Mission wins first game of the season, Polson wins two more

Arlee 83  St. Regis 23

On Friday, Arlee took on St. Regis, a team that has been struggling this year, even with their star player, Brock Cantrell-Field, sometimes putting up over 30 points a game. That wasn’t the case against the Warriors, as he was held to 11 points. Arlee put up 31 points in the first quarter, then coasted to a 83-23 win. Tyler Tanner led the team with 16, Justis Haynes scored 13, Phil Malatare had 12, and Pat BigSam had 11.

St. Regis-  4  4  2  13  –  23

Arlee-  31  26  14  12  –  83

ST. REGIS – J.D. Booker 2, Trevor Lowry 2, Brock Cantrell-Field 11, Eric Eslick 8.

ARLEE – Philip Malatare 12, Isaac Desjarlais 6, Colt Brazill 8, Alex Moran 3, Justis Haynes 13, Patrick BigSam 11, Rory Bird 6, Brad Brazill 4, Tyler Tanner 16, Ivory Brien 4.

Arlee 70  Plains 61

Things weren’t quite as easy for the Warriors on Saturday night when they traveled to Plains, who sits in second place in the conference behind Arlee. The score was tied up after one and the Horsemen took a four point lead into halftime, putting Arlee in a situation they haven’t seen since the first game of the season against Valley Christian. After making some changes at halftime, the Warriors came out strong, putting up 21 points to Plains’ eight, which gave Arlee a nine point lead going into the fourth quarter. The Warriors managed to hold off Plains in the fourth quarter and won the game 70-61. Tyler Tanner led the team again, putting up 22 points. Phil Malatare added 18 and Brad Brazill had 15.

Arlee-  18  15  21  16  –  70

Plains-  18  19  8  16  –  61

ARLEE – Phillip Malatare 18, Justis Haynes 9, Tyler Tanner 22, Patrick BigSam 6, Brad Brazill 15.

PLAINS – Ryan Ovitt 18, Aaren VonHeeder 6, Trent Brouillette 8, Alec Cole 12, Cole Benson 17.

Charlo 69 TER 47

Last Tuesday, TER traveled to Charlo, looking to upset the Vikings after a close contest the last time they played. The Eagles started out hot, making some three’s that put them ahead 17-15 after the first quarter. Coach Gale Decker decided to change things up, subbing in his entire bench a few times. Charlo fell behind by a few points in the second, then rallied to tie the score at 35 going into halftime. Two Eagle went cold in the second half and Charlo took advantage, going up 11, then extending that lead in the fourth to take the win, 69-47. TER had a few chances to cut into the deficit, but couldn’t convert their steals into points.

Greg Montgomery led Charlo with 18 and Tyson Petticrew added 14. For TER, Julian Cut Finger had 17 and Donovan Sherwood added 12.

Two Eagle-  17  18  8  4  –  47

Charlo-  15  20  19  15  –  69

TWO EAGLE – Danny Herman 5, Dante McDougall 4, Donovan Sherwood 12, Julian Cutfinger 17, Coree Cadeaux 2, Basseu Eneas 2, Josiah Nichols 2.

CHARLO – Michael Delaney 4, Tyson Petticrew 14, Kane Shenyer 6, Landers Smith 4, Garett Vaughan 2, Dugan Runkle 8, Greg Montgomery 18, Jade Smith 12.

Charlo 48 Noxon 34 

On Saturday, Charlo traveled to Noxon. In a low scoring game, Charlo took a five point lead into halftime, then extended that lead by nine in the second half, winning the game 48-34. Michael Delaney, who recently signed with Montana Tech to play football, had a great game, leading all scorers with 20 points. Dugan Runkel added eight for the Vikings.

Charlo-  11  10  17  10  –  48

Noxon-  8  8  10  8  –  34

CHARLO – Nate Delaney 1, Michael Delaney 20, Tyson Petticrew 6, Kane Shenyer 2, Landers Smith 3, Dugan Runkel 8, Greg Montgomery 6, Zane Haflinger 2.

NOXON – Riley Fisher 11, Grant Fitchett 19, Nik Mueller 2, Austin Nessel 2.

Mission 40 Florence 72

Mission took on the undefeated Florence Falcons last week, looking to upset the team for their first win of the season. The Bulldogs surprised the Falcons in the first quarter, taking a five point lead. Florence woke up in the second and came back to take a four point lead into halftime. After halftime the Falcons found their groove and put up 27 points to the Bulldogs’ eight, then held Mission to five points in the fourth quarter to take the game 72-40. Tate Weingart led the Bulldogs with 10 points, followed by eight from Bill Von Holtum.

Florence-  10  21  27  14  –  72

St. Ignatius-  15  12  8  5  –  40

FLORENCE – Bo Zeiler 13, Marcus Zeiler 6, Levi Clagett 17, Ethan Stensrud 2, Cody Liles 2, Jake Christopherson 15, Dan Mickelson 17.

ST. IGNATIUS – Nick Durglo 7, Andrew Esslinger 3, Tate Weingart 10, Isaac Alexander 1, Billy Von Holtum 8, Emilio Bravo 3, Tyler Stidel 8.

Mission 59  Eureka 38

It was a battle between two teams looking for their first win Saturday night. Both Mission and Eureka have struggled this year, but it was Mission who put four quarters together to take their first win of the season, leaving the Lions still looking. Things were tied up through the first quarter, then Mission put up 15 in the second while holding the Lions to three. The Bulldogs managed to hold off a comeback attempt in the fourth, winning the game 59-38. Bill Von Holtum and Tate Weingart both had 16 and Nick Durglo had 17 to lead all scorers. 

St. Ignatius-  18  15  8  18  -  59

Eureka-  18  3  8  9  -  38

ST. IGNATIUS - Wacey McClure 2, Nick Durglo 17, Andrew Esslinger 2, Tate Weingart 16, Isaac Alexander 4, Korbyn Pierre 2, Billy Von Holtum 16.

EUREKA -Jamie Good 6, Colton Cooper 9, Brad Stein 12, Moe Henderson 7, Taylor Sherwood 2, Jake Cardinale 2.

Ronan 62 Loyola 74

Ronan traveled to Loyola last week to take on the Rams. Loyola took a three point lead into the second quarter and held on comfortably through the next two quarters. The Chiefs made a furious comeback in the fourth quarter, outscoring Loyola by ten points, but it wouldn’t be enough and they dropped the game 62-74.

Ronan-  11  14  12  25  -  62

Loyola-  14  22  23  15  -  74

RONAN – Zeke Misa 5 3-5 13, Aaron Misa 4 4-6 12, Kobe Morigeau 4 0-0 11, Kasey Mock 4 2-5 10, Elijah Cahoon 4 0-0 8, Jackson Duffey 3, Anthony Camel 3, Ty James 2.

LOYOLA – Parker Davis 18, Strother Cooper 11, David Koppang 10, Ryan McHugh 3 2-2 8, Noah Pohlman 6, Niko Medeiros 6, Lochlin Ermatinger 6, Kellen Round 4, Jack Burns 3, Bryan Swanson 2.

3FGs – L7-19 (Davis 2, Cooper 2, Burns, Ermatinger, Koppang), R5-15 (Morigeau 3, Duffey, Camel).  REBOUNDS 18 (Mock 6, A.Misa 4, Z.Misa 4, Cahoon 3, Camel). ASSISTS 16 (Z.Misa 9, Mock 3, Duffey 2, Morigeau, Ethan Blevins).  STEALS 5 (James 2, Z.Misa, Cahoon, Morigeau).

Ronan 57  Libby 67 

In Libby, Ronan jumped out to a 21-18 lead after one, then went cold in the second and Libby took a two point lead off of a three by Ryggs Johnston. The rest of the game was a back and forth contest with neither team pulling ahead until about two minutes left in the game when Libby went up by ten then made their free throws to take the win 67-57. 

Ronan-  21 12 13 11 – 57

Libby-  18 17 15 17 – 67

RONAN – Aaron Misa 7 5-9 21, Zeke Misa 5 5-5 18,  Kasey Mock 3 4-7 11,  Jackson Duffy 1 1-2 3, Ty James 0 2-8 2, Kobe Morigeau 2.

LIBBY – Jonny Cielak 21, Ryggs Johnston 15, Erik Lauer 13, Anthony Johnson 7, Zander Petersen 3, Colin Maloney 3, Brandon Sadewasser 3, Jason Brant 2.

3FGs – R6-16 (Z.Misa 3, A.Misa 2, Mock), L5 (Johnston 3, Cielak, Johnson). REBOUNDS 25 (A.Misa 9, Duffey 6, Mock 4, Camel 3, Morigeau 2, Z.Misa). ASSISTS 9 (Z.Misa 3, Mock 3, Duffey, A.Misa, Camel).  STEALS 3 (Z.Misa 3). 

Polson 76  Stevensville 32

by John Heglie

At Stevensville last Thursday, the visiting Pirates swatted the host Yellowjackets before they could swarm, pummeling their pesky opponent so that any threat of a retaliatory sting was alleviated by halftime. Polson hampered these hornets by pilfering prized possessions, then put into practice that penchant affiliated with pirate-types with purloined booty by rerouting their roundball rustling the other way for several transitional baskets. 

Tanner Wilson took game high scoring honors with 17 points, while Julian Jones collaborated with J’Von Niemeyer for over two dozen more with the trio combined for a dozen steals.  Rensvold crested the double century scoring plateau for the season.

Polson         21 15 17 22  –  76

Stevensville  9   6  11  6  –  32

POLSON – Tanner Wilson 8 0-0 17, Julian Jones 6 0-0 14, J’von Niemeyer 5 2-3 13, Matt Rensvold 3 3-4 9, Payton Lefthand 2 2-2 7, Wyatt Ducharme 2 0-1 4, Jeremiah NorthPiegan 3 0-0 6, Hudson Smith 2, Shade Main 2,  Haden Smith 2.

STEVENSVILLE – Bryce Torrey 11,  Jarod Kingsbury 4, Dalton Bragg 4, Liam LeCoure 3, Keanu Miwa-Vogan 3, Cody Coleman 3, Richard Hardy 2, Team 2. 

3FGs 5-10 (Jones 2, Lefthand, Niemeyer, Wilson).  REBOUNDS 27 (Rensvold 6, Hu.Smith 4, Main 4, Ducharme 3, Lefthand 3, Jones 2, NorthPiegan 2, Wilson 2, Niemeyer).  ASSISTS 19 (Niemeyer 4, Rensvold 3, Jones 2, Lefthand 2, NorthPiegan 2, Wilson 2, Ducharme, Hu.Smith, Main, Ha.Smith).   STEALS 24 (Jones 5, Ducharme 5, Wilson 5, Niemeyer 2, Rensvold 2, Main 2, Lefthand, Hu.Smith, NorthPiegan). (Th28Jan16)

Asterisk (*) denotes modifications to scoring credits reported to media –  (Ha.Smith 4p, NorthPiegan 4p)

Polson 54 Frenchtown 43

 At Frenchtown on Saturday, the behemoth bigs of the host Broncs combined to more than match the visiting Pirate leading scorers from their previous encounter. But Polson countered by spreading the scoring wealth around as a quartet notched double digits when Payton Lefthand along with Jeremiah North Piegan collaborated with Julian Jones as well as Matt Rensvold to provide the Pirates with two pairs of players combining for two dozen.

Four Pirate players have dished out over two dozen assists thus far this season, while guards Jones and Lefthand have also purloined over two dozen steals with another pair on the verge of joining the pilferage parade. Rensvold, Jones and Lefthand hold card carrying century club credentials for scoring on the season with Wilson knocking at the door of acquiring membership to this club.

Polson (4-0, 9-3) will have already faced 6B Ronan on Tuesday, host 7B Eureka on Thursday, then host the nightcap of a doubleheader against Columbia Falls on Saturday, February 6.

Polson-        13 10 17 14  –  54

Frenchtown-  8 12  9 14  –  43

POLSON – Payton Lefthand 7 0-0 14, *Julian Jones 6 0-4 13, Matthew Rensvold 4 3-4 11, *Jeremiah North Piegan 5 0-0 10, J’von Niemeyer 2, Tanner Wilson 2, Shade Main 2.

FRENCHTOWN – Austin Means 17, Andrew King 11, Kyle Smith 4, Ethan Pyron 3, Jacob Price 3, *Adam Botkin 3, Parker Spadt 2.

3FGs 1-8 (Jones).  REBOUNDS 28 (Jones 8, Rensvold 7, Hudson Smith 4, Main 3, Ducharme 2, Lefthand 2, NorthPiegan 2).  ASSISTS 11 (Lefthand 3, Wilson 3, Main 2, Rensvold, Jones, Kabe Forman-Webster)  STEALS 13 (Lefthand 4, Wilson 4, Jones 2, Rensvold 2, Main).  BLOCKS 2 (Ducharme, Main). (Sa30Jan16)   Asterisk (*) denotes modifications to reported media coverage – #42 misidentified as Kabe Webster, Pirate Jones as well as Bronc Botkin not cited.

TER 45  Seeley 62

On Saturday, Two Eagle took on Seeley. The Eagles stuck with Seeley through the first half, in part thanks to four three’s by Zach Mathias. Julian Cut Finger got in on the three ball action in the third, putting in a couple to make the score 44-37 after three in favor of the Blackhawks. Seeley pulled away in the fourth to take the win by a score of 62-45. Julian Cut Finger led the team with 18 and Zach Mathias had 14. The Eagles have been playing without Issaiah Mathias, who has been out with a foot injury.

Seeley-Swan-  13  17  14  18  –  62

Two Eagle-   11  13  13  8  –  45

SEELEY-SWAN  – Jacob Haley 19, Nino Robinett 2, Joshua Cahoon 6, Brad Miller 14, Chance Johnson 2, Cameron Haines 8, Billy Bedson 9, Gunner Sloan 2.

TWO EAGLE – Donnie Herman 4, Dante McDougal 3, Donovan Sherwood 4, Zach Mathias 14, Julian Cutfinger 18, Bassu Eneas 2.