By George Ferguson/Havre Daily News Sports/gferguson@havredailynews.com
Saturday night marked the end of the boys basketball regular season across the Hi-Line. But for all local high school teams it also means new beginnings as district tournaments get under way across the Hi-Line this week.
On Thursday night, the KG KouGars cemented their third-place status in the District 9C standings with a 65-52 thrashing of Big Sandy in Gildford.
The KouGars exploded for 25 points in the first quarter and tacked on another 21 points in the third period en route to the easy victory.
KG got a game-high 26 points from Cody Donoven and Drew Kapperud added 14 points, including three 3-pointers. The Pioneers were led by Karl Osterman with nine points and Lawrence Jappe with eight.
In Chester, the Sunburst Refiners picked up a critical District 10C win, knocking off the host Coyotes 47-44. Sunburst earned the victory by coming back from a 23-19 halftime deficit. They got 14 points from Nate Aschim in the win. Chester was led by Zach Ramberg's game-high 19 points.
On Friday night the Chinook Sugarbeeters closed out their home schedule with an 84-61 defeat at the hands of District 2B leading Poplar. The Indians broke open a tightly contested game in the second quarter and then used a 27-11 run in the final stanza to earn the comfortable win.
Chinook did get 15 points from Marty Birky and 13 points from Adam Hayes in the loss. Poplar got a game-high 18 points from Wyatt Atkinson.
In District 9C action Friday night, the Big Sandy Pioneers rebounded from a loss Thursday night by racing past the Turner Tornadoes, 84-61. The Pioneers blitzed Turner by scoring 52 points in the first half and the Tornadoes could never really climb back into the game.
Justin Willis and Karl Osterman paced Big Sandy with 20 and 18 points, respectively.
Turner got a fine performance from Emory Hedegaard. Hedegaard poured in a game-high 24 points and Colin Jones added 20 in the loss.
Meanwhile, at the Thunderdome in Hays, the Hays-Lodge Pole Thunderbirds locked up the No. 2-seed in the 9C tournament by thrashing rival Box Elder, 99-63.
The Bears were playing without several key players and Hays-Lodge Pole took advantage by racing out to a staggering 53-32 first-half lead. Box Elder would never threaten in the second half. The T-Birds also nailed an amazing 17 3-pointers on the night and had five players score in double figures.
Robyn Doney led the way with 22 points, including four threes. Joe Blackelk also hit three treys and added 14 points on the night. Box Elder got 21 points from Steve Arca and another 18 from Jason Hawk in the losing effort.
Saturday night marked the final night of the regular season, and in Conrad the host Cowboys earned a District 1B win over Chinook, 72-50. The Beeters led by three points after the first quarter, but the Cowboys ripped off a 21-6 run in the second period and never looked back on their way to the easy win.
Conrad got a game-high 23 points from Shawn Brown and Adam Totdahl added 16. Marty Birky and Adam Hayes led the Beeters with 11 points apiece. Next up for the Beeters is Shelby in the District 1B tournament which gets under way on Thursday in Cut Bank.
On the final night of the District 9C regular season, the Rocky Boy Stars put the finishing touch on a remarkable run through the conference. Rocky Boy capped off a perfect year in conference play by defeating KG 62-45 at home. The Stars (17-1) built a 27-17 lead in the first half and used a 26-13 fourth-quarter run to finish the KouGars off for good.
James Burns scored a game-high 21 points to lead Rocky Boy. Charles Walking Child and Nate Rock chipped in with 12 points each. Drew Kapperud paced the KouGars with 15 points.
In Box Elder, the host Bears closed out their regular season by outscoring the Turner Tornadoes 95-79. The Bears exploded for 51 points in the first half and Turner tried to keep pace by scoring 25 points in the second quarter and 23 more in the fourth. But the Bears offense proved to be too much in the end.
Aaron Benry scored a game-high 26 points, including four 3-pointers and Tyler Henry added 20 points and also hit four threes as well. Dalton Cornell and Chad Jones had big nights for the Tornadoes. Cornell poured in 25 points and Jones added 24 in the loss.
And for the second straight, night the Chester Coyotes suffered a heartbreaking loss at home. This time conference-leading Heart Butte edged the Coyotes 68-66. The Warriors led by two points at the half and even though the two teams seesawed back and forth in the second half, that lead would hold up at the end of the game.
Zach Ramberg scored a game-high 23 points for Chester in the loss. Isaac VanDyke added 21 points. Lyman Tailfeathers paced Heart Butte with 19 points.
Thursday
KG 65, Big Sandy 42
Big Sandy 10 8 8 16 - 42
KG 25 10 21 9 - 65
Big Sandy - Jon Sheehy 2, Kyle Danreuther 4, Kyle Little 2, Darin Ray 2, Esteban DelReal 2, Chris LaBuda 2, Devin Genereux 6, Lawrence Jappe 8, Justin Willis 5, Karl Osterman 9. Totals - 19 2-8.
KG - Zach Rambo 2, Branden Melby 10, Drew Kapperud 14, Shane Rice 13, Cody Donoven 26. Totals - 25 11-14.
Total fouls - BS 13, KG 15. Fouled out - none. Three point goals - Willis, Osterman, Kapperud 3, Donoven.
Sunburst 47, Chester 44
Chester 10 13 12 9 - 44
Sunburst 7 12 14 14 - 47
Chester - Derek Fraser 4, Isaac VanDyke 6, Kevin May 2, Callan McKinnley 2, Zach Ramberg 19, Brice Fenger 8, Stetson Brown 3. Totals - 20 3-5.
Sunburst - Mitch Degel 5, Nate Aschim 14, Chris McFadden 3, Todd Fleisher 1, Matt Tomsheck 8, Shane Somerville 2, Jake Roark 2, Stanton Schulze 12. Totals - 16 10-25.
Total fouls - Chester 23, Sunburst 14. Fouled out - Fraser, May, Schulze. Technical fouls - Chester bench. 3-point goals - Brown 1, Degel 1, Aschim 2.
Friday
Poplar 84, Chinook 61
Poplar 17 23 17 27 - 84
Chinook 12 18 22 11 - 61
Poplar - Arthur Chapman 6, Wyatt Atkinson 18, Jake Riediger 3, Steve Barr 13, Kyle Four Bear 16, Brandon Legard 4, Griffin Ricker 15, Scott Smoker 7, Jesse Daniels 2. Totals 34 15-25.
Chinook - Chad Beck 10, Marty Birky 15, Adam Hayes 13, Tad Darrah 2, Dallas Miller 8, Luke Whitney 7, Jordon Lybeck 6. Totals 25 7-14.
Total fouls - Poplar 18, Chinook 19. Fouled out - none. 3-point goals - Riediger, Birky, Hayes 2, Whitney.
Big Sandy 89, Turner 61
Big Sandy 23 29 17 20 - 89
Turner 14 13 15 19 - 61
Big Sandy - Devin Genereux 8, Justin Willis 20, Kyle Danreuther 10, Chris LaBuda 9, Lawrence Jappe 7, Karl Osterman 18, Jon Sheehy 9, Darin Ray 2, Kyle Little 6. Totals - 35-3 10-21
Turner - Dalton Cornell 12, Colin Jones 20, Emory Hedegaard 24, Logan Fouts 2, Garrett Maloney 1, Kale Baldik 2. Totals - 22-2 11-22
Total fouls - Big Sandy 17, Turner 16. Fouled out - Jappe. 3-point goals - Willis, LaBuda 2, Cornell, Hedegaard.
Hays-Lodge Pole 99 Box Elder 63
Box Elder 19 13 12 19 -63
Hays-Lodge Pole 30 23 23 23 - 99
Box Elder - Jaron Rainingbird 7, Jayson Hawk 18, Dustin Bacon 13, Lane LaMere 6, Steve Arca 21. Totals 29 9-18.
Hays-Lodge Pole - Steven Shambo 7, Garrett Morin 5, Kelly Healy 3, Robyn Doney 22, Delaine Ariwite 13, Dwight Flansburg 10, Clayburn Grant 8, William Granados 5, Lance Brockie 8, Mike Werk 4, Joe Joe Black Elk 14. Totals 38 6-8.
Total fouls - Box Elder 13, Hays-Lodge Pole 16. Fouled out - none. 3-point goals - Arca, Shambo 2, Morin, Healy, Doney 4, Ariwite, Flansburg 2, Granados, Brockie 2, Black Elk 3.
Saturday
Conrad 72, Chinook 50
Chinook 17 6 13 14 - 50
Conrad 14 21 19 18 - 72
Chinook - Chad Beck 8, Marty Birky 11, Adam Hayes 11, Taylor Tollefson 7, Dallas Miller 9, Lake Whitney 4. Totals - 19 12-20.
Conrad - Tyler Judisch 11, Josh Phillips 5, Casey VandenAcre 3, Adam Totdahl 16, Bryce Johns 5, Shawn Brown 23, Adam Klette 9. Totals - 30 6-10.
Total fouls - Chinook 12, Conrad 19. Fouled out - none. Three point goals - Phillips, VandenAcre, Totdahl 3, Klette.
Rocky Boy 62, KG 45
KG 11 6 15 13 - 45
Rocky Boy 17 10 15 20 - 62
KG - Steven Ramsbacher 3, Branden Melby 8, Drew Kapperud 15, Shane Rice 9, Cody Donoven 10. Totals - 12-4 8-15
Rocky Boy - Charles Walking Child 12, Jesse Colliflower 4, Joe Small 6, A.J. The Boy 4, Nate Rock 12, James Burns 21, Ivan Whitford 3. Totals - 22-4 6-8
Total fouls - KG 10, Rocky Boy 14. Technical foul - Marty Watson (Rocky Boy). Fouled out - none. 3-point goals - Ramsbacher, Kapperud 3, Small 2, Walking Child, Whitford.
Heart Butte 68, Chester 66
Chester 14 21 12 19 - 66
Heart Butte 12 25 12 19 - 68
Chester - Derrick Fraser 3, Isaac Van Dyke 21, Devon May 9, Zach Ramberg 23, Bryce Finger 6, Stetson Brown 4. Totals 26 11-18.
Heart Butte - Lyle Aimsback 9, Wacy Mountain Chief 17, Lyman Tailfeathers 19, Joe Wagner 3, Tyler Mattson 2, William Wells 10, Vernon Crawford 8. Totals 25 11-14.
Total Fouls - Chester 14, Heart Butte 19. Fouled out - none. Three point goals - Ramberg, Brown, Aimsback, Mountain Chief 2, Wagner, Wells.
Box Elder 95, Turner 79
Turner 18 25 13 23 - 79
Box Elder 26 25 24 20 - 95
Turner - Dalton Cornell 25, Colin Jones 15, Emory Hedegaard 6, Logan Fouts 3, Chad Jones 24, Garrett Maloney 5, Kale Baldik 2. Totals - 19-6 23-38
Box Elder - Tyler Henry 20, Steve Arca 12, Aaron Henry 26, Dustin Bacon 8, Chad Taylor 5, Jayson Hawk 18, Lane LaMere 2, Jaron Raining Bird 4. Totals - 28-9 12-21
Total fouls - Turner 18, Box Elder 20. Technical fouls - T Henry, Bacon. Fouled out - Arca, Bacon. 3-point goals - Cornell, Co Jones, Ch Jones 4, T Henry 4, A Henry 4, Taylor.
Hays-Lodge Pole 85, Blue Sky 49
Blue Sky/J-I 12 16 9 12 - 49
Hays-Lodge Pole 19 19 20 27 - 85
Blue Sky/J-I - Chase Hadford 3, Alex Chivilicek 9, Adam Chivilicek 2, Craig Miller 23, Brad Peterson 12. Totals - 21 4-6.
Hays-Lodge Pole - Steven Shambo 6, Garrett Morin 2, Kelly Healy 2, Robyn Doney 20, Delaine Ariwite 12, Clayburn Grant 11, William Granados 2, Lance Brockie 9, Mike Werk 5. Totals - 37 2-6.
Total fouls - Blue Sky 8, Hays-Lodge Pole 17. Fouled out - none. 3-point goals - Hadford, A. Chivilicek, Miller, Grant, Brockie, Ariwite, Doney 2, Shambo 2.
