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Hi-Line Boys Roundup: North Star wins twice on opening weekend

While some Montana high school basketball teams played games on the first weekend of December, for all intents and purposes, this past weekend was the unofficial jumping off point for most of the teams along the Hi-Line.

With local teams taking part in different tournaments throughout the weekend, there was no shortage of exciting action and last Thursday in Chester, a number of local teams kicked off their 2017-18 seasons.

The Big Sandy Pioneers, who won just a handful of games a season ago, got their year off to a rip-roaring start as they beat Dutton-Brady 68-50 thanks to a 43-point effort from Ryan Roth, who connected on 10 3-pointers in the win. Roth started the game out hot, connecting on three triples in the first half on his way to 18 points. Yet in the second half, he absolutely caught fire, hitting seven times from beyond the arc and scoring 25 points. Kade Strutz also scored in double figures in the win, finishing with 12 for the Pioneers.

Also in Chester last Thursday, the North Star Knights opened their season and snuck out a 59-58 win over Power to get to 1-0. The Knights got 16 points from Devon Miller and 13 from Dylan Miller in the win. Austin Hansen also contributed with 12.

Elsewhere in District 9C Thursday, Box Elder and Hays-Lodge Pole were in action. The Bears opened their season at the Native American Classic hosted at Salish-Kootenai College. However, the Bears dropped their opener 57-50 to St. Ignatius. The Thunderbirds also dropped their opener in Billings to Lodge Grass 73-51.

Friday, there was even more hardwood action throughout the state, as the CJI Preseason Tournament continued and the Fort Benton Tournament also got going. In Chester, North Star and Big Sandy did battle in a non-district game, and ultimately, it was the Knights that came out on top, 74-68. Dylan Miller led North Star with 21. His brother Devon Miller had 18 and Caden Rettig finished with 14. Roth led the Pioneers with 21 in the losing effort. Clint Darlington added 14 points, while Bryant Jones pitched in with 12.

Also at the CJI Tournament Friday, the Chinook Sugarbeeters opened their season with a 64-21 trouncing of Dutton-Brady. Isaac Bell scored a game-high 16 points to lead the Beeters, who also got 15 points from Cord Schneider and 13 from Hunter Neibauer.

CJI, the host team was also in action against Sunburst. But the Refiners, who have made the Northern C Divisional Tournament the past couple of seasons, easily overmatched the Hawks, as Sunburst won the game 61-22. Treyton Pickering scored 12 to lead Sunburst, while Tyler Wanken led the Hawks with six in the loss.

In Fort Benton, at the Fort Benton Tournament, the Longhorns opened their season with a 60-45 win over Simms, while HLP rebounded from its loss to Lodge Grass, with a 73-47 win over Brockton.

Back at the Native American Classic, Rocky Boy of Class B, took on the defending Class C state champion Arlee, but ultimately fell to the Warriors by the score of 69-61. Phillip Malatare scored 36 points for Arlee, while Ben Iron Eyes led Rocky Boy with 21. Kordell Small also added 19 for the Stars. Another local Class B team, Harlem, also tipped off its season Friday against Heart Butte, but the Wildcats dropped a close game 74-70.

Saturday, Harlem matched up with Arlee, but fell 73-51 to the Warriors, who got another stellar outing from Malatare, who had 25. Brad Cichosz had 12 points to lead Harlem. Kyle Young Jr. also contributed with 10. Rocky Boy rebounded from its loss to knock off the Browning JV team Saturday 71-64. Also at the Native American Classic, Box Elder dropped to 0-2 after a 74-44 loss at the hands of Heart Butte.

In another key game Saturday, Chinook took on Sunburst in a battle of divisional teams from a season ago. Both teams are expected to contend again in the Northern C, and when they met, the game lived up to the hype as the Refiners edged out the Beeters 71-69. Bell scored 26 points in the loss, while Schneider added 20. Dakota Stock scored 20 to pace Sunburst. Pickering also added 13.

CJI tried to even its record at 1-1 against Power Saturday in Chester, but the Hawks lost handily again 71-39. Wanken led CJI again with 10 points in the loss. Evan Dahinden also contributed with eight. Lastly, in Fort Benton, the Longhorns were stopped short of a 2-0 start, following a 75-64 loss Saturday to Great Falls Central. Andy Giles led the Longhorns with 17 points; Garrett Diekhans wound up with 17.

Thursday

Big Sandy 68, Dutton-Brady 50

Big Sandy 14 14 16 22 - 68

Dutton-Brady 11 13 17 9 - 50

Big Sandy - Ryan Roth 43, Parker Proulx 6, Brock Proulx 2, Kade Strutz 12, Clint Darlington 3.

Dutton-Brady - Clay B. 8, Brad H. 2, Aaron I. 5, Preston H. 16, Wesley H 11, Tyce E 6, Hunter M 2.

North Star 59, Power 58

Power 7 9 22 20 - 58

North Star 10 17 13 19 - 59

North Star - Austin Hansen 12, Dylan Miller 13, Caden Rettig 8, Payne Ditmar 3, Hayden Massar 2, Devon Miller 16, Thomas Nerat 5.

Power - Nicholas Widhalm 2, Ben Lehnerz 3, Javy Somerfield 12, Jaren Smerker 8, Killan Mattheis 0, Jackson Widhalm 2, Sam Leigland 4, Dominik Dunk 13, Shaun Cunningham 14.

Chinook 64, Dutton-Brady 21

Chinook 20 20 19 5 - 64

Dutton-Brady 2 10 7 2 - 21

Chinook - Isaac Bell 16, Ethan Bell 5, Hunter Neibauer 13, James Christensen 3, Trajan Hannum 1, Reese Elliot 3, Riley Kellam 6, Cord Schneider 15, Tower Jamieson 2.

Sunburst 61, Chester-Joplin-Inverness 22

Sunburst 13 26 17 5 - 61

CJI 5 4 4 9 - 32

CJI - Jackson Dimert 3, Andrew Woods 5, Spencer Richter 4, Evan Dahinden 4, Tyler Wanken 6.

Sunburst - C. Smith 5, S. Jarvis 5, J. Owens 9, B. Sydor 2, Treyton Pickering 12, L. Lerum 2, M. Buckley 9, D. Smyke 3, D. Stock 10, C. Block 4.

North Star 74, Big Sandy 68

North Star 28 18 16 12 - 74

Big Sandy 23 14 14 17 - 68

North Star - Austin Hansen 4, Dylan Miller 21, Dane Miller 2, Caden Rettig 14, Payne Ditmar 5, Hayden Massar 5, Devon Miller 18, Thomas Nerat 5.

Big Sandy - Ryan Roth 21, Parker Proulx 5, Brady Pleninger 3, Brock Proulx 4, Bryant Jones 12, Cade Strutz 9, Clint Darlington 14.

Arlee 69, Rocky Boy 61

Rocky Boy 14 14 20 13 - 61

Arlee 14 20 15 20 - 69

Rocky Boy - Kordell Small 19, Ben Iron Eyes 21, Frankie Bacon 6, Blake Cantrell 4, Kendall Windy Boy 11.

Arlee - Will Mesteth 6, Phillip Malatare 36, Greg Whitesell 17, Darshan Bolen 2, Isaac Fisher 6.

Saturday

Sunburst 71, Chinook 69

Chinook 17 15 12 25 - 69

Sunburst 16 17 19 19 - 71

Chinook - Isaac Bell 26, Ethan Bell 5, Trajan H. 2, Riley Kellan 10, Cord Schneider 20

Sunburst - Cody Smith 3, Jeff Owens 19, Treyton Pickering 13, Mike Buckley 12, Dylan Smylie 4, Dakota Stock 20, Christian Block 3.

Great Falls Central 75, Fort Benton 64

GFC 18 17 15 22 - 74

FB 14 17 12 21 - 64

Great Falls Central - Isaac Armstrong 10, Ethan Vincent 22, Noah Ambuel 13, Wyatt Walters 20, Luke Marmon 10.

Fort Benton - Andy Giles 18, Damon Bird 6, Logan Giles 4, Garret Diekhans 17, Hayde Diekhans 12, Max Lane 7.

Power 71, Chester-Joplin-Inverness 39

Power 15 15 26 15 - 71

CJI 5 10 12 12 - 39

Power - Widhalm 2, Lehnerz 5, Somerfeld 12, Smerker 19, Mathies 9, Widhalm 6, Leigland 2, Dunk 12, Cunnington 4.

CJI - Diemert 5, Words 5, Bender 2, Richter 5, Dahinden 8, Davis 4, Wankin 10.

Arlee 73, Harlem 51

Arlee 23 25 10 15 - 73

Harlem 7 12 12 17 - 51

Arlee - Will Mesteth 16, Phillip Malatare 25, Lane Johnson 6, Cody Tanner 4, Nate Coulson 3, Greg Whitesell 13, Lane Schall 2, Isaac Fisher 4.

Harlem - Taggert Devaney 6, Samual Mail 3, Zane Fox 2, Jeremy Tincher 2, Kyle Young Jr. 10, Lane Allen 7, Brad Cichosz 12, Ryle Foote 4, Truth Brockie 5.

 

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