Chris Peterson
Havre Daily News
cpeterson@havredailynews.com
The District 9C basketball season is beginning to wind down. Box Elder, with two big wins, and Chinook have separated themselves from the rest of the pack of teams chasing first-place North Star High School.
However, the Bears failed to gain any ground on the Knights, who continued their unbeaten streak in conference play and extended their lead in the district to a commanding three games with six to play.
On Friday night, Box Elder played host to Big Sandy in a battle of teams tied for third place in the 9C. The Bears were off and running in the first quarter, outscoring the Pioneers 21-14. The Pioneers tried to hang with the Bears, but Box Elder had too much firepower as they exploded for 28 and 29 points in the second and third quarters, respectively. Big Sandy closed the gap a little at the end of the game but it was not enough as the Pioneers fell to the Bears 92-86.
The Bears' dynamic duo of Aaron Henry and Steve Arca combined for 43 points on the night. Arca poured in 29 points and Henry had 14. One of the lone bright spots on the night for the Pioneers was the play of Justin Willis, who exploded for a game-high 37 points.
In the only other league game on Friday night, the Chinook Sugarbeeters traveled to take on the North Star Knights in a matchup of the top two teams in the league.
The Beeters had a golden opportunity to pull within one game of North Star for first place. Unfortunately, they failed to accomplish that task as they fell to the Knights, 63-48.
The Beeters were able to hang around with the Knights for a while, finding themselves tied at 24-24 at halftime. North Star proved to be too much for the Beeters to handle, outscoring Chinook 39-24 in the second half.
Knights star Cody Donoven led all scorers with 24 points, and Shane Rice continued his recent string of solid play with 14 points in the win. The Beeters were led by Marty Birky with 19 points.
In a nonconference game Friday night, Rocky Boy was hammered by Highwood 72-48. Lakota Oats led the way with 10 points for the Stars.
Also in nonconference action, Turner lost a tough game to Dodson 54-45. Chad Jones scored 14 points on the night, and Dalton Cornell contributed with 12 points in the loss.
Saturday night Chinook played host to Box Elder with second place in the 9C standings on the line. The Bears would cap off a big weekend with a thrilling 66-63 overtime win.
Chinook looked inspired early on as the Beeters took an eight-point first- quarter lead at 20-12. The Beeters continued to play well in the second quarter, especially on defense, and at halftime they clung to a 28-26 lead.
Box Elder battled back and grabbed the lead in the third quarter, only to let Chinook come back to tie the game at 53-53 and send the contest into overtime. In the extra frame, foul trouble hurt Chinook, and Box Elder escaped with the narrow victory.
The Bears (5-3 conference, 9-3 overall) were led by Aaron Henry's game-high 22 points. The Beeters (4-4 conference, 6-6 overall) got 18 points from Luke Whitney and 15 points for Marty Birky in the losing effort. Dallas Miller contributed 13 points.
Big Sandy was looking to avoid dropping a district game for the second straight night as the Pioneers played host to first-place North Star. The Pioneers, desperate for a victory, played like it early on, gaining a one-point advantage after the first quarter, 15-14. By halftime their lead was 32-30.
In the second half, the Knights (8-0 conference, 10-2 overall) took control of the game en route to a 64-50 win that gave them an even tighter grip on the top spot in the conference standings.
Brandon Melby scored a game-high 29 points and Shane Rice had another nice game, notching a workmanlike 13 points, to pace the Knights. For the Pioneers, (3-5 conference, 4-8 overall) Justin Willis continued his solid play with 18 points.
In other 9C action Saturday night, the Rocky Boy Stars earned their first conference win of the season with a 56-50 upset victory over Hays-Lodge Pole in Rocky Boy.
The Stars (1-6 conference, 3-9 overall) were led by Justin Ahenakew's game-high 16 points. The Thunderbirds (3-4 conference, 6-6 overall) were led by Lance Brockie, who scored 14 points in yet another difficult loss.
Saturday night also saw Turner knock off Frazer in a nonconference matchup, 66-58. The Tornadoes (2-4 conference, 3-6 overall) were led by the Jones brothers. Chad Jones had 19 points and Colin added 17 points.
In other action along the Hi-Line, the second-ranked Harlem Wildcats knocked off Poplar 62-54 Thursday night in District 2B action. Rick Haluszka led the way with 20 points and Jordan Mount did his part with 13 points, keeping the Wildcats unbeaten on the season.
Chester/J-I was also in action on Saturday and fell to Augusta in a heartbreaker, 47-45, in District 10C action.
Tyler Han scored a team-high 13 points to lead the Hawks in the loss, and Kevin May added 12 points.
Thursday
Harlem 62, Poplar 54
Poplar 14 12 19 9 - 54
Harlem 11 18 13 20 - 62
Poplar - Martell 21, Atkins 10, Smoker 2, Daniels 2, Barr 10, Martell 21, K. Atkins 3, Linthicum 2, Scott Smoker 4. Totals: 23 8-11.
Harlem - Eddie Moore 8, Neeko Bigby 13, Monty Snow 4, Jordan Mount 13, Rick Haluszka 20, Wally Crantz 4. Totals: 20 15-20.
Total fouls: Poplar 15, Harlem 14. Fouled out: none. Three-point goals: Bigby, Mount 2
Friday
Highwood 72, Rocky Boy 48
Rocky Boy 7 18 12 11 - 48
Highwood 22 21 11 18 - 72
Rocky Boy - Ivan Whitford 5, Lakota Oats 10, Justin Ahenakew 8, Lewis Sutherland 6, Bryant Eagleman 6, Cody Four Colors 3, Rodney Turn Toes 4, Guy Johnson 4, Mike Eagleman 2. Totals: 20 6-9.
Highwood - Reid Edwards 9, Joey Samanski 7, Tanner Ripley 5, Troy Kotthoff 3, Bryan Davison 21, Miles Suberg 1, Brett Bahnmiller 21, Fred Granger 5. Totals: 29 9-17.
Fouls - Rocky Boy 17, Highwood 15. Fouled out - Johnson. Three-pointers - Whitford, Davison 3, Bahnmiller.
Box Elder 92, Big Sandy 86
Big Sandy 14 18 31 23 - 86
Box Elder 21 28 25 18 - 92
Big Sandy - Justin Willis 37, Lawrence Jappe 15, Kyle Danruether 8, John Sheehy 3, Chris LaBuda 13, Carl Osterman 8, Derrin Ray 2. Totals: 33 15-38.
Box Elder - Steven Arca 29, Aaron Henry 14, Dustin Bacon 14, Lane LaMere 11, Mike Sangrey Jr. 10, Jason Hawk 4, Austin Woodford 10. Totals: 39 12-23.
Fouls - Big Sandy 19, Box Elder 27. Fouled out - LaMere, Sangrey Jr. Three-pointers - Arca, Henry, Willis, LaBuda 2, Osterman.
North Star 63, Chinook 48
Chinook 12 12 9 15 - 48
North Star 17 7 18 21 - 63
Chinook - Chad Beck 9, Marty Birky 19, Dallas Miller 6, Luke Whitney 7, Jordan Lybeck 4, Adam Hayes 3. Totals - 15 14-19 48
North Star - Stephen Ramsbacker 2, Alex Chvilicek 4, Darius Wendland 10, Brandon Melby 9, Shane Rice 14, Cody.Donoven 24. Totals - 21 20-29 63
Total fouls - Chinook 19, North Star 14. Fouled out - none. Technical fouls - C. Beck, A. Hayes. 3-pointers - C .Donoven, M .Birky 3, L .Whitney
Dodson 54, Turner 45
Dodson 4 14 15 21 - 54
Turner 15 13 13 4 - 45
Dodson - Michael Ereaux 2, Nick Hopkins 5, Williams DeCelles 26, Mitch Dolphey 2, Thomas Rutherford 2, Clayton Killeagle 17. Totals: 18 17-29.
Turner - Wade Hofer 6, Colin Jones 9, Taylor Fouts 2, Chad Jones 14, Logan Fouts 2, Dalton Cornell 12. Totals: 19 7-12.
Fouls - Dodson 12, Turner 21. Fouled out - Cornell. Three-pointers - DeCelles
Saturday
Box Elder 66, Chinook 63
Box Elder 12 14 19 8 13 - 66
Chinook 20 8 13 12 10 - 63
Box Elder - Steven Arca 4, Aaron Henry 22, Dustin Bacon 9, Lane LaMere 9, Joel Parker 2, Mike Sangrey Jr.12. Totals - 27 11-18 66
Chinook - Chad Beck 7, Marty Birky 15, Dallas Miller 13, Luke Whitney 18, Jordan Lybeck 7, Adam Hayes 3. Totals - 18 26-39 63
Total fouls - Box Elder 29, Chinook 19. Fouled out - Bacon, LaMere, Sangrey Jr. 3-pointers - Henry, Whitney
Augusta 47, Chester/J-I 45
Augusta 9 11 13 14 - 47
C/J-I 13 13 6 13 - 45
Augusta - Ried Fleming 1, Chase Young 7, Derek Dellulo 10, J.C. Isakson 8, Caleb Ford 18, Klaus Immenrodt 3. Totals - 18 5-8 47
C/J-I - Derek Fraser 4, Kevin May 12, Colton McKinley 12, Tyler Han 13, Shay Richter 4. Totals - 17 7-15 45
Total fouls - Augusta 20, C/J-I 11. Fouled out - none. 3-pointers - Chase Young, Derek Dellulo 2, J.C. Isakson, Caleb Ford, Klaus Immenrodt, Kevin May, Tyler Han 3.
North Star 64, Big Sandy 50
North Star 14 16 15 19 - 64
Big Sandy 15 17 5 13 - 50
North Star - Josh Beaudry 2, Stephen Ramsbacker 3, Darius Wendland 5, Brandon Melby 29, Shane Rice 13, Cody Donoven 10, Alex Chvilicek 2. Totals - 23 15-22 64
Big Sandy - Justin Willis 18, Lawrence Jappe 2, Kyle Danreuther 12, Chris LaBuda 14, Carl Osterman 1. Ryan LaBuda 3. Totals - 17 10-16 50
Total fouls - North Star 16, Big Sandy 19. Fouled out - none. 3-pointers - J. Willis 4, C. LaBuda , R. LaBuda, S. Ramsbacker, B. Melby
Rocky Boy 56, Hayes-Lodgepole 50
Hays-Lodge Pole 17 9 10 14 - 50
Rocky Boy 7 21 11 17 - 56
HLP - Cole McCabe 4, William Granados 9, Lenny Gray 6, Cody McCabe 7, Vincent God 10, Lance Brockie 14. Totals: 22 2-9.
Rocky Boy - Ivan Whitford 13, Lakota Oats 11, Justin Ahenakew 15, Bryant Eagleman 15, Guy Johnson 2. Totals: 17 15-21.
Fouls - HLP 21, Rocky Boy 13. Fouled out - Brockie. Three-pointers - Whitford 3, Oats, Ahenakew, Eagleman 2, Granados, God 2, Brockie.
Turner 66, Frazer 58
Turner 19 12 18 17 - 66
Frazer 7 12 18 21 - 58
Turner - Colin Jones 19, Chad Jones 17, Logan Fouts 12, Ryan Haugen 3, Dalton Cornell 15. Totals 23 19-29.
Frazer - Michael Beston 2, Floyd Ackerman 19, Lincoln Blount 3, Jalon Blount 6, Warren Jones 2, Emmett Jackson 4, Peter Stump 20, Jason Clampitt 2. Totals 23 6-11.
Fouls - Turner 13, Frazer 23. Fouled out - Stump, Beston. Technicals - Stump. 3-pointers - Cornell, Ackerman 2, Blount, J. Blount 2, Stump.
