George Ferguson Havre Daily News sports editor gferguson@havredailynews.com
There was plenty of excitement around Montana this weekend as the winter sport's season in high school concluded with state basketball tournaments in Great Falls, Hamilton, Butte and Belgrade. And several Hi-Line athletes were honored by being named to all-tournament teams in Class A and Class C. At the Class A state tournament in Hamilton, Havre High's Katie Mariani was named to the Class A All-Tournament Team. Mariani, averaged 13 points and four rebounds in Havre's four games in Hamilton. The senior helped lead the Blue Ponies to a fourthplace finish, including an 18-point performance against Bigfork in the opening round last Thursday. Anaconda's Ali Hurley was named the tournament's MVP after she helped the Copperheads to a state championship. Hurley, a senior who is headed to the University of Montana, averaged 16 points and eight rebounds this weekend, and she scored 20 points and grabbed seven boards in the championship game in Anaconda on Saturday night. Meanwhile, the Big Sandy Pioneers, who finished second at the Class C state tournament in Belgrade, were well-represented on the all-tournament team. All five of Big Sandy's starters earned all-tournament honors, including junior Laci Keller and senior Shersteen Cline, both of whom earned firstteam honors. Both players score din double figures in all three of the Pioneers' games in Belgrade, and Keller was the tournament's leading scorer. Junior Kourtney Danreuther, who led Big Sandy with 20 points in their opening-round win over Circle on Thursday afternoon, was named to the second team, while senior Morgan Darlington and junior Josi Herron earned honorable mention honors. Highwood's Rachel Semansky was named the tournament's MVP, and the state champion Mountaineers, who beat Big Sandy on Saturday night, had three more players earn all-tournament honors.
