Hays-Lodge Pole races past Big Sandy for 2007 Class C state title
Chris Peterson Havre Daily News cpeterson@havredailynews.com
GREAT FALLS The first time was a win, and the third and fourth times were as well, but the fifth time was really the charm for the Hays-Lodge Pole Thunderbirds. By dispatching the Big Sandy Pioneers for the third straight time in postseason play, the Thunderbirds capped off their dream season with a Class C boys state championship. The T-Birds’ 80-67 victory over 9C rival Big Sandy at the Four Seasons Arena in Great Falls on Saturday night ended a remarkable 27-2 season that ended in the T-Birds’ second state title of the decade. HLP captured its first state championship in 2002. “I’m speechless,” HLP head coach Charlie Ereaux said. “It’s an awesome feeling. But I think it probably feels even better for the players. I am just so proud of these guys. They have worked so hard all season long and I can’t explain how happy I am for them.” After falling behind 7-0 in the fifth meeting of the year between the T-Birds and Pioneers, the T-Birds finally sprang into action. Big Sandy looked as though it would give HLP a run for its money by scoring the first seven points of the game behind freshman Corbin Pearson. But HLP went on a furious run, taking its first lead of the game after a jump shot by Cole McCabe which put the T-Birds ahead 8-7 at the 4:18 mark in the first quarter. After grabbing the lead, the T-Birds then poured it on Big Sandy. HLP junior forward Lenny Gray caught fire as he scored eight straight points, including a pair of treys. The flurry gave the T-Birds a 16-8 lead via a 16-1 run. Gray hit from downtown again at the first quarter buzzer to give HLP a 24-10 advantage. He finished the first quarter with a scintillating 15-point effort. “It was the Lenny Gray show for a while,” Ereaux said. “He really stepped up big. We got off to a bit of a slow start and he really carried us in the first half.” A. J. Long Soldier nailed a trey to open the second quarter, pushing the Tbirds’ lead to 27-10 and wrapping up a remarkable 27-3 run. Midway through the second period, the T-Birds took their biggest lead of the game at 35-15 following yet another basket by Gray. “The first quarter just killed us,” Big Sandy head coach Roy Lackner said. “It’s hard to beat them when they shoot the ball the way they did in the first half.” However, the Pioneers managed to close the gap before halftime, thanks in part to a 7-0 run. Chris LaBuda converted a three-point play with 15 seconds remaining to pull the Pioneers within striking distance at 40-29. Then, an energized Big Sandy squad continued its run into the third quarter. Kyle Danreuther opened the period with a trey, and after another Danreuther three less than a minute later, the HLP advantage was trimmed to five points at 42-37. But that was as close as the Pioneers, who also finished second in 2004 would get. With the game on the line, the Tbirds answered behind the stellar play of Long Solder. Long Soldier was responsible for 12 of the T-Birds next 14 points, after hitting a 3-pointer and a series of long jump shots, he nailed another shot from beyond the arc to make the score 54-45 late in the third stanza. Long Soldier’s shooting spree was just the spark HLP needed to regain control of the game. By the end of the third quarter, the lead was once again pushed to double digits at 62-51. “A.J. just always seems to step up in the big moments,” Ereaux said. “We needed someone to step up for us and he was the guy.” Said Long Soldier: “I finally found my shot. I got a chance to shoot the ball so I started shooting and they went in.” Big Sandy had a glimmer of hope left after Pearson buried a 3-pointer to open the fourth quarter. However, Lance Brockie promptly answered for the Tbirds with a 3-pointer of his own, which started an 8-0 run for HLP, that made the score 70-54 and pushed the game out of reach. “They were just better than we were tonight,” Lackner said. “I mean, we could have done some things better and it would have helped if they would have missed a couple shots here or there. But they just outplayed us.” When it was all said and done, the Tbirds shot an astounding 59 percent from the field for the game compared to just 40 percent for the Pioneers. HLP also hit on 61 percent of its 3-point attempts, while the Pioneers managed to hit just 24 percent of their shots from beyond the arc. Gray, Long Soldier and Brockie were the driving force behind the victory and the state title. Gray sizzled from the field, connecting on 12-of-17 shots to amass a game-high 27 points. “We knew they would box-and-one A. J.,” Gray said. “So I just figured tonight would be my night to step up and make some shots. This feels great right now. To get third last year and come back and win it this year. It’s amazing.” Long Solder was 8-of-11 from the field in a 21-point, 11-rebound effort for HLP. Brockie was 7-of-12 from the field and was a force inside for the T-Birds with 16 points and 10 rebounds. “It was a great team effort tonight,” Ereaux said. “Lance played really well tonight. He hit some big shots and grabbed some big rebounds. Lenny played well; A.J. played well; Cole did some good things, and even Josh Blackelk hit a couple shots and played great defense. “All of these guys are just so unselfish,” he added. “All year they sacrificed themselves for the team and they did it again tonight. You have to give a lot of credit to Big Sandy as well. They are a great ball club and they played us tough again tonight.” Pearson did his best to keep the Pioneers (23-5) in the game by notching a team-high 25 points and seven rebounds as well as three blocks in a valiant effort. Fellow freshman Blake Brumwell also had a solid outing for Big Sandy with 13 points and 10 boards. Danreuther pitched in with 10 points in the loss. The win marked the end of an incredible two-year run through the postseason for HLP. To date, the T-Birds have won 18 of their last 19 tournament games, including their last 12, which led to a third-place finish last season and culminated with the winning of the 2007 state championship. “It’s been a great run for us,” Ereaux said. “We had our share of ups and downs, but all year long these guys found a way to win. They have been wanting this for a long time and they should enjoy it, because they earned it.” “I don’t really know how to describe how it feels,” Long Soldier said. “It feels pretty good. It’s everything that I ever dreamed it could be.”
