Charlo, Mission open basketball seasons

ST. IGNATIUS — Stuart Grant picked up his senior basketball season right where his junior year left off.

The only returning all-state selection in the Mission Valley led St. Ignatius to a 2-0 start, as the Bulldogs downed Eureka, 69-65, and Stillwater Christian, 78-66, in the Mission Valley Tournament over the season’s opening weekend.

Grant scored 25 points in Friday’s opener and poured in another 24 against Stillwater Christian the following day.

“The offense is cooking right now,” Mission coach Steve Pelletier said. “It’s rolling pretty good.”

He’s right. The Bulldogs also got two double-figure games from junior Aaron Fisher-Ahenakew, and received solid efforts from a deep bench.

“We’re in good shape,” Pelletier said. “We’ve got a bunch of strong athletes in each class. That depth showed. I think we wore teams down.”

Charlo’s boys didn’t appreciate the same success, though, as they fell 68-59 to Stillwater and 83-59 to Eureka despite 18 and 12-point efforts from Kail Pope.

Charlo’s girls were the only Lake County girls team to come out of the weekend unscathed, downing Stillwater Christian, 46-41, and Eureka, 44-30, for a perfect weekend. Point guard Jordan Ludeman scored 19 points over the two-game set to pace the Vikings.

Neither Charlo coach could be reached for comment.

Mission’s girls suffered an 0-2 start, but much of the struggles are just growing pains, said first-year coach Hayley Carr.

“That was our first in all aspects: my first time coaching, the first time playing [varsity] for many of these girls, first time running these plays,” Carr said.

Carr said she was satisfied with the progression the Bulldog girls showed from Friday—a 42-19 loss to Eureka—to Saturday’s 54-31 loss to Stillwater.

“Our philosophy this year is one of improvement, and we did that,” she said, noting that they cut down on turnovers and scored 12 more points than they had the day prior.

Carr said she expects the Bulldogs to improve vastly over the course of the season.

“I never once had the feeling when I was talking to the girls that they weren’t going to go out and give me 100 percent of what I was asking,” she said. “… I feel really lucky with the group of girls that we have.”

After watching plenty of each other’s action last weekend, Mission and Charlo’s teams will take each other on in St. Ignatius on Friday.

Both teams will begin district play on Saturday, as St. Regis travels to Charlo and the Bulldogs host Deer Lodge.

Mission Valley Tournament

Boys

Friday, Dec. 13

Mission 69, Eureka 65

Score by Quarter

Mission 17 22 12 18 – 69

Eureka 20 13 10 22 – 65

MISSION – Jarred Brown 5, Stuart Grant 25, Tate Weingart 2, Patrick Eichert 14, Raymond Matt 2, Aaron Fisher-Ahenakew 11, Gentry Brown 2, Will Powell 6, Bill Von Holtum 2.

EUREKA – Myles Griffin 2, Colton Henrie 9, RJ Glover 2, Dalton Smith 6, Trey Bohne 22, Chase Bohne 24.

Stillwater Christian 68, Charlo 59

Score by Quarter

Charlo 8 7 23 21 – 59

S. Christian 21 14 19 14 – 68

CHARLO – Kail Pope 18, Jade Smith 10, Dalton Delaney 10, Kobe Cox 10, Tyler Delaney 5, Michael Delaney 3, Jesse Long 3.

STILLWATER CHRISTIAN – Isaac Neumann 24, Peter Venman 17, Jaron Neumann 8, Clayton Hashley 7, BJ Bach 6, Jeremiah Hashley 6.

Saturday, Dec. 14

Eureka 83, Charlo 59

Score by Quarter

Charlo 15 11 8 25 – 59

Eureka 22 16 26 19 – 83

CHARLO – Dalton Delaney 13, Michael Delaney 2, Kobe Cox 7, Jesse Long 2, Kail Pope 12, Tyler Delaney 8, Dugan Runkel 13, Maverick Nelson 2.

EUREKA – Brandon Connard 1, Austin Perez 4, Zach Sturderand 2, Colton Henrie 13, RJ Glover 2, Dalton Smith 25, Trey Bohne 20, Michael Peterson 5, Chase Bohne 9, Braden Their 2.

Mission 78, Stillwater Christian 66

Score by Quarter

Mission 28 14 22 14 – 78

S. Christian 10 22 20 14 – 66

MISSION – Stuart Grant 24, Nick Durglo 8, Jarred Brown 9, Patrick Eichert 9, Raymond Matt 2, Aaron Fisher-Ahenakew 16, Will Powell 6, Bill von Holtum 4.

STILLWATER CHRISTIAN – Schuylar Kauffman 4, Peter Venman 17, BJ Bach 2, Jeremiah Hashley 12, Jaron Neumann 11, Isaac Neumann 16, Alec Sulzbacher 4.

Girls

Friday, Dec. 13

Charlo 46, Stillwater Christian 41

Score by Quarter

Charlo 8 11 14 13 – 46

S. Christian 11 8 8 14 – 41

CHARLO – Cheyenne Nagy 5, Makaylan Roylance 3, Jordan Ludeman 12, Abby Knight 6, MacKenzie Foust 2, Sienna Brown 3, Aspen Runkel 9, Shayna Nagy 6.

STILLWATER CHRISTIAN – Kathryn Jentz 4, Serena Koch 3, Danielle Stoner 1, Janelle Falk 11, Sarah Paolini 10, McKenzie Hemp 8, Annalise Pierson 4.

Eureka 42, Mission 19

Score by Quarter

Mission 3 2 2 12 – 19

Eureka 9 9 11 13 – 42

MISSION – Sydney Castor 1, Emilie Charlo 4, Pam Anderson 3, Courtney Charlo 7, Carley Elverud 4.

EUREKA – Caty Gonderio 3, Charity Parson 2, Nicole Anderson 5, Courtney Lemer 4, Rachel Pacella 3, Evynn Anderson 7, Elliott Peterson 2, Jamie Soderling 5, Ashlen Pacella 11.

Saturday, Dec. 14

Charlo 44, Eureka 30

Score by Quarter

Charlo 8 13 10 13 – 44

Eureka 6 6 14 4 – 30

CHARLO – Cheyenne Nagy 8, Mikaylan Roylance 8, Jordan Ludeman 7, Abby Knight 2, Sienna Brown 5, Aspen Runkel 7, Shayna Nagy 7.

EUREKA – Whitney Williams 5, Caty Gonderio 6, Charity Parsons 2, Nicole Anderson 4, Evynn Anderson 7, Ashlen Pacella 6.

Stillwater Christian 54, Mission 31

Score by Quarter

Mission 7 4 13 6 – 31

S. Christian 15 24 12 3 – 54

MISSION – Courtney Charlo 10, Kaylie Durglo 9, Pam Anderson 5, Shania Dubois 3, Sydney Castor 2, Tian Brown 2.

STILLWATER CHRISTIAN – Sarah Paolini 14, McKenzie Hemp 11, Janellle Falk 9, Dori Smith 5, Serena Koch 5, Kathryn Jentz 4, Danielle Stoner 4, Megha Tannehill 2.