Northern hoops home for New Years

Christmas break has come and gone, and now it's time for the Montana State University-Northern men's and women's basketball teams to play one more slate of games to get ready for Frontier Conference play.

The weekend starts today for Northern, where the Lights (7-5) host Ambrose University this afternoon at the Armory Gymnasium.

Northern has had highs and lows so far this fall, but the Lights are looking to end 2023 on a high note. 

Head coach Shawn Huse' club is led by veteran guards Myles Dalton and Zack Martinez, who both score in double figures. Jacob Randall has also been Northern's leading rebounder, while Northern has a strong supporting cast as well.

And the Lights will look to that lineup to fine-tune things before the start of Frontier play next week. Not only will MSU-N get that chance this afternoon at 4 p.m., but the Lights will also host Lakeland University Saturday, in what will be their final non-conference game of the season. That game tips off at 2 p.m. in the Armory.

Also home for the weekend is the Skylights.

The MSU-N women (4-7) are coming off a tough trip to Arizona just before Christmas, and the Skylights, of head coach Chris Mouat, will be looking to bounce back on their home floor.

Veteran Ryley Kehr has been outstanding this season for Northern, while Shyan Krass, the former Turner Tornado, has been playing well in the paint of late. Rachel Van Blaricom and Savannah Toms also give Northern some more toughness inside, while point guard Jalen Calander has been steady as well.

Still, the Skylights also have had their ups and downs, and they will look to work out some of those kinks before league play starts next week. Both Northern teams open the Frontier season against Montana Western Jan. 6 in Dillon, before playing their first conference home game Jan. 11 against Montana Tech.

Between their two days of non-conference games, the Skylights and Lights will spend Friday conducting their Basketball Holiday Break Day Camp for area girls and boys in grades kindergarten through eighth. The participants will get a T-shirt which will get them free admission into the Lights and Skylights home games Saturday, and a basketball team poster along with skills work with the Northern players, competition fun and prizes.

The day will start with youth in grades K-2, with registration at 7:30 a.m., and their skills work will running 8-10:30 a.m.

Grades 3-5 register at 10 a.m., with their camp running 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Grades 6-8 will register at 12:30 p.m., and work on their skills 1-3:30 p.m.

The camp costs $30 per participant, with $5 off for additional family members, and this can be paid for at the door, where a parent of guardian must sign a waiver. More information can be found at https://golightsgo.com in the Sports Camp page linked under Inside Athletics.

First things first, though, the Skylights host Ambrose this afternoon at 2 p.m., followed by the men's game at 4 p.m.

Then Saturday, the Skylights take on Lakeland at noon with the men to follow at 2 p.m.

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Havre Daily News reporter Pam Burke contributed to this story.