Chris Peterson
Havre Daily News
cpeterson@havredailynews.com
Everything is once again right in the world, as the wait for the boys basketball season is now over. Action heated up all across the Hi-Line with some very exciting games during the opening weekend of the 2005-06 season.
The Chinook Sugarbeeters' inaugural season in Class C got off to a rough start, as they were defeated by their former class B rival, Malta, 70-47 on Friday night. The Beeters were led by Dallas Miller, who scored 16 points, and Marty Birky, who contributed to the effort with 12 points.
Box Elder got its season started off on the right foot with an easy 78-62 victory Friday over Heart Butte at the Native American Classic in Great Falls. The Bears used a fast start to get out to a 53-22 halftime lead.
The Bears had three players who scored in double figures and were led by Aaron Henry with 22 points. Dustin Bacon pitched in with 12 points, and Steve Arca added 10.
Rocky Boy also played in the Northern Native American Classic on Friday, and the Stars opened their season with a 60-48 win over Two Eagle River. The Stars actually trailed by one point at halftime, but outscored Two Eagle River 33-20 in the second half.
The Stars were led by Justin Ahenakew, who poured in 21 points as he led three players in double figures. Ivan Whitford and Kyle Standing Rock each added 12 points apiece in a winning effort.
Big Sandy opened its season Friday night against Dutton-Brady and fell short in an 87-74 shootout. The Pioneers got behind early with a nine-point first quarter that they could not recover from.
The Pioneers got big scoring nights from Chris Labuda and Carl Osterman, who scored 23 points and 21 points, respectively.
Chester/J-I knocked off Belt on Friday night, 48-37, as they held Belt scoreless in the first quarter en route to an easy 11-point victory. The Hawks got a big night from center Kevin May, who led the way with 23 points. Tyler Han also had a solid night as he scored nine points in the victory.
The Harlem Wildcats took on Lodge Grass High School and cruised to a fairly easy 63-51 victory in the Southern Native American Classic in Billings.
Hays-Lodge Pole took on St. Stevens of Wyoming and came up short in a heartbreaking 54-53 loss, also in Billings.
On Saturday, the Box Elder Bears got another win in the Native American Classic in Great Falls as they outran the Heart Butte junior varsity, 91-72. The Bears jumped out early and led 44-33 at halftime. Then they extended their lead to 15 points at the end of the third quarter en route to the easy win.
Aaron Henry had another big night as he scorched Heart Butte's JV for 32 points, leading five Bears in double figures. Steve Arca added 20 points, Lane LaMere pitched in with 15 points and Dustin Bacon contributed 13 points. Rocky Boy played Dodson in the Native American Classic on Saturday as well, and the Stars pulled out a nail-biting 64-62 victory. The Stars had a one-point lead at the end of the first quarter, but stretched the lead out to seven by the end of the first half.
Dodson would not go away, however, and by the end of the third they had closed to within four. In the end, the Stars were able to hold them off and hang on for a two-point victory.
Justin Ahenakew poured in 22 points in the winning effort for the Stars. Lakotah Oats added 18 points for the Stars, and Ivan Whitford contributed with 11.
The Big Sandy Pioneers took on Highwood on Saturday and ended the opening weekend winless as they fell to the Mountaineers, 70-57. The Pioneers led early, 17-16, at the end of the first quarter, and trailed by just one point at the half.
In the second half, Highwood was just too much as they outscored the Pioneers 22-12 in the third quarter en route to the win.
Justin Willis tried to do his part for the Pioneers as he scored 28 points in a losing effort. Lawrence Jappe added 10 points.
The newly formed North Star High School got a victory in its first game of the year as the Knights knocked off Denton 44-40 in a come-from-behind victory.
The Knights trailed 8-4 at the end of the first quarter and 20-15 at the end of the first half as both teams struggled to put points on the board.
The Knights narrowed the deficit to one point by the end of the third quarter and then outscored Denton 16-11 in the final stanza to give them a season-opening victory.
Cody Donovan led the Knights with 15 points, and Brandon Melby and Shane Rice did their part with nine and eight points, respectively.
Chinook and Chester/J-I met Saturday at the Chester/J-I tournament and the Beeters won a hard-fought 55-46 victory. The Beeters jumped out to a 13-5 first-quarter lead and set the tempo for the entire game.
Marty Birky had a strong outing as he led the Beeters with 21 points. Luke Whitney added 15 points.
Kevin May scored 17 points in a losing effort for the Hawks, and Tyler Han also contributed with 13 points.
Friday
Malta 70, Chinook 47
Chinook 9 17 11 10 - 47
Malta 19 15 16 20 - 70
Chinook - Chad Beck 5, Max Hofeldt 5, Taylor Tollefson 3, Dallas Miller 16, Luke Whitney 2, Jordon Lybeck 4, Marty Birky 12. Totals: 19 8-16.
Malta - Kevin Amesby 2, Curtis Darah 4, Lyndon Matthews 9, Trent Moran 2, Colter Schwenke 6, Louks Brookie 2, Jordan Hould 13, Brian Tatafu 22, Aaron DeVries 10. Totals: 31 4-7.
Three-point goals: Birky, Tatafu 4. Total fouls: Chinook 11, Malta 18. Fouled out: none
Native American Classic/Great Falls
Box Elder 78, Heart Butte 62
Heart Butte 12 10 17 23 - 62
Box Elder 23 30 10 15 - 78
Heart Butte - Blake Wombold 13, Joe Crawford 1, Michael Weaselhead 2, Jeff Horn 10, Al Wells 2, Patrick Whitcomb 17, Josh Butterfly 4, Jesse Brave Rock 13. Totals: 21 19-24.
Box Elder - Aaron Henry 22, Steven Arca 10, Elias McCovey 6, Laine LaMere 4, Mike Sangrey 6, Colton Montes 5, Dustin Bacon 12, Zac Rosette 2, Steve Moresette Jr. 2. Totals: 30 14-26.
Total fouls: Heart Butte 19, Box Elder 20. Fouled out: Bacon. Three-pointers: Whitcomb 1, Henry 2, McCovey 1, Arca .
Rocky Boy 60 Two Eagle River 48
Two eagle River 8 20 15 5 - 48
Rocky Boy 14 13 17 16 - 60
Two Eagle River - Mike Parker 4, Ike Mankyk 4, Antoine Jonas 3, Derek Hernandez 9, Stan Kemmille 3, Adam Tenas 23. Totals: 21 3-11.
Rocky Boy - Ivan Whitford 12, Kyle Standing Rock 12, Justin Ahenakew 21, Lakotah Oats 7, Justin Big Knife 6, Louis Sutherland 2. Totals: 26 4-11.
Total fouls: Two Eagle River 8, Rocky Boy 14. Fouled out: Three-pointers: D. Hernandez 1, Kemmille 1, Whitford 2, Ahenakew 1, Oats 1.
Chester/J-I Tournament
Dutton-Brady 87, Big Sandy 74
Dutton-Brady 17 19 24 27 - 87
Big Sandy 9 17 25 23 - 74
Dutton-Brady - Josh Kitchin 8, Jeff Blanchet 8, Travis Hodgson 3, Donnie Chippewa 10, Nic Wells 37, Andrew Bishop 21. Totals: 35 14-22.
Big Sandy - Justin Willis 13, Lawrence Jappe 9, Kyle Danreuther 2, Jon Sheehy 4, Chris LaBuda 23, Karl Osterman 21, Darin Ray 2. Totals: 28 11-21.
Total fouls - DB 20, BS 27. Fouled out - Jappe, Sheehy, Darin Ray (BS). 3 pointers - J. Kitchin 2, Hodgson, LaBuda 2, Osterman 5.
Chester/J-I, 48 Belt 37
C/J-I 5 12 13 18 - 48
Belt 0 12 9 16 - 37
C/J-I - Derek Fraser 6, Kevin May 23, Callan McKinley 6, Tyler Han 9, Shay Richter 4. Totals: 16 16-34.
Belt - Bobby Tillman 3, Matt Urick 6, John Larson 5, Levi Hanson 6, Stephan Wall 2, Jeff Pimperton 3, Joe Miczler 12. Totals: 15 1-3.
Fouls - C-J-I 11, Belt 20. Fouled out - Tillman, Wall. 3-pointers - Larson, Pimperton, Miczler 4.
Saturday
Native American Classic/Great Falls
Box Elder 91, Heart Butte JV 72
Heart Butte JV 14 19 20 19 - 72
Box Elder 21 23 24 23 - 91
Heart Butte JV - Chris Gobert 17, Ben Rutherford 4, Jake Arrowtop 1, Sheldon Armstrong 10, Kyle Red Crow 5, Joe Wagner 14, Brian Butterfly 8, Nathan Many Hides 13. Totals: 30 8-14.
Box Elder - Steve Arca 20, Aaron Henry 32, Dustin Bacon 13, Lane LaMere 15, Elias McCovey 10, Mike Sangrey, Jr. 2. Totals: 37 11-20
Total fouls - HB 20, BE 13. Fouled out - Armstrong, Wagner. 3-pointers - Gobert, Red Crow, Wagner, Many Hides, Arca, Henry
Rocky Boy 64, Dodson 62
Rocky Boy 17 18 8 21 - 64
Dodson 16 12 11 23 - 62
Rocky Boy - Ivan Whitford 11, Kyle Standing Rock 8, Justin Ahenakew 22, Lakotah Oats 18, Justin Big Knife 4. Totals: 25 8-16.
Dodson - William DeCelles 22, Clayton KillEagle 15, Travis Azure 15. Totals: 22 12-19.
Total fouls - RB 20, Dodson 12. Fouled out - Whitford, Louis Sutherland (RB). 3-pointers - Whitford, Standing Rock, Ahenakew 2, Oats.
Big Sandy Tournament
Highwood 70, Big Sandy 57
Highwood 16 15 22 17 - 70
Big Sandy 17 13 12 15 - 57
Highwood - Brett Bahnmiller 19, Tanner Ripley 18, Brian Davison 12, Troy Kotoff 8, Joey Semansky 7, Fred Granger 6. Totals: 27 10-17.
Big Sandy - Justin Willis 28, LaWrence Jappe 10, Chris LaBuda 8, Kyle Danreuther 6, Darin Ray 4. Totals: 22 11-21.
Fouls - Highwood 20, Big Sandy 20. Fouled out - none. 3-pointers - Davison, Bahnmiller 3, Granger 2, Willis, LaBuda.
North Star 44,Denton 40
Denton 8 12 9 11 - 40
North Star 4 11 13 16 - 44
Denton - Mark Buckentin 8, Lance Nemec 2, Tyrel Thurston 1, Devon Heble 2, Calvin Bronec 27. Totals: 13 12-26
North Star - Josh Beaudry 2, Alex Chvilicek 2, Darius Wendland 4, Brandon Melby 9, Adam Chvilicek 2, Shane Rice 8, Cody Donoven 15, Alex Frey 2. Totals: 17 8-21.
Total fouls - Denton 17, NS 20. Fouled out - Heble, Bronec. 3-pointers - Buckentin 2, Melby, Donoven
Chinook 55, C/J-I 46
Chinook 13 7 17 18 - 55
C/J-I 5 10 13 18 - 46
Chinook - C. Beck 1, M. Burky 21, T. Tollefson 6, D. Miffer 8, L. Whitney 15, J. Lybeck 4. Totals - 21 1-20
C/J-I - D. Fraser 2, C. Diemert 2, K. May 17, C. McKinley 6, T. Han 13, S. Richter 6.
