George Ferguson Havre Daily News sports editor gferguson@havredailynews.com
The Holiday break is rapidly approaching, and that means girl's basketball teams on the Hi-Line are jockeying to build some momentum. And there were several important games this past weekend. In Big Sandy on Saturday night, two of the best teams in District 9C and perhaps Northern C, faced off as No. 6 North Star paid a visit to second-ranked Big Sandy. And the Pioneers proved that they are not ready to step aside for the Knights just yet, as they beat North Star 60-41 in a 9C showdown. Big Sandy's defense played a key role in the victory, as the Pioneers held North Star to just four points in the second quarter, and led 32-13 at halftime. The Knights played better in the second half, but could never recover. Laci Keller, who is off to a hot start this season, led all scorers with 26 points, while the Knights got 11 points each from Justine Beaudry and Britnee Dyrland in the loss. The weekend started with Turner getting its first win of the season on Thursday, a 39-25 victory over Roy. Then on Friday night, the Pioneers faced another stern test in the upstart Box Elder Bears in Big Sandy. And as strong as Box Elder has played this season, the Bears weren't ready to take Big Sandy down either, falling 82-64. Shersteen Cline paced the Pioneers with a game-high 27 points, while Keller poured in 22 points and Morgan Darlington added 14. Josi Herron also pitched in with 11 points and seven assists. Box Elder, which suffered its first loss of the season, got 20 points from Arielle Wolfchief and 15 points from Rylnn Burns. In other 9C action on Friday night, North Star got its weekend off to a good start with a 51-42 win at Chinook while Hays-Lodge Pole fell at Roy 76-62. Meanwhile, in Rocky Boy, the host Morning Stars welcomed the No. 1 team in Class C into the Rocky Boy gym in the from of the Highwood Mountaineers, and although the led 11-8 after the first quarter, the Morning Stars couldn't keep up, losing 61-40 at home. In District 10C action on Friday night, the Sunburst Refiners beat Chester/J-I at home, 57-52 to remain undefeated, C/J-I started off strong, leading 14-6 after one quarter, and 28-21 at halftime. But an 18-5 run in the third quarter by Sunburst did the Hawks in. Molly Brown led the way for C/J-I with 18 points, while Kylie Richter added 13 points in the loss. Aside from the Big Sandy/North Star showdown, Saturday night also saw Box Elder and Rocky Boy rebound with victories. In Box Elder, the Bears thumped Chinook 55-27 behind a 33-13 run in the second and third quarter's. The Sugar- Beeters struggled offensively, scoring no more than seven points in any quarter. Box Elder also got a huge 25-point, 15-rebound effort from Rokki Parker, and Wolfchief chipped in with 15 points. Kayla Dugan paced Chinook in the loss with 14 points. Meanwhile, Rocky Boy went to Hays and picked up a 62-45 win over the young HLP Thunderbirds. Erin Broncho and Daishawn Whitford led the Morning Stars with 14 points and 12 points, respectively, while HLP got 16 points from Kara Obey in the loss. Saturday night also saw Turner fall 65-21 at Roy, and C/J-I pick up a tight win over Simms, 38-35.
