Chris Peterson
Havre Daily News
cpeterson@havredailynews.com
The Harlem Wildcats' dream of capturing a District 2B championship didn't materialize last weekend in Wolf Point.
Despite struggling throught the tournament, Harlem managed to come back to finish third and advance to the Northern B divisional tournament.
In the consolation game, Harlem knocked off the Glasgow Scotties on Saturday night for third place in the tournament.
Harlem led by three points at the end of the first quarter and by halftime the Wildcats clung to a slim 27-22 advantage. Finally, in the fourth quarter, the Wildcats were able to pull away and lock up a 51-39 victory.
Rick Haluszka scored a game-high 16 points in the win for the Wildcats, and Neeko Bigby pitched in with 12 points.
Harlem reached the consolation game by defeating Malta on Friday afternoon. Things didn't look promising early as the Wildcats only held a four-point lead at halftime over an inferior Malta team.
In the second half Harlem woke up enough to pull out a 55-48 victory.
Eddie Moore notched a game-high 15 points for the Wildcats, and Bigby pitched in with 13 points.
In the opening round of the tournament, the Wildcats were upset by the host Wolf Point Wolves on Thursday night, 55-41.
The game was an absolute nightmare for the Wildcats from the beginning as they fell behind 16-8 early on and never recovered. By halftime, the Wildcats trailed 27-16.
The second half wasn't much better for the Wildcats as they never made a serious charge at the lead.
Haluszka was the only Wildcat to score in double figures with 15 points, as Harlem had one of its worst offensive performances of the season.
With their third-place finish, the Wildcats will move on to the Northern B divisional tournament, which gets under way on Thurday in Glasgow.
At the District 10C tournament in Cut Bank, Chester/J-I faced off against Valier on Friday in Cut Bank in loser-out action. The Hawks had lost their first-round game and needed a win over Valier to keep their season alive.
The two teams got off to a slow start and were tied 6-6 at the end of the first quarter. In the second period Valier outscored the Hawks 12-8 and took an 18-14 lead into the halftime.
However, C/J-I rallied in the second half. The Hawks took a 29-27 lead into the final quarter, and in the fourth they outscored Valier 14-7 to hold on for a 43-34 win.
Cullen McKinley led the way for C/J-I with 15 points. Kevin May added 10 points in the win.
On Saturday afternoon in Cut Bank, the Hawks finally had their season come to an end when Power defeated them 58-48 in loser-out action.
C/J-I got off to an extremely slow start and by halftime the Hawks were down 28-15.
In the second half C/J-I had no chance of coming back, and the Hawks fell by 10 points, 58-48.
May paced the Hawks with 13 points, and Derek Fraser added 12 points in the loss.
District 2B at Wolf Point
Saturday
Harlem 51, Glasgow 39(3rd)
Glasgow 8 19 6 6 - 39
Harlem 11 11 15 14 - 51
Glasgow - Emtman 9, B. Smith 11, Sorensen 9, Nelson 3, Engstrom 7. Totals 12 12-14.
Harlem - Neeko Bigby 13, Monty Snow 3, Jordan Mount 6, Rick Haluszka 14, Eddie Moore 15. Totals 19 10-14.
Total fouls - Glasgow 18, Harlem 18. Fouled out - Sorensen. 3-pointers - Emtman, B. Smith, Nelson, Bigby 2, Moore.
Friday
Harlem 55, Malta 48(lo)
Malta 13 14 10 11 - 48
Harlem 12 19 14 10 - 55
Malta -Hould 9, Darrah 4, Tatafu 8, Azure 13, Matthews 14. Totals 19 8-16.
Harlem - Jordan Mount 9, Eddie Moore 9, Neeko Bigby 12, Rick Haluszka 16, Monty Snow 9. Totals 19 14-25.
Total fouls - Malta 16, Harlem 15. Fouled out - none. 3-pointers - Matthews 2, Mount, Bigby, Snow.
Thursday
Wolf Point 55, Harlem 41
Harlem 8 8 11 14 - 41
Wolf Point 16 11 12 16 - 55
Harlem - Jordan Mount 5, Wiles Werk 3, Monty Snow 5, Wally Crantz 1, Eddie Moore 7, Neeko Bigby 5, Rick Haluszka 15. Totals - 16 12-17 41
Wolf Point - Copenhaver 7, Loendorf 24, Tjon 6, Olsen 14, Lilley 4. Totals - 22 15-22 55
Total fouls - Harlem 19, Wolf Point 15. Fouled out - Olsen. 3-pointers - Loendorf 2, Tjon 2, Mount, Snow, N. Bigby
District 10C at Cut Bank
Saturday
Power 58, Chester/J-I 48(lo)
Power 15 13 14 16 - 58
C/J-I 5 10 10 23 - 48
Power - Kenny Huffman 16, Chad Sievers 1, Vince Somerfeld 8, Travis Huffman 18, Logan Manzanares 10, Logan Schaefer 4. Totals 16 19-33.
C/J-I - Derek Fraser 12, Trevor Violett, Tyler Han 3, Chase Diemert 2, Kevin May 13, Cullan McKinley 5, Shay Richter 9. Totals 14 15-35.
Total fouls - Power 24, C/J-I 27. Fouled out - Fraser, Richter. 3-pointers- K. Huffman 4, T. Huffman 2, Poor, Fraser 2, Markuson, Hull, May.
Friday
Chester/J-I 43, Valier 34 (lo)
C/J-I 6 8 15 14 - 43
Valier 6 12 9 7 - 34
C/J-I - Derek Fraser 6, Chase Diemert 2, Kevin May 10, Cullen McKinley 15, Tyler Han 4, Shay Richter 5. Totals - 11 18-31 43.
Valier - Evan DeBoo 2, Kyle Jannusch 15, Chris Wright 7, Quin Loendorf 3, Tim Hitchcok 1, Dallon Henkel 6. Totals - 12 5-10 34.
Total fouls - C/J-I 13, Valier 25. Fouled out - Jannusch, Day Chief. 3-pointers - K. May 2, T. Han, K. Jannusch 3, C. Wright, Q. Loendorf.
