Hi-Line Boys Basketball Roundup

The high school basketball season is winding down faster than we might think, and with that in mind, there were some important boys basketball games on tap this past week throughout the Hi-Line.

Things got started last Thursday, as the Box Elder Bears, one of the top teams along the Hi-Line, paid a visit to Denton-Geyser-Stanford in a matchup of Northern C teams that met just a couple months ago in the state championship football game.

The game was intriguing because the two rosters were pretty similar to the ones that met in the football championship, but on the basketball floor, it was the Bears that reigned supreme with a 70-49 trouncing. Brandon The Boy led the way with 17 points, while Pernell Morsette pitched in with 15. Jerrod Four Colors also added 10 in the win for Box Elder.

In other non-conference action involving a District 9C team, the Turner Tornadoes hosted Dodson and in an exciting game, Turner held on for a 57-51 overtime win. Bret Van Valkenburg sparked the Tornadoes to victory with his game-high 17 points. Eddie Harmon also contributed in a big way with 15 points and Cody Welsh had 11.

In the only 9C game of the night Thursday, the North Star Knights welcomed the Fort Benton Longhorns into their gym and dismantled the Longhorns by the score of 73-28. The game was tighter early on as the Knights led 27-13 at the half, but a 46-point second half blew it wide open. Keenan Borlaug was the leading scorer for North Star with 13. Devon Miller had 12 and Matthew Helmbrecht had 10. Taylor Arganbright led the Longhorns with 13 points. He also connected on three 3-pointers.

On Friday, the 9C saw two of its top teams square off in a head-to-head matchup as the Chinook Sugarbeeters, who came into the week in third place in the district, hosted Chester/J-I, which came in tied for first.

Yet, it soon became apparent that the Beeters were no match for the Hawks, who outscored Chinook 13-0 in the opening quarter en route to a 59-30 win. Justin May scored a game-high 24 points in the win. Cory Richter also had a solid game with 12. Cord Schneider was the high scorer for Chinook with eight in the loss.

In another 9C contest, the Hays-Lodge Pole Thunderbirds, who have been coming on as of late, paid a visit to the winless Big Sandy Pioneers Friday. And the T-Birds continued their recent hot streak as they rolled Big Sandy 77-23. Tyson Shambo paced HLP with 22 points, while Frank Runs Above added 21.

While there was plenty of 9C action over the weekend, there were a pair of Class B teams from the area that met on the hardwood Friday night, as Harlem played host to Rocky Boy. The game was close throughout, as Harlem built a 27-20 halftime lead. But, after a 17-9 third quarter, the Stars tied it up going to the fourth quarter. But in the end, the Wildcats scored nine in the final stanza, compared to eight for Rocky Boy, which allowed Harlem to escape with the 45-44 win. Kendall Windy Boy led the Stars with eight points. Michael Butterfly had a game-high 24 to lead the Wildcats. Marcus Henry also added 11.

On Saturday, one day after losing to C/J-I, Chinook traveled to Box Elder, to take the other first place team in the 9C and unfortunately for the Beeters, the result was strikingly similar. This time, the Bears defeated the Beeters 63-17 thanks to 15 points from The Boy, who has taken his game to another level as of late. Jake Jones contributed with 12 and Four Colors finished with 10. Isaac Bell led the Beeters with eight.

In another key 9C matchup, HLP welcomed North Star into its gym for a battle of upper tier squads. And despite a desperate comeback attempt in the fourth quarter by North Star, in which the Knights scored 23 points, the T-Birds held on for a 62-61 victory.

Runs Above had another outstanding game, this time going off for 25 points. Damon Castillo finished with 11 and Shambo had 11. Helmbrecht poured in 20 for the Knights, while Miller pitched in with 15.

After knocking off Chinook Friday, C/J-I returned home Saturday to take on the Turner and for the second straight night, the Hawks cruised to victory, notching a 76-40 win. Cory Richter went nuts for 32 points, while his brother Brandon Richter scored 14. Troy Harmon also managed 13. Harmon paced the Tornadoes with 11.

In non-conference action, Fort Benton stepped outside of district play to take on Conrad of Class B and from the get-go, it was all Cowboys, who went on to win the game by a final of 66.22. Arganbright was the top scorer for the Longhorns with 10.

And one night after beating Rocky Boy, Harlem took on another 1B foe as the Wildcats welcomed Cut Bank to Harlem Saturday. Yet, even though they put out a valiant effort, the Wildcats fell short and dropped the game to the Wolves, 76-66. Keahna Little led the way for Harlem with 19; Henry added 17 and Butterfly had 13

Thursday

Box Elder 70, DGS 49

Box Elder 7 21 15 27 - 70

DGS 11 12 12 14 - 49

Box Elder: Jarrod Four Colors 10, Pernell Morsette 15, Brandon The Boy 17, Bodis Duran 5, Tristan Bernard 6, Elias Robertson 3, Trey Henderson 9, Shane Ketchum 5. Totals: 21 21-28.

Denton-Geyser-Stanford: Conner Bokma 13, Rhet Woodhall 10, Kade Woodhall 11, Clay Hill 2, Tyler Lee 7, Tyler Poser 2, Kendall Carpenter 2, Sean Bronec 2. Totals: 15 17-25.

3-pointers: K. Woodhall, Lee, Four Colors, Morsette, The Boy 2, Duran, Bernard, Robertson.

Turner 57, Dodson 51 (OT)

Dodson 6 12 16 13 4 – 51

Turner 14 14 8 11 10 – 57

Dodson – Gavin Fox 2, David Jaynes 13, Shawn Ball 5, Cleo Cole 17, Jasper Doney 14. Totals: 22 6-11.

Turner – Cody Welsh 11, Tyler Humphreys 10, Bret Van Valkenburg 17, Eddie Harmon 15, Tracer Heligpai 4. Totals: 18 18-47.

Total fouls – Dodson 32, Turner 16. Fouled out – Jaynes, Steven Eureaux, Cole, Doney. 3-pointers – Jaynes, Tyler H. 2, Eddie H. 1.

North Star 73, Fort Benton 28

Fort Benton 3 10 5 10 – 28

North Star 9 18 18 28 – 73

Fort Benton – T. Arganbright 14, E. Toon 6, T. Hasbrouck 4, A. Giles 2, P. Mitchell 2. Totals: 12 1-4.

North Star – Dylan Miller 2, Shea Sizemore 6, Cade Chvilicek 5, Dane Miller 2, Willy Gilead 3, Gavin Spinler 3, Jimmy Snow 2, Payton Peterson 9, Devon Miller 12, Keenan Borlaug 13, Matthew Helmbrecht 10, Thomas Nerat 4, Rian Gulick 2. Totals: 27 14-17.

3-pointers – Arganbright 3, Chvilicek, Gilead, Spinler, Borlaug, Helmbrecht.

Friday

Chester/J-I 59, Chinook 30

C/J-I 13 11 23 12 - 59

Chinook 0 8 5 4 13 - 30

C/J-I - Cory Richter 12, Brandon Richter 7, Bruce Tempel 8, S. Miles 8, Justin May 24.

Chinook - Kyler Johnson 3, Isaac Bell 5, Cord Schneider 8, B. Edwards, Kyle McMaster 4, R. Kellam 4.

Hays-Lodge Pole 77, Big Sandy 23

HLP 23 29 14 11 – 77

BS 5 11 0 7 – 23

Hays-Lodge Pole – T.Young 6, T. Shambo 22, D. Castrillo Jr. 4, F. Runs Above 21, D. Main 4, E. Blackcrow 9, K. Young Jr. 2, C. Main 9. Totals: 35 1-3.

Big Sandy – R. Roth 2, E. Schwarzbach 5, J. Belcourt 2, L. Allderdice 14. Totals: 9 4-7.

Fouls – HLP 16, BS 5. 3-pointers – T. Young 2, Shambo, Runs Above, Blackcrow, C. Main, Allderdice.

Rocky Boy 45, Harlem 44

Rocky Boy 11 9 17 8 -- 45

Harlem 14 13 8 9 -- 44

Rocky Boy – Jerell Gopher 7, K. Small 2, C. Corcoran 8, J. Demontiney 6, Troy Belgarde 4, Kendall Windy Boy 8, J. Parker 8.

Harlem – Corbin Brockie 4, Marcus Henry 11, Michael Butterfly 24, Keahna Little 6, Tevia Messerly 1.

Saturday

Box Elder 63, Chinook 17

Chinook 0 7 4 6 – 17

Box Elder 24 23 14 2 – 63

Chinook – Kyler Johnson 2, Riley Kellam 2, Brandon Edwards 2, Cord Schnieder 2, Isaac Bell 8, Chase Moxley 1. Totals: 5 7-12.

Box Elder – Jarrod Four Colors 10, Pernell Morsette 7, Brandon The Boy 15, Tanner Parisian 3, Bodis Duran 2, Jake Jones 12, Elias Robertson 6, Trey Henderson 5, Shane Ketchum 3. Totals: 25 7-11.

3-pointers – Morsette, The Boy, Jones 4.

Conrad 66, Fort Benton 22

Conrad 15 15 18 18 -- 66

Fort Benton 3 8 4 7 -- 22

Conrad – Trace Jochems 3, Clark Judisch 14, Daylon Jay 3, Austin Padilla 8, Trent Zimbleman 2, Logan Garman 22, Clint Judisch 1, Bert Paulsen 4, Kyle Murack 7. Totals: 23 11-24.

Fort Benton – E. Toon 1, T. Arganbright 10, J. Christensen 5, T. Hasbrouck 3, D. Bird 1, J. Pimperton 2.Totals: 8 4-16.

3-Point goals – Jochems 1, Garman 5, Murack 1, Arganbright 2.

Hays-Lodge Pole 62, North Star 61

North Star 18 8 12 23 -- 61

Hays-Lodge Pole 16 14 18 14 -- 62

North Star – Shay Sizemore 4, Willy Gilead 2; Gavin Spinler 5, Jimmy Snow 3, Payton Peterson 10, Devan Miller 15, Mathew Helmbrecht 20. Totals: 19 18-29.

Hays-Lodge Pole – Terrell Young 2, Tyson Shambo 11, Damon Castillo Jr. 12, Frank Runs Above 26, David Main 6, Chance Main 5, Thane Helgeson 2. Totals: 22 5-9.

3-Point goals – Spinler 1, Snow 1, Helmbrict 3, Castillo 2, Shambo 1. Fouls – North Star 10, Hays-Lodgepole 21.

Cut Bank 76, Harlem 66

Cut Bank 15 18 18 25 -- 76

Harlem 15 17 13 21 -- 66

Cut Bank – Reid Berkram 3, Evan Harrell 6, Nate Wynn 3, Dawson Matt 3, Seth Omsberg 25, Kyle Brauhn 4, Wyatt Harwood 34, James Growing Thunder 6.

Harlem – Corbin Brockie 11, Marcus Henry 17, Michael Butterfly 13, Keahna Little 19, Hollin Fox 2.

3-Point goals – Berkram 1, Harrell 1, Matt 1, Omsberg 5, Brockie 2, Henry 3, Little 3.

Chester/J-I 76, Turner 40

Turner 9 15 11 5 -- 40

C/J-I 32 16 27 1 -- 76

Turner – C. Welsh 12, C. Krass 3, B. Van Valkenburg 9; E. Harmon 11, J. Schumacher 1, T. Heilig 4. Totals: 16 4-8.

C/J-I – Cory Richter 32, Brandon Richter 14, Clark Deimert 2, Evan Dahinden 3, Javin Miles 4, Troy Harmon 13, Justin May 6, Bruce Tempel 2. Totals: 33 7-9.

3-Point goals – Welsh 2, Krass 1, Harmon 1, C. Richter 3. Fouls – Turner 12, CJ-I 10.