George Ferguson
Havre Daily News sports editor
gferguson@havredailynews.com
The matchup that everybody has been waiting to see this season in the Northern C is finally going to happen tonight in Great Falls.
After surviving tough first-round games on Thursday night, Big Sandy and Chester/J-I will square off in a semifinal clash at the Northern C girls divisional tournament at the Four Seasons Arena.
On Thursday night, the second-ranked Chester/J-I Hawks cruised to an easy opening-round win over the Winnett Rams.
The middle of the game was where Chester/J-I did most of its damage. The Hawks clung to a 17-15 lead after one period of play. But over the next 16 minutes, the Hawks outscored Winnett 33-18 en route to a 67-44 win.
Mary DeVries scored a game-high 24 points and pulled down 13 rebounds to lead Chester/J-I. The Hawks also got 16 points from Keyla Briese, including three 3-pointers. Hannah Pimley added 13 points.
Thursday night also saw the Big Sandy Pioneers survive a scare from the Geyser Wranglers, 55-49.
The Pioneers squandered double-digit leads several times during the game. Despite trailing 33-26 at halftime, Geyser never went away. The Wranglers outscored Big Sandy 16-13 in the third quarter to pull closer. But in a low-scoring final stanza, Big Sandy's defense rose to the occasion and prevented the Wranglers from coming all the way back.
Shalayna Pearson scored a game-high 21 points and Naomi Williams scored 20 points to pace the Pioneers in the win.
Big Sandy and Chester/J-I will square off in the nightcap of the girls semifinals tonight at 8.
Rocky Boy was the only Hi-Line team to lose on Thursday. The Morning Stars were defeated by top-ranked Highwood 60-40.
Rocky Boy got off to a disastrous start as the Mountaineers raced out to an 18-6 first-quarter lead. Then, in the third quarter, Highwood put Rocky Boy away with another 18-6 run.
Erinn Broncho led the Morning Stars in the loss with 15 points and nine rebounds. Tori Belcourt scored 12 points.
Rocky Boy will face Valier in loser-out action today at 1 p.m. The Panthers were defeated by Denton in the opening round.
Thursday afternoon saw the North Star Knights boys basketball team keep its postseason alive with a 44-33 win over Winifred in loser-out action.
One day after being drubbed by Highwood, the Knights' offense got back on track. North Star shot an efficient 51 percent from the field, and the Knights used a 17-6 run in the fourth quarter to put the Red Raiders away.
Darius Wendland and Cody Donoven scored 11 points apiece for the Knights. Branden Melby chipped in with 10 points.
The Knights will await the loser of tonight's Hays-Lodge Pole/Dutton-Brady semifinal game. The T-Birds and Diamondbacks will tip off at 6 p.m.
Northern C Girls
Highwood 60, Rocky Boy 40
Rocky Boy 6 11 6 17 - 40
Highwood 18 12 18 12 - 60
Rocky Boy - Shaneen Raining Bird 4, Loni Belcourt 12, Tori Belcourt 6, Fances Eagleman 2, Erin Broncho 15, Apryl Webster 1.
Highwood - Donnetta Gondeiro 8, Katie Schipf 13, Julia Granger 4, Richelle O'Leary 6, Rachel Semansky 13, Whitney Baum 13, Nichole Gray 3.
Big Sandy 55, Geyser 49
Big Sandy 18 15 13 9 - 55
Geyser 12 14 16 7 - 49
Big Sandy - Naomi Williams 20, Kacy Herron 7, Sarah Yirsa 1, Shalayna Pearson 21, Ahaila Cline 2, Moran Darlington 4.
Geyser - Brittany Stenzel 5, Abbey Buck 12, Erica Hansen 4, Durbin Watson 8, Kirstie McDonald 13, Many Neumann 7.
Chester/J-I 67, Winnett 44
C/J-I 17 16 17 17 - 67
Winnett 15 10 8 11 - 44
C/J-I - Amanda Violett 6, Mary DeVries 24, Keyla Briese 16, Jackie Alisch 6, Brittney Kolstad 2, Hannah Pimley 13.
Winnett - Bonnie Browning 7, Anna Dembek 9, Kaycee Downs 2, Cassie Kiehl 4, Kiena Sandman 4, Malori Woodford 4, Kylie King 14.
Northern C Boys
North Star 44, Winifred 33 (lo)
North Star 5 10 12 17 - 44
Winifred 7 4 14 8 - 33
North Star - Josh Beaudry 3, Darius Wendland 11, Brandon Melby 10, Shane Rice 9, Cody Donovan 11.
Winifred - Garrett Carr 4, Tyrell Foran 4, D.J. Dyer 6, Brian Foran 15, Jaren Foran 4.
Late Wedneday
Highwood 70, North Star 52
North Star 8 9 18 17 - 52
Highwood 17 17 18 18 - 70
North Star - Stephen Ramsbacher 0-0 0-0 0, Darius Wendland 6-10 1-2 13, Brandon Melby 2-11 3-4 7, Shane Rice 0-4 0-0 0, Cody Donoven 10-17 1-4 24, Josh Beaudry 0-1 0-0 0, Zach rambo 0-0 0-0 0, Shawn Hanson 0-1 0-0 0, Alex Chvilicek 1-1 0-0 2, Cody Jurenka 1-1 0-0 3, Adam Chvilicek 0-0 0-0 0, Alex Frey 1-2 1-2 3. Totals: 21-48 6-12.
Highwood - Bret Bahnmiller 4-5 5-6 14, Reid Edwards 0-6 6-6 6, Troy Kotthoff 6-9 0-2 16, Tanner Ripley 3-6 2-5 8, Brian Davison 6-15 0-1 13, Miles Suberg 0-0 0-0 0, Fred Granger 0-0 0-0 0, Joey semansky 5-10 2-5 12, Ben Baum 0-0 0-0 0, Eric Gray 1-1 0-0 2, Kevin Johnson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 25-52 15-25.
Total fouls: North Star 22, Highwood 14. Fouled out: Wendland. Three-pointers: Jurenka 1, Donoven 3, Bahnmiller 1, Kotthoff 4, Davidson 1.
Hays-Lodge Pole 57, Geraldine 48
Geraldine 11 13 15 9 - 48
HLP 15 20 13 9 - 57
Geraldine - Casey Clark 8-19 2-3 20, Levi Clark 0-1 0-0 0, Toby Clark 1-5 0-0 2, Cody Joyce 3-10 1-5 7, Justin Woodburn 6-12 0-0 12, Alan Armstrong 0-1 0-0 0, Gerald Smith 0-1 0-0 0, R.J. Clark 1-3 0-0 2, Jesse Schmidt 2-9 1-2 5. Totals: 21-61 4-10 48.
HLP - Jordan Werk 3-4 0-0 7, Cole McCabe 4-6 0-0 9, Lenny Gray 1-7 1-2 3, Beau Doney 2-4 0-0 4, Cody McCabe 4-13 1-3 11, Tyrell Haakanson 0-1 0-0 0, Vincent Gone 0-2 0-0 0, A.J. LongSoldier 4-11 0-0 11, Lance Brockie 5-14 0-0 12. Totals: 23-62 2-5 57.
Total fouls - Geraldine 13, HLP 15. Fouled out - none. 3-point goals - Geraldine 2-14 (C. Clark 2-6, Joyce 0-3, Schmidt 0-5), HLP 9-22 (Werk 1-1, Cole McCabe 1-2, Gray 0-1, Cody McCabe 2-6, Gone 0-1, LongSoldier 3-7, Brockie2-4).
