George Ferguson Havre Daily News sports editor gferguson@havredailynews.com
The high school basketball season i s o f f and running as gi r l ’ s tournament’s along the Hi-Line featured some great action this weekend. Things officially got started on Thursday night in Big Sandy where the 9C’s top two teams were in action. In their opener, the Big Sandy Pioneers, the defending 9C champions, thrashed visiting Augusta 85-13 behind a stifling defense and a game-high 24 points and 13 rebounds from Laci Keller. The North Star Knights also got a promising season off to a good start in Big Sandy with a 55-48 victory over Denton. The Knights trai led 26-20 at halftime, but outscored Denton 35-18 in the second half. Star senior Natasha Dyrland led the way for North Star with 20 points and eight rebounds in the win. The Big Sandy tournament continued on Friday with the Chinook Suagrbeeters opening their season against District 10C foe Dutton-Brady. Chinook played stellar defense throughout, and the Beeters built a 2 2 - 1 4 hal f t ime l ead that the Diamondbacks could never overcome. Jessica McMaster scored a gamehigh 19 points to lead the Beeters, while senior Kayla Dugan chipped in with nine points and Cheyanne Hamilton added eight. The Native American Classic in Havre was also host to some exciting basketball on Friday as local teams Rocky Boy and Box Elder both opened the 2007-2008 campaign with victories at the MSU-Northern Fieldhouse. Rocky Boy thrashed Dodson 64-28 behind a balanced offensive attack that saw 11 different players score. Seniors Frances Eagleman and Erin Broncho led the way with 14 and 12 points, respectively. The upstart Box Elder Bears also got off to a strong start on Friday night, beating Kainai, Alberta 62-37. Rokki Parker led three Bears in double figures with a game-high 28 points. She also grabbed 11 rebounds and had two blocks in the win. Also on Friday night, the Chester/ J-I Hawks began their 2007-2008 season far away from home as they played in the Twin Bridges tournament. And C/J-I struggled without star sophomore Jessica VanDyke, who is out with a knee injury, as the Hawks fell to Twin Bridges 61-24 to start 0-1 on the season. Back at the Big Sandy tournament on Saturday, The host Pioneers outlasted a tough Sunburst team, 54-50. In a nip-and-tuck game that saw the Pioneers cling to a 32-30 halftime lead, and an eight-point fourth-quarter edge, the Refiners charged back in the final minutes, only to come up just short. Keller again paced the Pioneers wi th 1 6 point s, whi le Morgan Darlington chipped in with 15 points in the win as Big Sandy improved to 2-0. North Star was impressive in its second win of the season in Big Sandy on Saturday. The Knights clubbed Dutton-Brady, 55-35 behind 19 points form Justine Beaudry and 14 points and seven boards form Britnee Dyrland. The third 9C team to play in Big Sandy, Chinook wasn’t so fortunate however. The Beeters got outscored 27-16 in the final eight minutes of the game to fall to Denton 59-55. Alyssa Brown came up big for Chinook, scoring 19 points, while Krista Johnson added 10 points in the Beeters’ first loss of the season. Meanwhile, at the Native American Classic in Havre on Saturday, the Box Elder Bears cont inued to rol l , thrashing the Browning Jvs 72-43. Box Elder broke the game wide open in the fourth quarter via a 19-9 run, and the Bears got a game-high 22 points form youngster Rylin Burns to lead the way. Jamie Montes also scored 15 points in the win. Rocky Boy also won on Saturday in Havre. The Morning Stars improved to 2-0 on the season by beating the Frazer Bear Cubs, 57-44. Apryl Webster led three Morning Stars in double figures with a game-high 19 points, including three 3 -pointers. Broncho and Eagleman also chipped in with 14 and 11 points, respectively. In Twin Bridges, the C/J-I Hawks rebounded from their difficult Friday night loss by beating Gardiner 56-49. The Hawks had to come back from a 29-17 halftime deficit, and they were aided by Molly Brown’s 19 points and six assists.
