Stars stay alive, Harlem girls fall at State B in Belgrade

For the Harlem girls basketball team, getting to the Class B state tournament was a dream come true. But Thursday afternoon, the Wildcats were forced to endure a rude awakening as their hopes of winning a state championship were dashed with a late run by Forsyth.

The two teams met in Belgrade at the Special Events Center and battled in the quarterfinals of the Class B state girls tournament, with a spot in the state semifinals on the line. Despite a sluggish start offensively, a second-half run allowed the Wildcats to grab a four-point lead with just a few minutes left in the fourth quarter.

Unfortunately, the Wildcats weren’t able to score over the last four minutes and the Dogies closed the game on a 7-0 run that gave them the 40-37 win over the Wildcats Thursday afternoon.

While the cold streak at the end of the game will certainly haunt the Wildcats, so will the first half as the Wildcats went 0-of-9 from 3-point range and managed just 14 points. At that point, the Northern B champions trailed Forsyth 22-14.

L’Tia Lawrence came out and drilled two 3-pointers early in the second half, trimming the Forsyth lead down to four points at 24-20. Then, a few minutes later, Skylee Dirden scored to put Harlem in front 30-29. At the end of the third, the Wildcats led 33-29 and midway through the final stanza, their lead was 37-33.

Yet, at that point, Lindsey Hein took the game over. She scored a bucket that got Forsyth back within two points at the 4:08 mark of the fourth and then, with about a minutes left in the game, Hein completed an old-fashioned 3-point play, which gave the Dogies a 38-37 lead. Harlem had chances to grab the lead at the other end but couldn’t convert in what ended up being a three-point loss.

Lawrence ended up scoring 22 points in the loss for Harlem, including three 3-pointers in the third quarter which helped Harlem get the lead. With the loss, Harlem will move into the loser-out action Friday afternoon.

Also playing Thursday in the combined Class B state tournament was Rocky Boy. The Stars fell in the quarterfinals Wednesday night and turned around to play Shelby in loser-out in the Class B boys state tournament Thursday.

Facing their Northern B rival, Rocky Boy used a 23-point fourth quarter to pull away from the Coyotes and win the game 62-50. The victory keeps the Stars alive in the tournament and moves them into a Friday morning loser-out game. If the Stars win that, they will play for third place for the second straight season.

Frankie Bacon had a big night for the Stars with 19 points in the win, yet he was joined in double figures by Jordan Tyler, who had 11, and Wyatt Caplette, who finished with 10.

Rocky Boy will played thismorning in an effort to move into the consolation game which is set for Friday night in Belgrade at 6:30.

Rocky Boy 62, Shelby 50, LO

Rocky Boy 15 13 11 23 - 62

Shelby 14 8 10 18 - 50

Rocky Boy - Frankie Bacon 19, Jordan Tyner 12, Wyatt Caplette 11, Olin Arkinson 5, Sarinas Mithlo 5, Blake Cantrell 5, Joe Demontiney 3, Mac Sutherland 2.

Shelby - Logan Leck 11, Tanner Parsons 11, Rhett Reynolds 10, Damon Irvin 6, Tucker Tustain 3, Taylor Parsons 2 ,Tanner Watson 1.

Forsyth 40, Harlem 37

Forsyth 12 10 7 11 - 40

Harlem 6 8 19 4 - 37

Forsyth - Linsey Hein 24, Roxanna Keefer 12, Haley Vance 2, Becky Melcher 2.

Harlem - L'Tia Lawrence 22, Skylee Dirden 9, Melony Fetter 4, Taya Trottier 2.