Chris Peterson
Havre Daily News
cpeterson@havredailynews.com
Although they weren't able to achieve their goal of a state championship, the Hays-Lodge Pole Thunderbirds capped off an improbable postseason run in style with a third- place finish in the Class C state tournament Saturday night at the Billings Metra.
After a pair of dramatic wins to keep their season alive, the T-Birds faced off against No. 1-ranked Whitewater in what turned about to be a dramatic battle for third place.
The T-Birds got off to a hot start, and after the first quarter led 15-9. The Penguins were still struggling to get on track in the second quarter and by the end of the first half the T-Birds led 32-19.
“We knew coming into the game that we were going to have to play our best basketball because they were the No. 1 team coming into the tournament,” HLP head coach Charlie Ereaux said. “And, early on we played very well. We limited our turnovers and we shot the basketball very well.”
But at the start of the third quarter, the Penguins began to get themselves back into the game. Shade Stiles hit back-to-back 3-pointers and Roman Morris hit a basket to cut the lead to 35-32.
The T-Birds pushed the lead back to seven points after a couple of quick baskets, and at the end of the third quarter they led 39-32.
Whitewater continued its comeback in the fourth quarter led by Stiles, who hit two more clutch three's to get the Penguins back into the game. His second trey cut the lead to 50-48 with under a minute left.
The T-Birds knocked down two free throws to push the lead back to 52-48 and despite a late basket by the Penguins, the T-Birds held on for a 52-50 upset victory and the consolation title.
Freshman sensation A.J. Long Soldier led the way with 14 points and Cole McCabe added 13 points in the victory.
Stiles scored 15 points for the Penguins and Kalvin Reichelt added 14 points in the loss.
“It was a great run for us and we really wish that we could keep playing because we are on such a roll right now,” Ereaux said. “We were able to come back through the back door to get to the consolation game after we lost in the first round and I am really proud of the kids because they could have quit or gave up.”
On Saturday morning the T-Birds met Park City in a loser-out game with the winner moving on to the consolation game. Early on things weren't looking good for HLP as the T-Birds fell behind 20-4 in the first quarter.
However, the T-Birds refused to give up, and by halftime they had cut the deficit to eight points, 33-25.
In the third quarter, led by the spectacular play of Long Soldier, the T-Birds took the lead and took control of the game by outscoring Park City 18-8 to take a 43-41 lead going into the fourth period.
In the fourth quarter, Long Soldier and the T-Birds finished off Park City and earned a 69-62 come-from-behind victory.
Long Soldier led the T-Birds with an amazing 41 points and nine rebounds in the victory. Cole McCabe pitched in with 10 points.
“We got down 16 points in the first quarter, but once again our kids didn't fold and they kept on fighting,” Ereaux said. “And A.J. was just absolutely phenomenal in the second half. Before I knew it he had 30 points and then 41 points. It was amazing. It didn't even seem like he had that many points.”
HLP would have never gotten a trophy or been in a position for Long Soldier to go crazy against Park City if it had not been for a gutsy win over Highwood on Friday afternoon.
The T-Birds took on their Northern C rival in loser-out action. HLP fell behind 21-20 at the end of the first quarter, but by the end of the first half the T-Birds led 39-37.
In the second half, the back and forth battle continued, and at the end of regulation the game was tied at 69-69.
In overtime the T-Birds outscored the Mountaineers 12-9 for an exciting 81-78 win.
Long Soldier once again paced the T-Birds with a team-high 22 points. Lance Brockie also had a big game with 20 points and 15 rebounds.
“They are a very tough team,” Ereaux said. “It was an exciting game that went down to the wire and fortunately for us, we were able to hang on and stay alive in the tournament.”
After going 7-11 during the regular season, the T-Birds were probably the least likely team to earn a trophy at the state tournament. But with a little luck and the outstanding play of Long Soldier the T-Birds did precisely what almost no one except themselves thought they could do.
“I am very proud of these boys,” Ereaux said. “Not a lot of people expected a lot out of us going into the postseason and we were able to get a trophy on three straight weekends.
“It's almost unreal,” he added. “No one would have thought that we could get third place at the state tournament. We definitely proved this weekend that we belong with the best teams in the state.”
Hays-Lodge Pole 81, Highwood 78 (lo)
Highwood 21 16 17 15 9 - 78
Hays-Lodge Pole 20 19 12 18 12 - 81
Highwood - Reid Edwards 3-8 5-12 11, Tanner Ripley 2-5 1-4 6, Troy Kotthoff 1-2 3-4 5, Brian Davison 7-18 7-9 23, Bret Bahnmiller 9-18 5-5 26, Joey Semansky 2-4 1-1 5, Miles Suberg 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 25-59 22-35 78.
HLP - Cole McCabe 4-8 0-0 8, Vince Gone 3-8 0-1 7, Lance Brockie 6-15 6-8 20, A.J. Long Soldier 11-17 0-0 22, Beau Doney 1-3 2-2 4, Cody McCabe 5-9 2-2 14, Vince Fortin 0-0 1-2 1, Jordan Werk 1-2 0-0 2, Tyrell Haakanson 1-2 0-0 3. Totals: 32-65 81.
Total fouls - Highwood 14, HLP 28. Fouled out - Doney. 3-pointers - Highwood 6-18 (Ripley 1-2, Davison 2-9, Bahnmiller 3-5), HLP 6-16 (Cody McCabe 2-5, Haakanson 1-1, Gone 1-3, Brockie 2-4).
Hays-Lodge Pole 69, Park City 62 (lo)
HLP 10 15 18 26 - 69
Park City 20 13 8 21 - 62
HLP - Beau Doney 1-2 0-0 2, Lance Brockie 1-7 5-8 7, Cole McCabe 4-10 2-3 10, A. J. Long Soldier 15-20 9-10 41, Lenny Grey 3-5 0-2 6, Vince Fortin 0-0 1-2 1, Tyrell Haakanson 0-0 2-4 2. Totals: 24-48 19-34 69.
Park City - Lane Diercks 2-11 0-0 5, Aaron Blair 5-7 1-2 11, Joe Darkenwald 9-11 2-5 20, Nathan Michael 6-23 5-7 18, Josh Anthony 1-1 0-0 2, Matt Kaizer 2-5 0-0 6. Totals: 25-63 8-14 62.
3-pointers - HLP 2-11 (Long Soldier 2-3). Park City 4-26 (M. Kaizer 2-4, Michael 1-11, Diercks 1-7). Total fouls - HLP - 15, Park City 24. Fouled out - none.
Hays-Lodge Pole 52, Whitewater 50 (3rd)
Whitewater 9 10 13 18 - 50
Hays-Lodge Pole 15 17 7 13 - 52
Whitewater - Roman Morris 4-7 1-4 9, Trevor Christman 1-7 0-0 2, Dakota Taylor 2-6 1-2 5, Shade Stiles 5-14 0-0 15, Kalvin Reichelt 7-19 0-0 14, Mark Lageson 1-6 0-0 2, Jaren Stiles 1-4 0-0 3. Totals 21-63 2-6 50.
HLP - Cody McCabe 2-6 2-4 7, Beau Doney 0-5 2-2 2, Lance Brockie 3-8 3-4 10, Vince Gone 2-7 0-0 4, Cole McCabe 6-12 1-6 13, A. J. Long Soldier 6-12 2-3 14, Lenny Grey 1-7 0-0 2. Totals 20-58 10-19 52.
3-pointers - Whitewater 6-21 (S. Stiles 5-11, J. Stiles 1-1), HLP 2-8 (Brockie 1-3, Cody McCabe 1-3). Fouled out- Morris, Taylor. Total fouls-Whitewater 17, HLP 7.
