George Ferguson Havre Daily News sports editor gferguson@havredailynews.com
One big weekend. That’s all that stands between girls basketball teams and district tournament play. But before teams can look ahead to the postseason, let’s take a look back at action across the Hi-Line this weekend. Meaningful games happened all over the Hi-Line this weekend, and it started in Rocky Boy on Thursday night. The Morning Stars stepped out of conference play to take on Class B rival Harlem, and the outcome was a bit of a surprise. The Morning Stars dominated Harlem from the opening tip and reeled off big runs in the first and third quarters en route to an easy 84-45 win. Rocky Boy, which led 45-18 at halftime, got a game-high 25 points from Loni Belcourt. Tori Belcourt added 13 points and the pair combined to hit six 3-pointers. Apryl Webster also scored 10 points in the blowout. Harlem was paced by Amy Stiffarm and Leandra Thomas. Both players scored 10 points. On Friday night, things got a little tougher for Rocky Boy as it went back to 9C play and met up with North Star at home. Second place in the league was on the line in Rocky Boy, and the Knights were able to prevail, 54-50 in overtime. Trailing 21-18 at halftime, North Star rose up in the later stages of the contest, and forced overtime. In the extra frame, the Knights seemed to be the more energized club, outscoring the Morning Stars 9-5 down the stretch. North Star got a huge effort from its two veterans in the win. Natasha Dyrland scored a game-high 22 points and pulled down 11 rebounds. Megan Warren added 16 points, including four threes. Rocky Boy got 14 points from Frances Eagleman, as well as 13 and 11 points from Tori Belcourt and Erin Broncho, respectively. Outside of the big game in Rocky Boy, there were few other surprises on Friday night. In Chinook, No. 3 Big Sandy thumped Chinook 70-44, and Sunburst beat Box Elder 54-37 in Box Elder. Meanwhile, in a battle for last place in the 9C, Hays-Lodge Pole upended Turner, 48-35 on the Tornados home floor. The start of the second quarter to the end of the third is where the Thunderbirds did most of their damage. During that stretch, HLP outscored Turner, 36-12. Kelsey Stiffarm scored 20 points to guide HLP to victory. Fancie Boushie chipped in with 16 points. Turner got 11 points from Chelsi Jones in the loss. In District 10C action on Friday night, things were fairly easy for firstplace Chester/J-I. The Hawks punished Power 72-27. Jessica VanDyke continued her hotshooting for C/J-I by pouring in 20 points in the victory over Power. Hannah Pimley added 16 points and nine rebounds. But as well as the Hawks played on Friday night, just 24 hours later, they found themselves in a nonconference dogfight with rival North Star in Rudyard. The Knights erased a six-point fourthquarter deficit to force overtime with C/J-I. But the Hawks found a way to go on a quick 9-3 spurt in the extra period to put the Knights away, 49-43. VanDyke scored 16 points to lead Chester/J-I in the win, while Dyrland pumped in a game-high 23 points in the loss. Saturday night also saw Big Sandy stay undefeated in conference play heading into the final weekend of the regular season. The Pioneers thrashed Turner 86-24 in Big Sandy. Shalayna Pearson led four Big Sandy players in double figures with 18 points in the win. Jessica Amsbaugh scored 15 points and Laci Keller and Shersteen Cline added 14 points apiece. Turner got 10 points from Mindy Liese in the loss. Meanwhile, Box Elder lost its second straight game at home after Heart Butte raced past the Bears, 73-56 on Saturday night. Box Elder led 32-31 at the break, but the Warriors outscored the Bears 40- 25 in the second half. Overshadowed in the loss was a 27- point, 15-rebound explosion by Box Elder junior Rokki Parker. Arielle Wolfchief added 17 points in the loss. Chinook managed a weekend split after the Sugarbeeters thumped Hays- Lodge Pole on Saturday night. The Beeters scored 43 points in the first half and held HLP to just eight during that stretch en route to a 72-37 win. Alyssa Brown scored 17 points for Chinook, while Brittney MacLean added 12 points and Krista Johnson chipped in with 10. HLP was paced by 13 points from Darcy Mills. With one week left in the regular season, Big Sandy is 11-0 in league play, while North Star is in second at 8-2. Rocky Boy is a game behind the Knights at 7-3. C/J-I has a one-game lead on Valier and Sunburst in the 10C standings.
