Knights get hot in the second half to defeat T-Birds

Day one of the District 9C Girls Basketball Tournament wrapped up on Wednesday with a meeting between the No. 2 seed North Star Knights and the No. 7 seed Hays-Lodge Pole Thunderbirds. After a close first half in Havre High Gymnasium, the Knights got rolling in the second half to pull away for the 61-31 victory to start the tournament.

"You get nerves in the first game. There's a lot of anticipation and I thought we had that in the first half," North Star head coach Scott Bymaster said. "In the second half, we just had to regroup, collect ourselves and we really played a solid second half there so I was happy with that."

After a slow first half on offense, the Knights got hot in the second half to finish the game shooting 32.9 percent from the field. Kaytlyn Domire led North Star with 24 points on 10-for-23 shooting from the field.

Kira King and Laynie Sattoriva both recorded 16 points for the Knights. Both players got hot from the 3-point line where they went 6-for-11 combined. As a team, the Knights shot 33.3 percent from deep, which Bymaster believes fed off the Knights' execution in other areas.

"When we get shots going, it makes it that much easier to get that rebound, go get that steal and then really run the floor," Bymaster said. "It really builds on the whole offensive game and defensive game."

Meanwhile, the T-Birds shot 22 percent from the field and 60 percent from the free-throw line. Alliya Pretty Paint led the T-Birds with 11 points as she went 4-for-16 from the field and 2-for-6 from deep.

After a 2-2 tie to start the game, King and Sattoriva knocked down back-to-back threes for the Knights. Domire then got rolling with four straight points to push the lead to 12-2. The T-Birds responded with a 3-0 run, but Sattoriva scored in the closing seconds of the first to give North Star a 14-5 lead.

The Knights started the second quarter with a 6-0 run to push their lead to 20-8. However, a three from Pretty Paint and a layup from Shaydyn Blount cut the deficit to 20-10. Nashone Shambo then scored to cut North Star's lead to 20-12 halfway through the frame.

The Knights and T-Birds then exchanged baskets to make it a 22-14 game late in the half. In the closing moments of the half, Domire made a layup and one free throw to give North Star a 25-14 lead heading into halftime.

Looking to get back in the game, the T-Birds started the second half with a quick run to cut the deficit to 25-19. After the teams exchanged baskets, the Knights took control of the game with a 17-0 run over the rest of the third. It was the usual suspects for the Knights as Domire and King both scored seven points during this stretch.

The Knights opened the fourth with another three and never looked back. Over the final eight minutes of the game, the Knights continued to dominate to secure the victory and advance in the tournament.

With their loss, the HLP T-Birds had to play Chester-Joplin-Inverness in a loser-out game today. After the loss to open the tournament, HLP head coach Cody Shambo and the T-Birds will look to recover from a physical game.

"We'll rest up and try to come back," Shambo said.

The North Star Knights advance to the semifinal tonight where they will play the Fort Benton Longhorns. With a spot in the District 9C championship game and a Northern C Divisional berth on the line, Bymaster expects a tough battle tonight.

"I expect hard defense," Bymaster said. "I expect them to be well coached and I expect them to be coming out ready to hit us in the mouth."

The North Star Knights and the Fort Benton Longhorns will play in the semifinal at HHS Gymnasium tonight at 8:30 p.m.

North Star 61, HLP 31

NS 14 11 19 17 - 61

HLP 5 9 7 10 - 31

NS - Kaytlyn Domire 24, Laynie Sattoriva 16, Kira King 16, Rainee Watson 3, Adrina Sterner 2.

HLP - Alliya Pretty Paint 11, Nashone Shambo 8, Shaunte Hawley 6, Shaydyn Blount 2, Angela Blackcrow 2, Kelcie Mount 2.

3-pointers: Kira King 4, Laynie Sattoriva 2, Alliya Pretty Paint 2, Rainee Watson 1. Fouls: NS 6, HLP 10. Fouled Out: None.