By George Ferguson/Havre Daily News Sports/gferguson@havredailynews.com
For nearly two weeks now the players on Rocky Boy boys basketball team have been talking about the postseason mission that they are on.
On Thursday afternoon in the first round of the 2005 Northern C divisional basketball tournament in Great Falls, the Stars could not have gotten that mission off to a better start.
Rocky Boy raced out to an early lead against overmatched Dutton-Brady and never looked back as it cruised into the semifinals, 64-34.
Rocky Boy head coach Andy Smith said after the game that his team's early defensive effort set the stage for what turned out be an easy win.
"The kids just came out on fire defensively," Smith said. "They were intense and we got our full-court press going. When we play defense like that, it really gets our offense off and running.
The Stars held a six-point lead after the first quarter, but then put the defensive clamps down on Dutton-Brady in the second and third periods. Rocky Boy outscored the Diamondbacks 13-6 to close the first half and then put the game away with an 18-6 run in the third quarter. The Stars' defense accounted for nearly half of their offense as they scored 35 points off of 29 D-Back turnovers.
"These kids take a lot of pride in playing good defense," Smith said. "And we played about as good as we could possibly play today. It was a lot of fun to watch."
Aside from a dominant defensive performance the Stars also got a game-high 18 points from James Burns. Senior center Charles Walking Child also chipped in with 15 points and eight rebounds on the night.
The win over Dutton-Brady pushes the Stars into tonight's semifinal round where they will face District 8C champ Geyser. The Wranglers opened the tournament with a 54-40 win over Denton.
"I think that Geyser will be a very tough game for us," Smith said. "They looked very solid today and the fact that they beat Centerville and Highwood means they are a very good basketball team."
While all was right with Rocky Boy on Thursday, the same could not be said for the Hays-Lodge Pole Thunderbirds. The T-Birds squandered a double-digit fourth quarter lead against District 10C champion Heart Butte, falling 67-62.
The T-Birds' offense, which looked unstoppable on Monday when it dismantled Box Elder in the District 9C challenge game, looked equally up to the task in the first half against the Warriors.
Sophomore Lance Brockie propelled the T-Birds to a 30-24 halftime lead. By the time the two teams got into the fourth quarter, Hays-Lodge Pole had upped that lead to 11 points. However, the Warriors stormed back via an 18-3 run.
The critical juncture came when Hays-Lodge Pole's Cody McCabe called a timeout with less than a minute to go when the T-Birds did not have one to spend. That gave the Warriors two extra free throws and possession of the ball and they were able to ice the game from there.
Wacey Mountain Chief and Patrick Whitcomb led Heart Butte with 13 points apiece. Leading scorer Lyman Tailfeathers also chipped in with 12 points. Hays-Lodge Pole got a game-high 23 points and 12 rebounds from Brockie. Delaine Ariwite added 11 points in the heartbreaking loss.
The Thunderbirds will now drop into loser-out action today. Hays-Lodge Pole will face the Highwood Mountaineers this morning at 10:30 a.m. The Northern C divisional tournament will continue through Saturday night at the Four Seasons Arena in Great Falls.
Northern C/Four Seasons
Rocky Boy 64, Dutton-Brady 34
Rocky Boy 16 13 19 16 - 64
Dutton-Brady 10 6 8 10 - 34
Rocky Boy - Jesse Colliflower 3 2-2 8, Charles Walking Child 7 1-2 15, James Burns 8 2-2 18, A.J. The Boy 1 0-0 2, Joe Small 3 0-0 6, Upton Whitford 1 0-0 2, Marty Watson 1 0-0 2, Joel Parker 0 0-0 0, Ivan Whitford 1 0-0 3, Nate Rock 2 0-0 5, Kyle Standing Rock 0 0-0 0. Totals: 28 5-6.
Dutton-Brady - Orrie Gondeiro 3 0-0 7, Jeff Banchett 1 2-2 4, Cody Kitchin 1 0-0 2, Nic Wells 2 1-1 5, Donnie Chippewa 3 4-5 11, Ryan Mullenax 0 0-0 0, Justin Sheldon 0 0-0 0, Andrew Bishop 1 0-1 2, Nick Greene 0 0-0 0, Travis Hodgson 0 0-0 0, Kirtus Pittman 0 0-0 0, Hayden McLean 0 0-0 0. Totals: 11 7-9.
Total fouls - Rocky Boy 9, Dutton-Brady 9. Fouled out - None. Three-pointers - I. Whitford 1, Rock 1, Chippewa 1, Kitchin 1, Gondeiro 1. Rebounds - Rocky Boy 36 (Walking Child 6), Dutton-Brady 24 (Gondeiro 6, Wels 6).
Heart Butte 67, Hays-Lodge Pole 62
Heart Butte 12 12 15 28 - 67
Hays-Lodge Pole 12 18 16 16 - 62
Heart Butte - Lyman Tail Feathers 12, Wacey Mountain Chief 13, Kyle Spotted Eagle 7, Vernon Crawford 4, Lyle Aims Back 2, Raymond Purnell 8, William Wells 2, Joe Wagner, 6, Patrick Whitcomb 13. Totals - 23-4 9-19.
Hays-Lodge Pole - Steven Shambo 2, Delaine Ariwite 11, Robyn Doney 4, Dwight Flansburg 6, Clayburn Grant 2, Cody McCabe 7, William Granados 7, Lance Brockie 23. Totals - 24-3 5-11
Total fouls - Heart Butte 15, Hays-Lodge Pole 16. Technical fouls - McCabe. Fouled out - Tail Feathers. 3-point goals - Mountain Chief, Whitcomb 3, Flansburg 2, Granados.
Geyser 54, Denton 40
Denton 2 8 13 17 - 40
Geyser 14 12 9 19 - 54
Denton - Mark Buckentin 2 0-0 4, Lance Nemec 1 0-0 2, Cole Derks 0 0-0 0, Brenton Melton 6 3-4 16, Calvin Bronec 0 0-0 0, Brien Peterson 1 0-0 2, Degan Barber 3 1-3 7, Devon Heble 3 0-0 7, Evan Todd 0 0-0 0. Totals: 16 4-7.
Geyser - Trevor Annala 5 1-4 11, Brock Hansen 4 1-2 9, Ryan Neumann 3 4-6 12, Andy Widhalm 3 5-9 11, Matt Neumann 2 7-7 11, Jacob Noland 0 0-0 0. Totals: 17 18-28.
Total fouls - Denton 24, Geyser 10. Fouled out - None. Three-pointers - Buckentin 2, Heble 1, Melton 1, R. Neumann 2. Rebounds - Denton 37 (Buckentin 7), Geyser 36 (Annala 8).
Winifred 49, Highwood 47
Winifred 6 11 13 19 - 49
Highwood 12 12 16 7 - 47
Winifred - Nick Econom 2, Steve Foran 21, Garrett Carr 18, Logan Heggem 2, Brian Foran 4, Jared Foran 2. Totals - 15-6 1-7
Highwood - Reid Edwards 2, Tanner Ripley 7, David Schipf 5, Tyler Pasha 8, Brian Davison 9, Bret Bahnmiller 12, Troy Kotthoff 4. Totals - 16-2 9-16.
Total fouls - Winifred 17, Highwood 13. Fouled out - none. 3-point goals - S Foran 2, Carr 4, Davison, Bahnmiller.
