By George Ferguson/Havre Daily News Sports /gferguson@havredailynews.com
It may have been one of the coldest weeks of winter weather the Hi-Line has seen in a long time. But the high school basketball action was as hot as ever. The Rocky Boy Stars continued to climb their way up the Class C ranks this past weekend with three conference victories in a week, while archrival Box Elder also picked up a pair of important 9C wins, including an upset over favored Hays-Lodge Pole.
The No. 4-ranked Rocky Boy Stars opened the week with a 74-54 win over the Turner Tornadoes in Turner.
The Stars jumped out to a 21-8 first-quarter lead and never looked back en route to the road win.
Charles WalkingChild had a monster night with a game-high 33 points. Upton Whitford added 18 points in the win. Turner had three players in double figures led by Dalton Cornell's 14 points. Chad Jones and Logan Fouts added 13 and 12, respectively.
In Class B action Thursday night, the struggling Harlem Wildcats were downed at home by District 2B rival Malta, 48-46.
John Galt scored a game-high 18 points to lead the Mustangs while the Wildcats got 10 points from Lance Ironchild and nine points from Eddie Moore.
In District 9C action, the KG KouGars picked up a big conference road win in Big Sandy Thursday night. The KouGars knocked off the Pioneers 52-47.
The Pioneers started the game strong, building a 28-19 lead going into halftime. But KG outscored Big Sandy 33-19 in the second half to pull out the road victory. Brandon Melby led three KouGars in double figures with a game-high 20 points. Cody Donoven and Drew Kapperud added 14 and 12 points, respectively. The Pioneers were paced by Justin Willis with 12 points. Kyle Danreuther and Chris LaBuda added 10 points apiece.
In District 10C, the Sunburst Refiners continued their strong start to the season by knocking off the Chester Coyotes 50-39 in Chester.
Nate Aschim led the Refiners with 16 points. Isaac VanDyke paced the Coyotes with 14 points and Patrick Wicks added eight in the losing effort.
In 9C action Friday night, the Box Elder Bears got 53 combined points from Tyler and Aaron Henry in an 85-75 home win over the Hays-Lodge Pole Thunderbirds.
The Bears held a one-point, 36-35 lead at halftime and then went on to outscore the T-Birds 49-40 in the second half to earn the 10-point margin of victory. Tyler Henry poured in a career-high 31 points, including five three-pointers, while Aaron Henry added 22 points. Chad Taylor also chipped in with 13 points for the Bears.
The T-Birds were led by Robyn Doney with 14 points and Lance Brockie added 12.
Meanwhile in Rocky Boy, the undefeated Stars kept their record perfect with a 90-45 thrashing of Blue Sky/J-I.
Rocky Boy had six players reach double figures and as a team connected on 10 three-pointers. Charles WalkingChild led the way with a game-high 20 points and Upton Whitford added 17. A.J. The Boy also scored 15 points in the win. The Eagles got 12 points from Craig Miller and 10 from Darius Wendland.
In District 10C action Friday night, the Chester Coyotes dropped their second straight home game, this time falling to archrival Heart Butte, 69-56.
The Coyotes trailed by just one point, 24-23, at halftime, but they surrendered 45 points to the high-powered Warriors in the second half. The Coyotes were also done in by a standout night from Heart Butte's Lyman Tail Feathers, who poured in a game-high 23 points in the win. Chester got 12 points from Isaac VanDyke as well as 11 from Kevin May and 10 from Zach Ramberg in the losing effort.
On Saturday night, the Harlem Wildcats found their way back into the win column with a 70-57 win at home over Plentywood in District 2B action.
Neeko Bigby and Eddie Moore paced Harlem with 22 and 19 points respectively. Bigby connected on three three pointers. Plentywood got 14 points from Tom O'Toole, including four treys.
In KG, the Rocky Boy Stars survived their closest scare of the season as they edged the KG KouGars 49-43 to remain undefeated in District 9C play.
The Stars jumped out to an early 18-8 lead on eight straight points from WalkingChild. However, second-quarter foul trouble sidelined the Rocky Boy standout, allowing the KouGars to fight back into the game behind the play of Donoven and Kapperud to lead 27-26 at halftime.
The Stars retook the lead in the third quarter and never looked back as WalkingChild and and Nate Rock took over inside.
The Stars were paced by WalkingChild's 19 points, while Upton Whitford added 10. The KouGars got 22 points from Cody Donoven and 14 from Drew Kapperud.
In Box Elder, the Box Elder Bears made it a perfect weekend with an 82-68 win over Turner.
Steve Arca scored 20 points and Chad Taylor chipped in with 17 as six Bears reached double figures. Aaron Henry also scored 15 points and Tyler Henry and Dustin Bacon added 11 points each. The Tornadoes were led by Dalton Cornell's 20 points. Colin Jones added 13.
Tuesday
Rocky Boy 74, Turner 54
Rocky Boy 21 14 18 21 - 74
Turner 8 18 10 18 - 54
Rocky Boy - Upton Whitford 18, A.J. The Boy 4, Charles Walking Child 33, Ivan Whitford 4, Nate Rock 4, Marty Watson 2, Colton Montes 2, Kyle Standing Rock 2, Austin Whitford 3. Totals: 31 10-17 74
Turner - Dalton Cornell 14, Colin Jones 6, Emory Hedegaard 6, Logan Fouts 12, Chad Jones 13, Garrett Maloney 3. Totals: 22 8-14 54.
Three-point goals - Walking Child, A. Whitford, Hedegaard, Jones. Total Fouls - Rocky Boy 12, Turner 13. Fouled out - Hedegaard
Thursday
Malta 48, Harlem 46
Malta 13 12 12 11 - 48
Harlem 9 8 20 9 - 46
Malta - Tyler Sjostrom 4, John Galt 18, Bo Stiles 12, Kevin Hanson 6, Jeremy Azure 6, Scott Lindgren 2. Totals: 19 8-12.
Harlem - Neeko Bigby 7, Will Bigby 4, Wally Crantz 6, Rick Haluszka 6, Lance Iron Child 10, Eddie Moore 9, Monte Snow 4. Totals: 18 7-12.
Total fouls: Malta 11, Harlem 13, Fouled out: None. Three-pointers: Stiles 2, Iron Child 2, N. Bigby 1.
KG 52, Big Sandy 47
KG 10 9 19 14 - 52
Big Sandy 16 12 11 8 - 47
KG - Stephen Ramsbacher 2, Zach Rambo 2, Shawn Hanson 2, Brandon Melby 20, Drew Kapperud 12, Cody Donoven 14. Totals: 20 10-16.
Big Sandy - Devin Genereux 8, Justin Willis 12, Kyle Danreuther 10, Chris LaBuda 10, Lawrence Jappe 7. Totals: 19 5-9.
Total fouls - KG 15, BS 16. Fouled out - none. Technical fouls - Big Sandy coach Lackner. Three-point goals - Kapperud 2, Willis 2, LaBuda 2.
Sunburst 50, Chester 39
Sunburst 6 21 4 19 - 50
Chester 10 8 16 5 - 39
Sunburst - Nate Aschim 16, Chris McFadden 4, Mitch Diegel 4, Todd Fleisher 3, Matt Tomsheck 6, Shane Somerville 14, Stanton Schulze 3. Totals: 15 16-24.
Chester - Isaac VanDyke 14, Casey Buffington 2, Kevin May 4, Zach Ramberg 7, Patrick Wicks 8, Stetson Brown 4. Totals: 16 7-14.
Total fouls: Sunburst 11, Chester 23. Fouled out: Shulze, Buffington, May. Three-point goals: Aschim 3, Somerville 2.
Friday
Box Elder 85, Hays-Lodge Pole 75
Hays-Lodge Pole 15 20 19 21 - 75
Box Elder 10 26 23 26 - 85
Hays-Lodge Pole - Steven Shambo 8, Robyn Doney 14, Delaine Ariwite 12, Lance Brockie 13, Cody McCabe 7, William Granados 4, Dwight Flansburg 12, Clayborn Grant 5. Totals: 30 12-18.
Box Elder - Chad Taylor 13, Aaron Henry 22, Dustin Bacon 1, Tyler Henry 31, Steve Arca 10, Lane LaMere 6, Donny Top Sky 2. Totals: 27 23-35.
Total fouls - HL 20, BE 17. Fouled out - Ariwite, Brockie. Technical fouls - Doney, Ariwite, T. Henry. Three-point goals - Shambo 2, Doney, Taylor 2, A. Henry, T. Henry 5.
Rocky Boy 90, Blue Sky/J-I 45
Blue Sky/J-I 6 16 7 16 - 45
Rocky Boy 24 25 19 22 - 90
Blue Sky/J-I - Josh Beardly 2, Conrad Wendland 2, Alex Chvilicek 3, Darius Wendland 10, Dane Kantorowitz 2, Craig Miller 12, Alex Frey 9, Brad Peterson 5. Totals 16 10-24.
Rocky Boy - A.J. The Boy 15, Upton Whitford 17, Charles WalkingChild 20, Nate Rock 11, Marty Watson 11, Ivan Whitford 12, Colton Montes 1, Austin Whitford 3. Totals 26 5-7.
Total fouls - Blue Sky/J-I 7, Rocky Boy 19. Fouled out - none. Three-point goals - D. Wendland, The Boy 3, U. Whitford 3, Watson 2, I. Whitford 2, A. Whitford.
Heart Butte 69, Chester 56
Heart Butte 13 11 15 30 - 69
Chester 9 14 8 23 - 56
Heart Butte - Lyman Tail Feathers 23, Wacey Mountain Chief 7, Kyle Spotted Eagle 4, Mike Running Crane 8, Lyle Aims Back 4, Eddie Champine 2, Raymond Panet 3, Joe Wagner 9, Vernon Crawford 9. Totals: 29 8-17.
Chester - Isaac VanDyke 12, Casey Buffington 6, Kevin May 11, Zach Ramberg 10, Patrick Wicks 2, Brice Fenger 2, Stetson Brown 13. Totals: 17 21-31.
Total fouls - HB 24, Chester 17. Fouled out - none. Three-point goals - Mountain Chief, Running Crane 2, Brown.
Saturday
Box Elder 82, Turner 68
Turner 13 29 10 16 - 68
Box Elder 23 26 19 9 - 82
Turner - Dalton Cornell 20, Colin Jones 13, Emory Hedegaard 8, Logan Fouts 6, Chad Jones 11, Garrett Maloney 10. Totals 26 15-18.
Box Elder - Chad Taylor 17, Aaron Henry 15, Steve Arca 20, Tyler Henry 11, Dustin Bacon 11, Lane LaMere 6, Danny Top Sky 2. Totals 33 8-15.
Three-point goals - Fouts, Taylor 3, A. Henry 4, T. Henry. Fouls - Turner 13, Box Elder 19. Fouled out - Arca.
Harlem 70, Plentywood 57
Plentywood 7 19 2 29 - 57
Harlem 16 15 12 27 - 70
Plentywood - Tyler Young 6, Shay Wilemon 2, Brandon Schmidt 8, Brandon Benson 3, Aaron Thiel 2, Tom O'Toole 13, Rett Darvis 8, Heath Howard 4, Zach McCoy 11. Totals - 13-5 16-27
Harlem - Neeko Bigby 22, Bruce Byrd 2, Wally Crantz 10, Rick Haluszka 9, Eddie Moore 19, Monty Snow 8. Totals - 20-4 18-31.
Three-point goals - Schmidt, O'Toole 4, Bigby 3, Moore. Total fouls - Plentywood 23, Harlem 20. Fouled out - Wileman.
Rocky Boy 49, KG 43
Rocky Boy 20 6 8 15 - 49
KG 12 15 5 11 - 43
Rocky Boy - A.J. The Boy 6, Upton Whitford 10, Charles Walking Child 19, Nate Rock 8, Marty Watson 4, Ivan Whitford 2. Totals 21 6-18.
KG - Branden Melby 7, Drew Kapperud 14, Shane Rice 0, Cody Donoven 22. Totals 15 8-13.
Total fouls - Rocky Boy 15, KG 20. Fouled out - Melby, Rice. Three-point goals - U. Whitford, Kapperud 4, Donoven.
