High school boys action gets started

Daniel Horton Havre Daily News [email protected]

Basketball has returned to the Hi- Line, and with local tournaments being held over the weekend it returned in a big way. Friday and Saturday, the Montana State University-Northern Armory gym was home to the 2009 Native American Classic. And getting the weekend started with a win on Friday was the District 9C Box Elder Bears with a 78-34 victory over the Dodson Coyotes. The Bears jumped out to a 19-7 first quarter lead. They then went into the half with a 46-19 lead and never let up. They added 12 points in the third quarter, but ended the game with a 20-point exclamation point in the fourth and fi- nal frame. Jesse Ramos led all scoring with 16, but Tyler Big Bow followed with 13 of his own. Jesse Valdez added 12, while Tyler Lawerence added 11 and Colten Koop added 10 in the dominating win. The newly added District 1B Rocky Boy Stars also earned a win at the NAC on Friday. The Stars defeated the Heart Butte Warriors 87-31 in convincing fashion. The Stars' tough pressure on defense and run and gun style on offense made for a one sided matchup. In the first quarter the Warriors were held to only five points, while the Stars put up 26 from five different players. And though the Warriors were able to put up 13 in the second quarter, the Stars pulled away with a 24 point barrage. The Stars held a 50-18 lead at the half, and things only got worse for the warriors as they went on to score only 13 second half points to the Stars 37. Lindsey Eagleman led the Stars with 27 points, but was followed by Leisin Oats who put up 17. Both Eagleman and Oats led the stars with three point shots as well, both knocking down three a piece. Skylar Laforge also added 12 points for the Stars, while Garrett Lafromboise and JC Hawk both had 11. The District 2B Harlem Wildcats also got the weekend started with a victory at the NAC in Havre. The Wildcats defeated the Valier Panthers 65-58 in a much closer matchup. A big first quarter behind the threepoint arc gave the Wildcats a 21-10 advantage. Elias Goes Ahead knocked down three treys for the Wildcats, and Skyler Speakthunder added two of his own. In the second frame, the Panthers put up 11 points, but the Wildcats built their lead to 37-21 after adding 16 points to the books. In the third quarter the Panthers made push with 21 points, but the Wildcats maintained a comfortable lead after 20 of their own. And though panthers made another push with a 16 point fourth quarter, the Wildcats were able to hold strong and capture the 11-point victory. Speakthunder finished the game with 21 points on seven field goals and Goes Ahead fallowed with 15 on five. Cole McCann also finished with double digit scoring with 10 points. At the Big Sandy tournament in Big Sandy, the 9C North Star Knights were also in action on Friday as they defeated the Augusta Elks 64-41. From start to finish, the Knights were in control. They opened the game with a 16-10 first quarter lead and added the finishing touches to their 54-30 third quarter lead with 20 more in the final frame. Rhett Young was the shining star for the Elks and finished with 16 points and four three pointers. But Jordy Donoven matched that and more after finishing with 25 points and two threes for the Knights. Kellan Warren also put up 20 of his own, while Dillon Lipp added 14 points and four treys to the mix. Also at the Big Sandy tournament, the 9C Chinook Sugarbeeters showed why they are a predicted favorite with a dominating win over the Augusta Elks as well. The Beeters defeated the Elks 75-27. It is no secret that the Beeters have good offensive weapons, but they handled the Elks with defense. The Elks scored only two points in the opening quarter, and added only 10 in the second, nine in the third and six in the fourth. The Beeters 24-2 first quarter run was almost enough to put away the Elks completely. But the Beeters didn't stop their, and added double digit totals in each quarter, taking a 38-12 lead at the half, and a 54-21 lead after three quarters of play. Taylor Erskine led the Beeters with 15 points, but also adding double digits was Dylan Maclean with 12, Chris Haider with 10 and Lane Schmitt with 10. Gary Tilleman added eight. The 10C Chester/J-I Hawks were also in action on Friday, but suffered a 51-28 home loss to the Denton Trojans. Trailing 10-7 after the first quarter, the Hawks fell behind early. And though the Hawks trailed only 19-12 at the half, it was a big third quarter by the Trojans that put away the Hawks. The Trojans scored 23 third quarter points; halting the Hawks efforts for a home win. The Hawks didn't have an answer for Cole Jelinek who led the Trojans with 20 pints. Ryne Tyler led with 11 points for the Hawks. Bryant Ceynar and Brandon Graff both had six for the Hawks. The Hays-Lodge Pole Thunderbirds also got a 9C win on Friday after defeating Lame Deer 56-54. On Saturday, the North American Classic continued with a 2B Harlem Wildcats 77-60 win over the 9C Box Elder Bears. The Wildcats took a 22-15 lead after the first quarter, and the Bears couldn't narrow the gap. It was a 43-33 Wildcats lead after two, and 63-46 after three. Elias Goes Ahead led the Wildcats with 22 points and Skyler Speakthunder fallowed with 14. Travis First Raised added 13, and Cole McCann added eight. For the Bears, it was Jesse Ramos who led the way with 13 with Tyler Big Bow and Colton Koop fallowing with 10 a piece. The 1B Rocky Boy Stars also added another win at the NAC on Saturday after defeating the Valier Panthers 79-22. The Stars took a 30-6 lead after one quarter of play and ran with it. They built their lead to 57-13 at the halfway point and took it to 67-20 before locking down their second win in two days. Lindsey Eagleman led the scoring once again, this time with 21 for the Stars. Leisin Oats accounted for 14, while Kelsey Standing Rock added 13, Garrett LaFromboise added 12 and JC Hawk 11. The Panthers leading scorers were held to seven, with both Cody Day Chief and Jason Calf Robe achieving that total. The 9C North Star Knights played again on Saturday at the Big Sandy Tournament, but came out on the short end, suffering a 54-32 loss to the Dutton- Brady Diamondbacks. The Diamondbacks had two big quarters that prevented the Knights from finding another win this weekend. The Diamond backs got off to a 18-6 lead in the first, and jumped to a 47-34 lead after a 20-point third quarter performance. Kellan Warren led the Knights with 10 points, and also added two threepointers. Dillon Lipp added nine points, and led the Knights with three triples. Jordy Donoven fallowed with seven points and two threes. Wrapping up the weekends play, the 10C C/J-I Hawks captured a 60-48 win over the Hobson Tigers. And jumping out to a quick lead, the Hawks used good offense to put up 18 points, and good defense to hold the Tigers to only five. And though the Tigers would add 13 in the second, the Hawks 12 kept them in the lead through the first half. The Hawks held the Tigers to just nine third quarter points, building a comfortable lead, and holding up against the Tigers 21 fourth quarter push. Ryan Tyler led the Hawks with 23 points, while Lane Harmon fallowed with 14 of his own. Brandon Graff added 12 and Trevor Fossen accounted for nine. On Thursday night, top-ranked Big Sandy cruised to a win over Northern C rival Power.