Warriors breeze through districts

In the 14C and 6B boys’ tournaments, only one team made it out on top. Arlee dominated the 14C to continue on to the divisional tournament.

Arlee

After receiving a bye in the first round of the district tournament, Arlee steamrolled over both of their opponents to win the district championship. In the semifinals, they took on Charlo, who tried to come at the Warriors with a different style of play than their previous match ups. However, Arlee proved that trying to slow the game down wouldn’t work on them. They won the game 74-34, with sophomore Phillip Malatare leading the team in scoring.

In the championship game, the Warriors came out strong, taking a 19-4 lead after the first quarter, then extended that lead in the next two quarters to win the game 74-54. Three players scored in double digits for the Warriors, including Tyler Tanner, who had a game high 24 points.

The Warriors move on in their quest to make it back to the state tournament this week. In their first game of the divisional tournament in the Hamilton, Arlee will take on Shields Valley at 1:30 p.m. Thursday.

Semifinal

Arlee 74, Charlo 34

Arlee- 14 28 20 12 – 74

Charlo- 8 8 11 7 – 34

ARLEE – Phillip Malatare 21, Alex Moran 9, Tyler Tanner 11, Isaac Desjarlais 4, Colt Brazill 8, Greg Whitesell 3, Patrick Bigsam 7, Justis Haynes 6, Aaron Perry 4, Rory Bird 1.

CHARLO – Dugan Runkel 8, Jade Smith 6, Tyson Petticrew 5, Michael Delaney 2, Nate Delaney 1, Kane Shenyer 4, Landers Smith 4, Garett Vaughan 1, Greg Montgomery 3.

Championship

Arlee 74, Plains 54

Arlee- 19 23 22 10 – 74

Plains- 4 22 13 15 – 54

ARLEE – Tyler Tanner 24, Patrick Bigsam 17, Phillip Malatare 11, Greg Whitesell 8, Aaron Perry 6, Brad Brazill 6, Rory Bird 2.

PLAINS – Cole Benson 14, Ryan Ovitt 10, Aaron Vonheeder 10, Alec Cole 9, Trent Brouillette 7, Jay Vonheeder 4.

Charlo

After winning their first five games of the year, the Vikings struggled in their conference. Going into the district tournament, Charlo was ranked fourth. They matched up against Noxon in the first round. In a tight contest, Charlo battled back from a 6-11 first quarter score. Noxon was hitting three’s in the first half, but a great second quarter by Michael Delaney pulled the Vikings within one point at intermission. In the third, Noxon went cold and Charlo went up by one going into the fourth. A great fourth quarter by Charlo and foul trouble by Noxon led to a 46-40 victory for the Vikings.

In the semifinal game, Charlo tried to change things up on the Warriors. After running a ton of time off of the clock in the first quarter, the Vikings trailed by six points. However, in the second, Arlee’s press got the best of the Vikings. After halftime, it was all Arlee, and they cruised to a 74-34 win.

The Vikings then had an early game against Two Eagle the next morning. They jumped out to a 24-7 lead on the depleted TER team and didn’t look back, winning the game 63-31 to move into the consolation game.

Against Hot Springs later that day, the Vikings would be playing without Greg Montgomery. With a little less height, the Vikings still stuck with Hot Springs. After the first quarter, they were down by eight, but then came back with help from points off of offensive rebounds. Toward the end of the first half, Hot Springs went on a small run, going up 29-21. After two three’s by Tyson Petticrew in the third quarter, the Vikings were within four points, then fell back a little until the fourth, when a Michael Delaney block seemed to shift the momentum in their favor, bringing the score to 46-41 in favor of Hot Springs. However, big man Jake Dolson was too much for the Vikings, and his 21 points led to a 10 point win for the Savage Heat. The loss ended Charlo’s year, as they took fourth place.

First round

Charlo 46, Noxon 40

Charlo- 6 16 6 18 – 46

Noxon- 11 12 4 13 – 40

CHARLO – Michael Delaney 12, Tyson Petticrew 16, Landers Smith 6, Dugan Runkel 2, Zane Hafliger 1, Jade Smith 9

NOXON – Riley Fisher 21, Grant Fitchett 15, Quincy Grupenhoff 2

Semifinal (See ARLEE)

Loser out

Charlo 63, Two Eagle River 31

Charlo- 24 14 12 13 – 63

Two Eagle- 7 7 9 8 – 31

CHARLO – Michael Delaney 3, Tyson Petticrew 7, Kane Shenyer 8, Landers Smith 5, Sabin Perry 1, Garrett Vaughan 5, Dugan Runkel 7, Greg Montgomery 6, Zane Haflinger 6, Packer Pearson 3, Jade Smith 12.

TWO EAGLE RIVER – Darius McDougall 3, Donovan Sherwood 3, Drew Tenas 2, Julian Cut Finger 15, Cory Cadeaux 1, Bassu Eneas 7.

Third place

Hot Springs 62, Charlo 52

Hot Springs- 17 12 13 20 – 62

Charlo- 9 13 14 16 – 52

HOT SPRINGS – Trevor Paro 15, Zach Osborne 15, Sam Hoff 9, Blaine Carr 2, Jack Dolson 21

CHARLO – Michael Delaney 10, Tyson Petticrew 13, Dugan Runkel 10, Zane Hafliger 4, Jade Smith 15

Two Eagle River

The Two Eagle River team, who looked promising early on in the season, were down a number of kids due to disciplinary issues for the tournament. They went into the tournament in sixth place and took on Hot Springs, a team that they had split with during the season. Hot Springs jumped out to a 24-12 lead, then got hot in the second quarter, putting up 28 points. The Eagles couldn’t get things going, and took a 69-21 loss.

The next morning, TER took on St. Regis in loser out action. Julian Cut Finger had a huge game, putting up 32 points. Usually that would be enough to lead all scorers, but in this case, St. Regis freshman Brock Cantrell-Field outpaced the senior, putting up 40 points. However, that wouldn’t be enough for St. Regis, and TER stayed alive to play Charlo the next morning.

Two Eagle had played Charlo close in their previous two meetings, but the Vikings jumped out to a big lead after the first quarter and the Eagles couldn’t make up the difference, losing the game 31-63. Julian Cut Finger led the team with 15 points in his last game as an Eagle.

First round

Hot Springs 69, Two Eagle River 21

Hot Springs- 24 28 12 5 – 69

Two Eagle- 12 5 1 3 – 21

HOT SPRINGS– Trevor Paro 18, Zach Osborne 18, Jack Dolson 11, Sam Hoff 10, Addison Mueller 6, Blaine Carr 4, Jamo Morigeau 2.

TWO EAGLE RIVER – Bassu Eneas 8, Julian Cut Finger 6, Trey Denas 3, Darius McDougall 3, Dane McDougall 1.

Loser-out

Two Eagle River 82, St. Regis 69

St. Regis- 15 12 15 27 – 69

Two Eagle- 11 18 21 32 – 82

ST. REGIS – Noah Salem 2, Ryan Teeter 3, Trevor Lowry 11, Brock Cantrell-Field 40, Eric Eslick 13.

TWO EAGLE RIVER – Dante McDougall 14, Darius McDougall 5, Drey Tenas 2, Julian Cut Finger 32, Cory Cadeaux 7, Bassu Eneas 20, Donovan Sherwood 2.

Loser out (See CHARLO)

Ronan

In the first round of the 6B tournament, Ronan took on Deer Lodge. After one, Ronan trailed by three. In the second Deer Lodge hit four out of five three’s to go up by 18 at half. In the second half, Ronan fought hard to make a comeback, and almost did, pulling within eight point at one time. However, the clock wasn’t on their side, and the Chiefs dropped their first game.

In the loser out game Saturday morning, Ronan fought hard to continue on. A win meant they would be headed to divisionals. A loss and their season was over. After one quarter, the Chiefs were down by two points. The second quarter was a back and forth contest. Ronan had the lead a few different times, but at half, Loyola was up by three. Loyola went on a run at the end of the third quarter, and the Chiefs were looking at a five point deficit to start the fourth. During the fourth Loyola slowly pulled away, ending Ronan’s season with a 73-59 win. Zeke Misa led the team with 19 points, followed by Aaron Misa with 17.

First round

Ronan 48, Deer Lodge 56

Ronan- 8 4 12 24 – 48

D. Lodge- 11 19 9 18 – 57

DEER LODGE – #Porter 20, Lowery 14, Doiron 9, Benjamin 7, Scully 6, Forson 1.

RONAN – Zeke Misa 12, Jackson Duffey *9, Kobe Morigeau *8, Aaron Misa 6, Isaiah ArrowTopknot *5, Kasey Mock *5, Anthony Camel 3.

REBOUNDS 19 (Duffey 3, A.Misa 3, Elijah Cahoon 3, Camel 3, Z.Misa 2, Mock 2, ArrowTopKnot 2, Nate Dennis). ASSISTS 14 (Z.Misa 4, A.Misa 3, Duffey 2, Camel 2, Mock, Dennis, Ty James). STEALS 4 (Z.Misa, A.Misa, James, Mock). BLOCKS 3 (A.Misa 3). Asterisk (*) denotes variant(s) derived from Ronan stats that differ from venue media coverage:

(Duffey 11p, ArrowTopKnot 7p, Morigeau 6p, Mock 3p).

Loser out

Loyola Sacred Heart 73, Ronan 59

Ronan- 10 23 14 12 – 59

Loyola- 12 24 16 21 – 73

LOYOLA – Koppang 19, Pohlman 16, Davis 14, Cooper 9, Zheng 6, Lochlin Ermatinger 5, Richardson 2, McHugh 2.

RONAN – Zeke Misa 19, Aaron Misa 17, Ty James 12, Kasey Mock 6, Jackson Duffey 3, Isaiah Arrow Top Knot 2.

3FGs – L2-11 (Davis, Ermatinger), R6-11 (Z.Misa 3, James 3). REBOUNDS 14 (Z.Misa 7, A.Misa 4, Duffey, Mock, Elijah Cahoon). ASSISTS 10 (Z.Misa 3, Duffey 2, A.Misa 2, James, Mock, Cahoon). STEALS 5 (Z.Misa, James, Mock, ArrowTopKnot, Cahoon).

Mission

After an exciting win over Valley Christian last week, the Bulldogs were hoping to make some noise at the district tournament. In their first game, they took on Loyola. Their momentum didn’t carry over during this game, as the Rams defeated the Bulldogs by 40 points, 69-29.

On Saturday morning, Mission took on Deer Lodge in loser out action. The Bulldogs fell behind early, going down 7-23 after one. At half, Deer Lodge was up 31-12, but the Bulldogs weren’t going to go down without a fight. In the third quarter, they cut into the lead by two points. In the fourth, they battled back, outscoring Deer Lodge 17-12, but unfortunately, they weren’t able to make up for their rough start, and lost the game 43-55, ending their season.

Nick Durglo led the team in that game, scoring 12 points in his last game as a Bulldog.

First round

Loyola 69, St. Ignatius 29

Loser out

Deer Lodge 55, St. Ignatius 43

D. Lodge- 23 8 12 12 – 55

St. Ignatius- 7 5 14 17 – 43

DEER LODGE – Colter Scully 4, Brock Doiron 1, Cade Benjamin 20, Kaehl Lowery 8, Riley Boese 2, Koby Owens 2, Brandon Porter 18.

ST. IGNATIUS – Wacey McClure 3, Nick Durglo 12, Andrew Esslinger 2, Tate Weingart 9, Korbyn Pierre 2, Bill von Holtum 12, Emilio Bravo 2, Tyler Spidel 1.