Montana again dominates all-star series against Wyoming

This past weekend, several girls basketball players from the Hi-Line competed in the Montana-Wyoming all-star series. On the Montana girls team, Havre's Sadie Filius, Harlem's Taya Trottier and Box Elder's Kyla Momberg represented the Hi-Line as they helped the Montana girls team once again sweep Wyoming in the series.

The weekend started with Montana winning the first game, 69-59, in Sheridan, Wyoming. Early on, Wyoming came to play as it took a 20-16 lead to end the first quarter. But Montana responded in the second quarter to tie the game, 35-35, heading into halftime.

The teams continued to battle but Montana was able to grab a 50-49 lead heading to the fourth quarter. Montana then pulled away in the fourth to win by ten.

Billings Central's Mya Hansen led Montana with 19 points while Filius was fourth on the team with nine points. For their contributions, Trottier scored four points while Momberg scored two points in the winning effort.

On Saturday night in Lockwood, the Montana team defeated Wyoming, 68-49, to complete the sweep. Montana dominated the second quarter by ending the first half on a 21-5 run to take control of the game and coast the rest of the way. Momberg made an impact during this stretch with seven points. She went on to finish the game with 11 points. Again, Hansen led Montana with 14 points.

With the wins, the Montana girls team improved its record to 37-13 in the series and extended its winning streak to 12 straight games. Wes Keller, the Montana girls coach and Rocky Mountain College women's basketball coach, improved his record to 13-1 since he took over the team.

While the Montana boys team did not have any players from the Hi-Line on its roster, it also swept Wyoming this weekend. In Sheridan on Friday, Montana dominated for a 103-76 victory. After leading 23-17 to end the first quarter, Montana dominated the second quarter to take a 56-27 lead into halftime.

Montana played steady in the second half to coast to a win to open the series. Damon Gros Ventre of Lodge Grass led Montana with 22 points while Owen Long from Three Forks scored 16 and Rhett Reynolds from Shelby chipped in 15 points in the winning effort.

Montana had more trouble on Saturday in Lockwood, but was still able to pull out the 94-77 win. Wyoming played tight through most of the game and even cut the deficit to four points in the third quarter. But Montana ended the game strong to pull out the win. Payton Sanders from Billings Skyview led Montana with 28 points. The sweep improved the Montana boys team to 63-27 in the series and extended its winning streak to 20 straight games in the series.

Demonstrating how strong the all-stars were for Montana this year, all the girls on the Montana team had signed to play college basketball. Filius will next play ball for Carroll College while Momberg will play for Montana Western and Trottier will stay on the Hi-Line to play for Montana State University-Northern. So they should continue to represent the Hi-Line well at the next level.