By Tiffany L. Rehbein
The Wolf Point Wolves opened the season fast and furiously against the Chinook Sugarbeeters with a 62-49 win at Chinook Friday.
The game was a conference game for the District 2-B Sugarbeeters (0-1, 0-2), but a non-conference contest for the Wolves, who opened with a 6-0 lead after more than two minutes of play.
Chinook senior Adam Gibson tallied the first Sugarbeeter points, after breaking the Wolves' press with 6:02 remaining in the first quarter. Gibson finished with a team-high 14 points in the game.
The 'Beeters, who held the Wolves scoreless for more than three minutes midway through the first quarter, held a 15-13 lead after one quarter of play.
But momentum swayed the Wolves' way with 6:07 on the clock in the second quarter, after Wolf Point capitalized on a Chinook turnover and scored to tie the game at 15-15. Cole McGeshick nailed a trey and Walter Runsabove hit the first end of a freethrow situation to lift the Wolves to a 19-15 lead.
"We just didn't put together a good team game," first-year head coach Glenn Smith said about his Sugarbeeter team. "We didn't shoot the ball well tonight. We had some good shots that just didn't fall."
Chinook had 14 turnovers tallied by simply throwing the ball away.
"We had way too many throw-aways," Smith said. "Those are the kind you definitely cannot have."
Things turned darker for Chinook with more than three minutes remaining in the first half, when the Wolves outscored the 'Beeters 11-3 to close the half.
The third quarter was the sinker for the 'Beeters, as they scored just six points on two free throws by Gibson and a bucket by Mason Roseberry. The Wolves led 44-26 at the end of three quarters.
Chinook exploded for 23 fourth-quarter points, but could not dig themselves out for the win.
The 'Beeters caught some fire from the freethrow line in the fourth, with Gibson going 2-for-2, and Kalled Jaha going 2-for-2 early in the quarter. The 'Beeters finished 11-of-26 from the line in the game.
Jaha notched double figures for the 'Beeters with 12 points, Roseberry added 10, senior Troy Omsberg scored eight, and Scott Fritz, the 6-foot-3 size inside, had five points in the game.
Saturday, the Cut Bank Wolves won a non-conference 81-71 contest against the 'Beeters at Chinook. Jaha led the Sugarbeeters with 19 points, Gibson tallied 15, Omsberg chipped in 13 and Fritz added 11 in the contest.
Thursday, the Sugarbeeters meet the Central A Havre Blue Ponies at home, and travel to Simms Saturday.
