Frontier Notebook: Huge weekend puts the Fighting Saints out in front

There was a lot to be excited about with Frontier Conference play returning last week. But now that the dust has settled on the first week in January, the teams that have the most to be excited about are certainly the Carroll College Fighting Saints.

Carroll resumed league play with men's' and women's sweeps of MSU-Northern and Providence last week.

For the Carroll men, it was a gauntlet because, first, the Saints had to go into the Armory Gymnasium and beat the Lights, which they did behind 26 points from hometown standout Dane Warp. Then came an even bigger challenge Saturday night. Playing at home, Carroll welcomed in the No. 7 and undefeated Providence Argos to Helena, and, in a high-scoring battle, the Saints handed UP its first loss of the season. The back-to-back wins by Carroll left them as the only undefeated team left in the league standings.

Meanwhile, the Carroll women were really good, too. Back on Tuesday night, Carroll went to Havre and upset then No. 11 MSU-Northern, behind a big effort from former Havre Blue Pony Dani Wagner. After that, it was back home to host Providence Saturday night, and trailing almost the whole way, the Saints came back to beat the Argos, which gave them a sweep of the week, and moved them into first place in the Frontier women's standings.

So, no doubt it was a huge week for Carroll because, with expectations so high again this season, both CC teams had gotten off to less than perfect starts in the 2019 portion of the schedule. But, after last week, both Carroll teams have taken a place in the drive's seat early on in the Frontier standings.

Early Leaders

There's a long way to go in the Frontier season, but already, some players around the league are putting up huge numbers.

On the women's side, Montana Tech's combo of Mesa Williams and Tavia Rooney are combining for a double-double. Williams leads the Frontier in scoring at 18 points per game, while Rooney, just a freshman, leads the league in rebounding at 12 per night, to go along with a Frontier-best two steals per outing. Northern senior Hailey Nicholson is also leading the Frontier in blocked shots per game. Against Providence last Thursday, Nicholson had a career-high six blocks.

On the men's side, individual scoring is way up this winter. Zach Darko-Kelly leads the league at 22 points per game, but Tech's Sindou Diallo averages 21, while Warp and Carroll teammate Jovan Sljivancanin both score 19 per night, and Sljivancanin averages a double-double with his 12 boards per night. Western's James Jones also averages 19 per game, while teammate Cedric Boone is scoring 17 per outing. The MSU-N tandem of Mascio McCadney and Kavon Bey each average 15 per night, which puts them in the Top 10 in the Frontier in scoring, while Cedric Crutchfield is leading the league in blocks, and Lewis-Clark State's Damek Mitchell leads the entire NAIA in assists per game at eight per night.

Frontier Honors

Carroll's Jovan Sljivancanin was named Frontier Conference men's Player of the Week. The 6-foot-5 sophomore guard from Belgrade, Serbia, averaged 17.5 points, 11.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists and one steal per game. He was 15 of 29 from the field (52 percent).

Rocky Mountain College's Khloie Thatcher was named the women's Player of the Week. The 5-foot-7 sophomore from Butte veraged 13 points, six rebounds, three assists, one block and 1.3 steals per game. She was 12 of 37 from the field and 12 of 15 from the free throw line. Thatcher scored the game-winning basket as time ran out in the upset win over Lewis-Clark.