Chris Peterson
Havre Daily News
cpeterson@havredailynews.com
GREAT FALLS - After a disappointing setback in the semifinals of the Northern C Divisional Tournament in Great Falls, the Chester/J-I girls basketball team came back and finished third, giving them the Class C state tournament berth they set out to get.
The Hawks took on Winnett in the consolation game Saturday night after both teams survived loser-out games that morning.
Winnett jumped out to an early lead behind the strong play of Kylie King. However, C/J-I would not let the Rams get out of sight and, despite trailing for most of the quarter, the Hawks were down just 12-11 at the end of one period.
In the second quarter, the Hawks began to take control of the game behind the spectacular play of Mary DeVries. DeVries dominated throughout the game and scored 15 points in the second quarter alone. The Hawks outscored Winnett 28-13 in the second stanza, giving them a comfortable 39-25 halftime lead.
“Mary is our big gun,” C/J-I head coach Dustin Gordon said. “She was a horse tonight and we rode her a lot.”
In the third quarter DeVries continued to score at will, and the Hawks push ed their lead to 54-36 heading into the final period.
Quickly in the fourth quarter C/J-I pushed the lead to 22 points and it seemed like defeat was now a given for the Rams.
But they kept fighting all the way to the end.
The Rams scored a couple of baskets, and then the Hawks got a little careless with the basketball. In the blink of an eye, the Hawks' lead was down to 60-51. To make matters worse, DeVries fouled out of the game.
Amanda Violett stepped up and hit some big free throws, eventually sealing the victory as the Hawks held on for a 67-52 win.
“It was a little sloppy at times,” Gordon said. “But a sloppy win is better than a pretty loss, I guess. Mentally we were just wore out. It was a long day for us. We did some things good, but if we want to compete at state we will have to be better.”
On Saturday morning, the Hawks went up against the District 9C Rocky Boy Morning Stars in loser-out action at the CMR Fieldhouse.
The Hawks grabbed the early lead and never looked back. By halftime they had a 40-19 lead.
Early in the second half the Morning Stars tried to make a run and cut into the lead, but the Hawks made another big run and cruised to a 78-51 victory, putting them in the consolation game and eliminating Rocky Boy from the tournament.
Friday morning Rocky Boy had defeated Valier 75-49 after being beaten in the semifinals the night before. The win kept their faint hopes alive for a state tournament berth until Saturday's loss to Chester/J-I.
Loni Belcourt scored 17 points in the win for the Stars, and Erin Broncho pitched in with 13 points.
“The girls played really hard and they have nothing to be ashamed about,” Rocky Boy head coach Deb LaMere said. “They never gave up throughout the entire tournament and we gained some really good experience.”
Keyla Briese led the way for the Hawks, scoring a game-high 26 points in a dominating effort.
Rocky Boy was led by Tori Belcourt, who notched 12 points in the loss.
On Friday night fans were treated to the much-anticipated showdown between C/J-I and Big Sandy in the girls semifinals and the two teams did not disappoint.
The two teams battled back and forth throughout the night and the game ended up going into overtime.
In the extra frame, Pioneers coach Roy Lackner brilliantly stalled it out, milking over 2 minutes off the clock. When his team was ready to shoot, Naomi Williams stepped up and nailed what amounted to the game-winning shot as the Pioneers won a thriller, 54-48.
Williams scored 16 points for the Pioneers in the win. Kacy Herron contributed 13 for Big Sandy.
Keyla Briese scored a game-high 20 points in the contest and Amanda Violett notched 10 points in defeat.
C/J-I advanced to the Class C state tournament in Hamilton next weekend by way of its third-place finish. The Hawks will play Highwood in the first round. Northern C girls champion Big Sandy will face Twin Bridges in the opening round.
On the boys side of the tournament, the North Star Knights also found themselves fighting for their postseason lives on Saturday morning in loser-out action against Dutton-Brady.
The Knights jumped out to a 15-8 lead early on but then proceeded to score just six points in both the second and third quarters.
Very late in the game, it appeared to be all over for the Knights as they were down by three points. Then Cody Donoven drilled a 3-pointer at the buzzer to tie it 32-32 and send the game into overtime.
In the extra session, with the score at 34-34, North Star was holding for the final possession when Branden Melby's prayer was answered. His 3-point shot banked off the glass at the buzzer to give the Knights a thrilling victory.
Donoven scored 14 points to lead the way for the Knights.
Later that night, the Knights' season came to an abrupt end when Highwood defeated them for the fourth this season during in the consolation game, 60-38.
The Knights had no players in double figures and were led by Darius Wendland with nine points.
“It was a disappointing way for our season to end,” North Star head coach Charlie Robinson said. “But the kids never quit and we had a very successful season even though we didn't make it to state. Not every good team always makes it, and sometimes good teams are left out.”
Northern C boys champion Hays-Lodge Pole will open Class C state tournament play on Thursday against Alberton in Billings.
NOTES: On Monday, Hays-Lodge Pole's A.J. Long Soldier and Big Sandy's Shalayna Pearson were named the tournament's boys and girls most valuable players. HLP's Lance Brockie and Cole McCabe were also named to the boys all-tournament team. Big Sandy's Naomi Williams and Chester/J-I's Keyla Briese and Mary DeVries were named to the girls team.
Northern C at Great Falls
Friday
Rocky Boy 75, Valier 49 (lo)
Rocky Boy 26 13 26 10 - 75
Valier 7 8 16 18 - 49
Rocky Boy - Randee Demontiney 1-3 0-0 2, Shaneen Raining Bird 3-10 2-4 9, Deena Sunchild 0-1 1-2 1, Loni Belcourt 6-14 4-4 17, Tori Belcourt 2-9 0-0 4, Courtney St. Pierre 3-5 2-2 9, Frances Eagleman 6-11 0-2 13, Erinn Broncho 6-10 1-1 13, Apryl Webster 2-4 0-0 5, Dai Shawn Witiford 1-3 0-0 2. Totals: 30-75 10-15.
Valier - Brooke Holden 2-7 2-6 6, Brandy Ahern 0-2 0-0 0, Jessica Breding 1-3 1-2 3, Sarah Widhalm 0-3 0-0 0, Aisha Snyder 9-21 4-7 22, Ashley Breding 0-4 1-2 1, Emily Breding 1-7 2-3 4, Mykayla Tatsy 2-11 1-3 6, Katie Boumans 0-2 1-2 1, Katie Majerus 2-4 0-0 4, Randi EagleSpeaker 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 18-65 12-25.
Total fouls - Rocky Boy 18, Valier 13. Fouled out - None. 3-pointers - Raining Bird 1, L. Belcourt 1, St. Pierre 1, Eagleman 1, Webster 1, Tatsy 1.
Big Sandy 54, Chester/J-I 48 (ot) (sf)
C/J-I 12 17 8 11 0 - 48
Big Sandy 15 13 9 11 6 - 54
C/J-I - Amanda Violett 5-11 0-0 10, Mary DeVries 3-9 1-2 7, Keyla Briese 8-20 1-2 20, Jackie Allsch 0-3 0-3 0, Brittney Kolstad 2-5 0-0 4, Hannah Pimley 3-8 1-1 7. Totals - 21-56 3-8 48.
Big Sandy - Naomi Williams 6-13 4-7 16, Kacy Herron 4-17 3-8 13, Sarah Yirsa 3-6 0-0 6, Shalayna Pearson 5-15 0-2 10, Shaila Cline 1-4 0-0 3, Jessica Amsbaugh 3-6 0-0 6. Totals - 22-61 7-17 54.
Total fouls - C/J-I 16, Big Sandy 16. Fouled out - none. 3-pointers - Briese 3, Herron 2, Cline.
Saturday
Highwood 60, North Star 38(3rd)
Highwood 12 21 13 14 - 60
North Star 9 14 10 5 - 38
Highwood - Bret Bahnmiller 4-6 0-2 10, Ried Edwards 1-5 2-2 4, Troy Kotthoff 4-5 2-3 11, Tanner Ripley 0-5 2-4 2, Miles Suberg 1-1 1-2 3, Brian Davison 6-9 1-1 14, Fred Granger 1-2 0-0 3, Joey Semansky 3-6 6-6 12, Royce Edwards 0-1 1-2 1. Totals -20-40 15-22 60
North Star - Josh Beaudry 2-3 0-0 4, Stephen Ramsbacher 0-3 2-4 2, Shawn Hanson 1-1 0-0 3, Alex Chvilick 1-6 0-0 3, Daruis Wendland 4-9 1-2 9, Brandon Melby 2-12 0-0 6, Shane Rice 3-7 0-0 6, Cody Donovan 2-13 0-0 5. Totals - 15-56 3-6 38
Total fouls - Highwood 14, North Star 17. Fouled out - none. 3-pointers - Bahnmiller 2, Kotthoff, Davison, Granger, Hanson, Melby 2, Donovan.
North Star 37, Dutton-Brady 34 (lo)
North Star 15 3 3 8 -37
Dutton-Brady 8 6 8 7 -34
North Star - Darius Wendland 6, Branden Melby 8, Shane Rice 9, Cody Donoven 14. Totals 9 5-7.
Dutton-Brady - Josh Kitchin 6, Jeff Blanchet 8, Donnie Chippewa 13, Nic Wells 6, Andrew Bishop 1. Totaqls 12 6-12.
Total fouls - North Star 12, Dutton/Brady 11. Fouled out - none. Three-point goals - Melby, Kitchin 2, Blanchet 2.
Chester/J-I 78, Rocky Boy 51 (lo)
Rocky Boy 8 11 22 10 - 51
C/J-I 17 23 16 22 - 78
Rocky Boy - Randee Demontiney 0 1-2 1, Shaneen Raining Bird 5 1-5 11, Loni Belcourt 4 1-2 10, Courtney St. Pierre 1 0-0 3, Tori Belcourt 3 4-4 12, Frances Eagleman 2 0-2 4, Apryl Webster 1 0-0 3, Erin Broncho 3 0-0 6. Totals: 19 8-17 51.
C/J-I - Amanda Violett 3 2-3 8, Brittney Kolstad 0 3-4 3, Hannah Pimley 4 9-10 17, Mary DeVries 6 2-2 14 Chelsea Stokes 0 2-2 2, Keyla Briese 9 6-11 26, Candice Osterman 1 0-0 2, Jackie Alisch 1 4-7 6. Totals: 24 28-39 78.
3-pointers - L. Belcourt, St. Pierre, T. Belcourt 2, Webster, Briese 2. Total fouls - RB 25, C/J-I 17. Fouled out - Eagleman, Broncho.
Chester/J-I 67, Winnett 52 (3rd)
C/J-I 11 28 15 13 - 67
Winnett 12 13 11 16 - 52
C/J-I - Amanda Violett 2-6 4-6 8, Mary DeVries 13-23 2-4 28, Keyla Briese 3-13 6-8 13, Jackie Alisch 3-7 0-0 6, Hannah Pimley 4-9 4-5 12. Totals: 25-59 16-23.
Winnett - Bonnie Browning 7-11 1-2 15, Anna Dembek 6-11 1-1 13, Kaycee Downs 1-6 0-0 2, Cassie Kiehl 2-11 1-5 6, Malori Woodford 3-9 1-5 7, Kylie King 3-10 3-8 9. Totals: 22-61 7-23.
Fouls - C/J-I 16, Winnett 17. Fouled out - DeVries, Dembek, King. 3-pointers - Briese, Kiehl.
