George Ferguson Havre Daily News sports editor gferguson@havredailynews.com
If it wasn’t for the Winifred Red Raiders and their perfect season, the Class C state boy’s state championship trophy would still be inside the District 9C. Instead, the Red Raiders beat the Rocky Boy Stars in a defensive struggle for the second time in two weeks, this time coming at the 2008 Class C state tournament on Saturday night in Butte. Winifred held a Stars’ team that had just scored 101 points against Plenty Coups on Friday night to just 54 points in a 68-54 victory to claim the Class C crown and polish off a perfect 26-0 season. And, unlike at the Northern C championship game last week in Great Falls, Rocky Boy’s defense did little to slow down Winifred star Brian Foran. Foran, a 6-1 senior, scored just four points against Rocky Boy in Great Falls, but he went off for 29 points and 20 rebounds against the Stars on Saturday night. And that turned out to be too much for the Stars to overcome. Also unlike the first meeting between the two Class C powers, on Saturday night Rocky Boy never led, and rarely seriously threatened the deep and talented Red Raiders. Winifred raced out to a 17-11 first quarter lead, and the Stars struggled to shoot the ball from the outside. Rocky Boy shot a low percentage from the field in the first half as the Stars trailed 35-25 at intermission. And as Foran kept pouring in baskets on the inside, Winifred’s lead grew in the third quarter. By the end of the period, the Red Raiders were up 49-36, and they cruised home to their first state championship in basketball since the 1974 season. Rocky Boy’s struggles were from the outside, as the Stars’ two best shooters were held in check. Mike Sangrey Jr. Led Rocky Boy with 14 points on just 5-of-13 shooting, and the usually dangerous Jarod Parker managed just seven points on 2-of-15 shooting. Rocky Boy did get a nice inside game from sophomore Erik Schildt, who scored 12 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. But no one had an answer for Foran’s remarkable night. His 29 points came on a scintillating 13-of-20 shooting. Winifred also got 11 points by sophomore Joe Stulc and nine from DJ Dyer in its historic win. But as disappointed as the Stars were on Saturday night, things weren’t all bad. Rocky Boy couldn’t have played much better than it did in the semifinals on Friday night against Plenty Coups. The Stars scored a whopping 57 points in the first half against the Warriors en route to a 57-36 lead and a 101-74 victory, which vaulted them into the state championship game. Rodney Turn Toes led four Stars in double figures with 24 points, while Parker scored 20 and Sangrey Jr. Chipped in with 18 points. For good measure, Schildt added 17 points in the blowout victory. The Stars finished what was a remarkable season with a 22-5 record, a 9C regular season and tournament championship and second-place finishes at the Northern C and state C tournament’s. Of Rocky Boy’s five losses, two came at the hands of the perfect Red Raiders in the postseason and two were against Class B powerhouse Harlem. ““You’ll see us back at state next year,” Rocky Boy head coach Tim Henry said on Saturday night. “I’ve got a lot of heartbroken boys in the locker room right now, but they have nothing to be ashamed of.”
