Chris Peterson Havre Daily News cpeterson@havredailynews.com
It isn’t often that you see a regularseason meeting between the two best teams in Class C basketball, let alone in a district showdown. But in a battle of the two top-ranked teams in Class C boys basketball, the second-ranked Big Sandy Pioneers throttled top-ranked Hays-Lodgepole Friday night in Big Sandy. Big Sandy got a spectacular performance from Chris LaBuda in the win. LaBuda scored a game-high 27 points to lead the Pioneers while Kyle Danreuther added 17 points and Blake Brumwell also notched 15 points in the win. Lenny Gray had 21 points in a losing effort for the T-Birds. A.J. Long Soldier also contributed with 17 points in defeat. Big Sandy held a 20-13 lead over the T-Birds after the first quarter, but blew the game wide open in the second and third quarters, outscoring HLP 38-22 during that span to take a 58-35 lead into the fourth quarter. The win gave the Pioneers sole possession of first place in the District 9C standings. Big Sandy opened its weekend with a win, defeating nonconference foe Geraldine 97-46 Thursday night in Geraldine. Big Sandy built a 51-18 halftime lead and never looked back as the Pioneers rolled to another easy victory. LaBuda poured in 27 points in the victory, while Brumwell added 18 and Danreuther also scored 13 in an impressive offensive display by Big Sandy. Also on Friday night, North Star welcomed Turner to Gildford for a 9C game, and the Knights rolled to an easy 60-48 win over the Tornados. Brandon Melby led the Knights with 25 points in the win. Josh Beaudry had a solid game with 14 points and Darius Wendland notched 12 points for North Star. Rocky Boy earned an impressive 9C road win in Box Elder Friday night with a 97-50 trashing of the Bears. The Stars dominated the game from start to finish thanks in large part to 14 points from Glen Doney and 11 points from Mike Sangrey Jr. JC Hawk and Cody Nault had 19 and 10 points, respectively in the loss. In District 10C action, Chester/J-I fell to Valier by the score of 53-49 in Chester on Friday night. The Hawks fell behind 25-19 at halftime and could never recover, despite a furious late rally. Dillon Hayes had 19 points for the Hawks in defeat and Tyler Han also had a solid game with 11 points. Chinook took a break from 9C play this weekend, welcoming Malta into Chinook on Friday night. But the Sugarbeeters didn’t have enough firepower to upset the Class B Mustangs, falling in a valiant effort by the score of 52-41. Marty Birky was the only Chinook player to reach double figures in the loss, pouring in 15 points. On Saturday night, Harlem played host to Plentywood in a matchup of the 2B’s top two teams. Harlem survived a frantic fourth-quarter comeback to hang on for a narrow 56-52 win. Rick Haluszka scored a game-high 21 points for the Wildcats in the win. Eddie Moore notched 13 points and Miles Werk also added eight points for Harlem. Rocky Boy earned their second straight 9C victory on Saturday night when the Stars defeated Turner by the score of 64-44 in Rocky Boy. Mike Sangrey Jr. Had another solid outing for the Stars with a game-high 15 points. Rodney Turn Toes also notched 14 points in the win for Rocky Boy. Chad Jones was the lone bright spot for the Tornados, putting up 15 points in the loss. North Star traveled to Sunburst on Saturday night and escaped with a solid road win, knocking off the Refiners 51- 43. Darius Wendland led a balanced scoring effort for the Knights with a gamehigh 17 points. Josh Beaudry added nine points and Melby put in eight points. Chester/J-I went on the road to close out it’s weekend against class B opponent Fort Benton Saturday night. Fort Benton overwhelmed the Hawks from the opening tip to final buzzer, defeating them handily by the score of 63-29. No Hawks’ player reached double figures on the night. Dillon Hayes and Trevor Violett led the Hawks in scoring with just six points a piece. Saturday night also saw HLP rebound from its loss to Big Sandy. The T-Birds demolished Box Elder, 96-37 in Hays. HLP got a game-high 22 points form Lance Brockie, while JC Hawk led Box Elder with 20 points. Big Sandy is now 8-1 in league play while the T-Birds are 7-2. North Star and Rocky Boy are tied for third place at 6-3.
