Lights beat Diggers again, Skylights fall on the road

The Montana State University-Northern Lights have been surging of late, and they kept on going last Thursday night.

The Lights had two road games, the first Thursday, when Northern came back in the second half to beat the Montana Tech Orediggers 63-56 in Butte. But the Lights then fell to the No. 5 Lewis-Clark State College Warriors Saturday 64-57 in Lewiston, Idaho.

The win against Tech was a big one for Northern and Lights head coach Adam Huse was proud to see his team put in great work, especially mentally.

“Tonight was yet another character effort from the guys,” Huse said. “Our seniors stepped up when needed. Devin Bray was awesome when we needed him. I am just tickled for him right now. You can’t find a better person, leader, and teammate than him. Adam Huse stepped up when needed, as well. Those two kind of lead the way in the key turning point moments.”

To start off the game, Troy Owens Jr. and Sindou Diallo put up 3-pointers each for Tech, while Cedric Crutchfield put up a lone basket for Northern to make the score 6-2 Tech. Then, the Diggers added more shots to their day, while the Lights pushed to keep the game within single digits, the score 21-12 Tech with 5:21 left in the first half.

Diallo led a charge for the Diggers to take a commanding 30-16 lead, with the Tech home crowd getting fired up by the performance. Meanwhile, Northern managed to drop seven more points before halftime, yet still fell behind 32-19 at the break.

Huse knew the Diggers were going to be a tough matchup, but he was glad to see that the Lights’ best was yet to come in the second half.

“Tech plays so hard and makes things so tough that you have to earn it if you’re going to get it,” Huse said. “It was ultimately a team effort on both ends and that’s what it will take if we are going to make a serious push here as the season winds down.”

The Lights picked up the pace in the second half, while the Diggers continued to expand their lead, but then Northern went on a 9-0 run led by a basket from Mascio McCadney to bring the game within four points 39-35. Back-to-back treys eventually helped the Lights grab their first lead of the game 46-42 with 7:18 left in the game.

Tech still tried to stay alive with free throws from Cody Baumstarck, MSU-Northern stayed ahead and won it in the end. With the win, Huse was excited to move forward on a good note.

Kavon Bey led Northern with 15 points against Tech, followed by Huse with 14 and Bray putting up 13.

But Saturday, the Lights fell to Lewis-Clark State College, dropping another conference game. In the end, Northern split the weekend with the come-from-behind win over Tech and the loss to the Warriors. David Harris led the Lights with 16 points against the Warriors, with Adam Huse right behind him with 15 points.

Next up, Northern (6-8 in Frontier) faces off against the Rocky Mountain College Battlin’ Bears Friday at 8 p.m., followed by a game against the University of Montana Western Bulldogs Saturday at 8 p.m. This weekend marks the end of the regular season home schedule for the Lights.

Skylights drop two on the road

It has been a tough few games in the past for the Montana State University-Northern women’s basketball team, with some losses coming their way after starting the season red hot.

Thursday and Saturday brought another pair of rough blows to the Skylights’ record, with a loss on the road against the Montana Tech Lady Diggers 63-55 Thursday and another one to the Lewis-Clark State College Warriors 69-47 Saturday.

Both losses away from the Armory Gymnasium were heavy blows indeed, as Northern now adds two more losses to both its overall and conference records. The loss to Lewis-Clark State was especially hard to swallow.

At the end of the day, Skylights head coach Chris Mouat knew what hurt his team the most in playing the Warriors but was glad to see some positives from the game, as well.

“We struggled shooting the ball tonight (Saturday),” Mouat said. “Lewis-Clark got off to a great start and we played real hard to chop the lead. In the third quarter we cut the lead to 4 but they answered with a 3 and an and-1. We gave effort all night and executed fairly well. We just need to stick more shots in games like these and put forth a full 40-minute effort. Our scoring lulls in the first and fourth quarters really hurt us tonight. But we handled their pressure and got shots.”

McKenzie Gunter led the Skylights with 15 points, followed by Peyton Kehr’s 14.

The loss to the nationally ranked Warriors Saturday was rough, but the loss to another Frontier Conference rival in Montana Tech Thursday hurt, too.

Mollie Peoples opened the game strong for the Lady Diggers, putting up eight of Tech’s first 10 points, while Peyton Kehr and McKenzie Gunter pushed to keep Havre within range, combining for nine. Peoples then dropped some more baskets to help the Diggers lead 13-11 at the end of the first.

Peoples continued to rock the court, adding 14 more points to end the first half, while Gunter put up two late baskets in the second quarter to keep the Skylights within two points after falling behind by seven within the quarter. The game was still close, with Tech holding a lead 32-30 at the break.

After the intermission, the Diggers went on a 6-0 run in just a few minutes to stay ahead 38-30, while keeping Northern scoreless for the first seven minutes of the third quarter, which led Tech to lead 49-36 at the end of the period. As the fourth quarter went on, both teams put up points, but the Diggers came away with the win over Northern.

Gunter once again led the Skylights, this time with 17 points, while Kenya Lorton put up 12 for Northern.

Next up, the Skylights (4-10 in Frontier play their final home games of the season, against the Rocky Mountain College Battlin’ Bears Friday at 6 p.m., with a matchup versus the University of Montana Western Bulldogs at 6 p.m. Saturday.

Lights 63, Montana Tech 56

MTT - Sindou Diallo 10-22 1-4 24, Drew Huse 4-6 0-1 11, Dylan Pannabecker 3-7 0-1 6, Taylor England 3-6 0-0 6, Troy Owens Jr. 1-9 0-4 2, Cody Baumstarck 1-2 0-0 4, Christian Jones 1-2 1-2 3. Totals: 23-56 2-14.

MSU-N - Mascio McCadney 3-11 0-3 8, Cedric Crutchfield 1-3 0-0 2, Jesse Keltner 2-6 0-0 6 12, Gio Jackson 1-1 0-0 3, Devin Bray 4-5 3-4 13, Adam Huse 4-6 1-2 14, Kavon Bey 5-12 1-3 15, David Harris 0-1 0-1 2. Totals: 20-45 5-13.

3-pointers: MTT 2-14 (Diallo 1, Jones 1), MSU-N 5-13 (Bey 1, Huse 1, Bray 3). Rebounds: MTT 32 (Diallo 5, Huse 3, Pannabecker 8, England 8, Baumstarck 8), MSU-N 36 (Bey 5, Huse 2, McCadney 4, Harris 3, Crutchfield 5, Team 5, Bray 1, Keltner 6, Jackson 5). Fouls: MTT 24, MSU-N 16. Fouled out: none.

Lewis-Clark State 64, Lights 57

LCS - Trystan Bradley 10-12 1-3 23, Josiah Westbrook 3-7 2-4 12, Hodges Bailey 3-8 0-2 6, Damek Mitchell 2-8 0-3 4, Travis Yenor 1-3 0-1 2, Jake Albright 7-12 0-0 15, Khalil Stevenson 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 27-53 3-15.

MSU-N - Mascio McCadney 2-8 0-2 5, Jesse Keltner 3-6 0-1 6, Gio Jackson 1-4 1-3 5, Devin Bray 1-3 0-2 2, Adam Huse 6-9 2-3 15, Kavon Bey 4-9 0-1 8, David Harris 5-11 2-5 16. Totals: 22-50 5-17.

3-pointers: LCS 3-15 (Bradley 1, Westbrook 2), MSU-N 5-17 (Harris 2, Huse 2, Jackson 1). Rebounds: LCS 33 (Bradley 10, Bailey 3, Mitchell 3, Yenor 3, Team 2, Albright 12), MSU-N 28 (Harris 7, Bey 4, Keltner 7, McCadney 2, Team 3, Jackson 2, Bray 2, Crutchfield 1). Fouls: LCS 14, MSU-N 11. Fouled out: none.

Montana Tech 63, Skylights 55

MTT 13 19 17 14 - 63

MSU-Northern 11 19 6 19 - 55

MTT - Mollie Peoples 8-13 2-3 22, Kaylee Zard 4-10 0-0 12, Tavia Rooney 2-7 0-1 11, Dani Urick 2-4 1-1 8, Mesa Williams 3-11 0-2 7, Celestina Faletoi 1-4 0-0 3. Totals: 20-54 3-7.

MSU-N - Peyton Kehr 4-8 1-3 11, Sydney Hovde 2-2 0-0 6, Allix Goldhahn 1-6 0-4 3, Kenya Lorton 4-7 2-4 12, Tiara Gilham 1-8 0-3 5, McKenzie Gunter 8-18 1-4 17, Morgan Mason 0-1 0-0 1. Totals: 20-56 4-19.

3-pointers: MTT 3-7 (Peoples 2, Urick 1), MSU-N 4-19 (Gunter 1, P. Kehr 1, Lorton 2). Rebounds: MTT 43 (Peoples 3, Zard 16, Rooney 11, Urick 4, Williams 5, Team 1, Hailey Crawford 3), MSU-N 31 (Gunter 5, P. Kehr 2, Hovde 8, Goldhahn 4, Ryley Kehr 1, Team 4, Lorton 1, Gilham 5, Jada Nicholson 1). Fouls: MTT 17, MSU-N 25. Fouled out: none.

Lewis-Clark State 69, Skylights 47

LCS 18 16 9 26 - 69

MSU-Northern 4 18 15 10 - 47

LCS - Kiara Burlage 8-15 1-3 21, Jamie Nielson 8-16 3-7 21, Jansen Edmiston 4-8 1-2 9, Abbie Johnson 2-4 0-0 5, Peyton Souvenir 2-8 0-3 4, Rachel Schroeder 2-4 2-4 6, Hannah Burland 1-2 1-1 3. Totals: 27-62 8-22.

MSU-N - McKenzie Gunter 7-18 1-5 15, Peyton Kehr 5-8 3-4 14, Sydney Hovde 4-11 0-0 12, Allix Goldhahn 1-10 1-7 3, Kenya Lorton 1-8 1-3 3, Ryley Kehr 2-4 0-1 4. Totals: 19-68 3-21.

3-pointers: LCS 8-22 (Burlage 1, Nielson 3, Edmiston 1, Schroeder 2, Burland 1), MSU-N 3-21 (Gunter 1, Goldhahn 1, Lorton 1). Rebounds: LCS 46 (Burlage 10, Nielson 3, Johnson 18, Souvenir 3, Team 6, Schroeder 2, Burland 2, Sara Muhelhausen 2), MSU-N 39 (Gunter 3, Hovde 14, P. Kehr 6, Goldhahn 4, Lorton 2, Team 5, R. Kehr 3, Petra Sellin 1, Reilly Walsh 1). Fouls: LCS 6, MSU-N 10. Fouled out: none.