frame. But the Longhorns held onto control with a 6-0 run to start the second quarter. Samantha Vielleux led the Longhorns with four points during this stretch.

Rainee Watson scored to put an end to the run but the Longhorns just started another one to stretch the lead to 25-8. After another bucket from Watson, Ashlee Wang nailed a three to give Fort Benton a 28-10 lead heading into halftime.

Looking to get back in the game, the Knights started the second half on an 8-4 run. King scored a couple of buckets during the run, her second cutting the deficit to 32-18 with about three minutes left in the third quarter.

But Fort Benton ended the quarter on a 9-3 run. During this stretch, Ashlee Wang scored six straight points for the Longhorns. After a North Star bucket, Wang scored again to give Fort Benton a 41-21 lead to end the quarter. The Longhorns have had trouble through the year putting teams away after building a big lead, so Fultz made sure that was a focus at halftime.

"Sometimes teams stomp and then they forget how to twist," Fultz said. "We were able to rotate our bench a little bit more than they were and I think they got tired and we didn't."

In the fourth quarter, the Knights were unable to claw their way back as Fort Benton held on for the win. Ashlee Wang finished the game with 23 points as she shot 10-for-14 from the field and 2-for-3 from three. Vielleux played well with 10 points on 4-for-7 shooting from the field.

Watson led North Star with nine points as she went 4-for-15 from the field. With the loss, the Knights head to the consolation bracket to face Turner. If the Knights want to keep the season alive and try to make it back to Northern C Divisionals, they will need to play together as a team.

"If we come to play our best basketball, our most unselfish basketball, we'll set ourselves up fine," Bymaster said. "Hopefully I put them in the right spots and hopefully we execute."

The Longhorns will play in the semifinals tonight against Box Elder. The Bears are the No. 1 seed in the tournament, so Fultz knows they will have their hands full.

"Box Elder is one of if not the best team in the state," Fultz said. "It is going to take a Herculean effort for us to be able to come out and play that game and come out with a win but we're playing our best ball at the right time and we'll see how far that carries us."

Fort Benton will play Box Elder in the semifinals tonight at 4 p.m. at HHS Gymnasium. North Star played Turner in a consolation game earlier this morning.

Fort Benton 50, North Star 21

NS - 6 4 11 10 - 31

FB - 14 14 13 9 - 50

NS - Rainee Watson 9, Kira King8, Layne Sattoriva 6, Kaytlyn Domire 5, Mackenzee Sargent 3.

FB - Ashlee Wang 23, Samantha Vielleux 10, Hailee Wang 6, Cloe Kalanick 6, Casha Corder 5.

3-pointers: NS 1-16 (Rainee Watson 1), FB 4-11 (Ashlee Wang 2, Cloe Kalanick 2). Fouls: NS 10, FB 14. Fouled Out: None.