Chris Peterson Havre Daily News cpeterson@havredailynews.com
It was a busy weekend of basketball along the Hi-Line as teams in the District 9C kicked off conference play. Saturday night saw two teams with preseason aspirations of winning the regular season title square off when defending league champion North Star paid a visit to Big Sandy. The Pioneers jumped out to an early 25-17 lead, but, by halftime, North Star had tied the game at 35-35. However, Big Sandy rebounded in the third quarter to outscore the Knights 13-6, and in the fourth quarter, the Pioneers finished off the Knights, giving them a 65-53 win. Kyle Danreuther helped spark the Pioneers to victory with a 20-point effort. Freshmen Blake Brumwell also scored 20 points. Darius Wendland had 16 points to lead the Knights. Branden Melby notched 13 points in the loss. The Highly-touted Harlem Wildcats survived a scare from conference rival Poplar Friday night in Harlem. Harlem fell behind 11-6 in the first quarter, but used a 20-point second quarter to take a 26-22 halftime lead. Poplar pulled within three points at the end of the third quarter at 38-35, but the Wildcats exploded for 22 points in the fourth quarter to seal a 60-54 win. Harlem had three players reach double figures led by Neeko Bigby’s 14 points. Eddie Moore and Monty Snow each added 13 points. Big Sandy was also in action on Friday night in Box Elder. The Pioneers opened up a 58-21 lead at the halftime break on their way to a 105-51 win. Lawrence Jappe scored 24 points in the win for the Pioneers. Brumwell added 19 points and Chris LaBuda contributed with 17 points. JC Hawk notched 18 points for Box Elder. Jaren Raining Bird had 14 in the loss for the Bears. North Star earned its first 9C win of the season Friday night with a 79-46 road victory over Chinook. Melby Torched the Beeters for 25 points to lead the Knights. Wendland also had 12 points in the victory. Marty Birky was the lone Chinook player to reach double figures with 18 points. Chester/J-I took down Sunburst 42-29 at home Friday night. The game was close in the first half with the Hawks trailing 13-12 at halftime. But C/J-I outscored Sunburst 30-16 in the second half to earn the 13-point win. Matt Wicks had 12 points in the win. Shay Richter also scored 11 points for the Hawks. Rocky Boy went on the road to battle nonconference foe Highwood on Friday night. The Stars fell behind 35-25 at the end of the first half and never recovered, as they lost in convincing fashion, 76-62. Bryant Eagleman put up 15 points in the defeat. Glen Doney added 13 points for the Stars. Turner also took part in nonconference action Friday night as the Tornados welcomed Whitewater into Turner. The game was fairly close throughout, but in the end, the Tornados just didn’t have enough to get the victory, falling to the Penguins 52-44. Logan Fouts led Turner with 15 points. Chad Jones also contributed with 12 points. The other marquee 9C game of the weekend was between defending tournament champion Hays-Lodge Pole and Rocky Boy in Rocky Boy Saturday night. The Stars took a 30-24 lead at the end of the first half. But HLP rallied in the third quarter, cutting the lead down to 38-34. In the fourth quarter, the Stars outscored the Thunderbirds 21-10 to earn a 59-44 victory. Bryant Eagleman had 20 points to lead the Stars to victory. Mike Sangrey Jr. Added 15 points. Cole McCabe led the T-Birds with 17 points. A.J. Long Soldier also had 12 points in the loss. Chinook rebounded from a tough loss to North Star Friday night with a 82-52 win at home against Box Elder on Saturday. The game was never really close as Chinook led 37-21 at halftime and 59-36 at the end of the third quarter. Marty Birky was outstanding, putting up 30 points in the win for the Beeters. Max Hofeldt added 16 points. Raining Bird led the Bears with 14 points. Chester/J-I earned its second win of the weekend with a 68-55 road win over Simms Saturday night. Matt Wicks poured in 24 points in the win. Dillon Hayes also had a solid game scoring 19 points for the Hawks. Harlem took its act on the road on Saturday as the Wildcats went to Glasgow and went home with a 63-56 victory in Class B action. Rick Haluszka scored 15 points in the win and Isaiah Martin added contributed with 15 points for Harlem.
