Hoop season entering final regular season stretch

Luke Butterfly lets a mid range jumper fly to the hoop against the Arlee Warriors. (B.L. Azure photo)

There are only two more weeks left in the Class B and C regular season basketball wars. Where did the time fly to? The 2009-2010 regular season ends Saturday, Feb. 13 then the district tournaments kick off the following week in Ronan.

• Arlee Warriors
The Arlee Warriors got back on the winning path last week with a road win over Two Eagle River School. It was the Warriors only game of the week due to a scheduling snafu. They were scheduled to host the District 7-B Mission Bulldogs Friday, Jan. 29 but the game has been rescheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 9.

The Warriors still looked a bit dazed and fazed and a tad confused after suffering their first loss of the season at Lincoln last week. Despite that it didn’t take them too long to establish a lead over the Eagles then stretch it out like watery taffy.

Arlee, with seniors Kyle Felsman, Kody Morigeau and John Sansavere leading the net snapping charge throttled out to a 16-7 first quarter lead and despite a couple of Two Eagle runs were never in real danger of surrendering their lead after that. They followed up with a 16-9 second to take a sweet 16 point lead (32-16) into the lockers at the half.

The Warriors put the Eagles to nest with a 40-30 second half to account for the 72-46 victory.

The victory put them at 7-0 in District 14 C play and 12-1 overall with five games remaining - three conference and two non-conference.

The loss put Two Eagle at 2-5 in District 14 C and 3-9 overall.

Warriors Kyle Felsman and Kody Morigeau each scored 14 points to lead Arlee in scoring; John Sansavere had eight.

Eagle James Maestas led Two Eagle with 16 points and TJ Cutfinger had 14.

The Warriors play at Hot Springs Thursday, Feb. 4, host Charlo Friday, Feb. 5 and host Mission Tuesday, Feb. 9.

• Charlo Vikings
The Vikings picked up a pair of District 14 C conference road wins last week at Two Eagle and Hot Springs. The victories put Charlo in second place in conference play at 6-2 and they are 8-4 overall.

The Vikings and Eagles played toe-to-toe basketball the first half with Two Eagle taking a slim 12-10 first quarter lead. Charlo responded with a 14-11 second quarter trot to take a gaunt 24-23 lead at the half.

Charlo broke the game open with a 17-7 third quarter run to take a 41-30 lead entering the even-Stephan fourth in which both teams canned 20 points each. It all added up to a 61-50 Vikings victory.

Viking Chance Rosenbaum led Charlo with 17 points and a baker’s dozen rebounds; Houston Blevins and Dillon Delaney each scored 10 points.

T.J. Cutfinger led Two Eagle with 15 points; Clayton Malatare had 14 and James Maestas had 13 points. The loss put Two Eagle at 2-6 in District 14 C play and 3-10 overall.

The Vikings and the Savage Heat played a fairly even game were it not for the second quarter. The teams knotted it up at 10-10 in the first quarter then the Vikings went on a 17-11 second quarter run to take a six point (27-21) halftime lead.

The Savage Heat outscored the Vikings 27-26 in the second half but that was not enough to overcome Charlo’s lead and they came out on the short end of the 53-48 score.

Viking Chico Stipe led Charlo with 17 points; Dillon Delaney had 11 and Chance Rosenbaum nine points.

Savage Heater Reiley Winebrenner led Hot Springs with 23 points and Cody Hoff had 12.

The Vikings have the coolest first names in District 14 C with Dillon, Chance, Chico, Chance, Garrett, Chance, Houston and Colt. What are the chances of having three players named Chance on one team? Astronomical? Maybe Johnny Mathias knows.

The Vikings host District 7 B Thompson Falls Thursday, Feb. 4 and play at Arlee Friday, Feb. 5.

• Hot Springs Savage Heat
The Savage Heat split their two District 14 C conference games with a victory over the St. Regis Tigers Friday and a loss to Charlo Saturday. The Savage Heat record is 2-4 in conference and 4-7 overall.

The Savage Heat defensive pressure stifled the Tigers throughout the game and limited them to single-digit scoring each quarter. Hot Springs steamed out to a 12-8 first quarter lead and led 22-13 at the half and were never in danger after that. The Savage Heat outscored the Tigers 27-11 in the second half and walked off the court with 49-24 victory.

Reiley Winebrenner led Hot Springs with 16 points; Zack Malinak had nine and Trevor Bras and Michael each had eight points.

Tiger James Jennings led St. Regis with 13 points.

• Two Eagle River Eagles
The Eagles dropped a pair of District 14-C conference games in the Eagles Nest last week. The Arlee Warriors beat them 72-46 Tuesday and the Charlo Vikings topped them 61-50 Friday.

The Eagles play at St. Regis Thursday, Feb. 4 and at District 13 C Lincoln Saturday, Feb. 6.

• Mission Bulldogs
They say the only way that cats and dogs get along is if the dog acquiesces to the will of the cat. Otherwise it’s cat scratch fever for the pooch. The Eureka Lions came to the Dog House Saturday and scratched out a victory over the Bulldogs. However the Dogs never acquiesced and went down fighting.

The Bulldogs wagged out to an 11-9 first quarter lead to which the Lions responded with a 15-12 second quarter to take a 24-23 lead at the half. The third quarter would prove to be the difference in the game and it went in Eureka’s favor 16-7 to put them up by 10 (40-30) going into the fourth. The Lions added another point to their lead with a 9-8 fourth and sauntered off the court with a 49-38 victory.

The loss put Mission at 2-5 in District 7 B play and 4-9 overall.

Bulldog Jorren Gies led Mission with 16 points and Dylan Evans had seven.

Lion Ryan Holder led Eureka with 30 points.

The Bulldogs play at Troy Friday, Feb. 5, host District 13 C Seeley Swan Saturday, Feb. 6 and play at Arlee Tuesday, Feb. 9.

• Polson Pirates
The fifth-ranked Northwestern A Polson Pirates took to the home court twice this past weekend against a pair of unranked Southwestern A teams and came out on the short end of both games.

On Friday, the Hamilton Broncs bucked the Pirates in a double overtime thriller at Polson.

The Pirates rowed out to a two point (12-10) first quarter lead then went on a 27-16 second quarter run to take a comfortable 39-26 halftime lead. However the comfort didn’t last long.

The Broncs began to eat away at the Pirate lead with a 20-18 third to pull within 11 (57-46) which they followed up with a 31-20 fourth quarter to knot the score at 77-all at the buzzer and send the game into overtime.

Both teams scored five points in the first overtime period and sent the game into the second overtime. The teams exchanged buckets and with the scored knotted at 88-88 with 11 seconds remaining the Broncs nailed a down low deuce to put them up 90-88. The Pirates were unable to force a third overtime and lost the hard fought battle.

Pirate Kyle Bagnell led Polson with 39 points; Vince DiGiallonardo had 22 and Zach Camel 10 points.

Bronc Tyler Pigman led Hamilton with 22 points.

The Stevensville Yellowjackets acted like a swarm of African bees and mercilessly stung the Pirates from the opening jump to the final buzzer and flew out of Polson with a 24-point victory Saturday.

Stevensville buzzed out to a 15-7 first quarter run then continued to add to their lead with a 19-14 second quarter to take a 34-21 halftime lead. They continued to make bitter honey for the Pirates with a 29-18 second half that added up to a 63-39 Yellowjacket victory.

Pirate Vince DiGiallonardo led Polson with 11 points and Kyle Bagnell had 10.

Yellowjacket Josh Schultz led Stevensville with 29 points.

The Pirates play at Columbia Falls Friday, Feb. 5.

• Ronan Chiefs
The Chiefs notched a pair of wins last week that included their first Northwestern A division win of season Thursday over the Whitefish Bulldogs at home. They followed that up with road victory over the District 6 B Superior Bobcats Friday.

Whitefish held a slim two-point (11-9) lead after one quarter. The Chiefs responded with a 16-10 second quarter run to go up 25-21 at the half. The second quarter would prove to be the difference in the game. Both teams scored 15 in the third quarter then the Chiefs outscored Whitefish 20-19 in the fourth to account for the final 60-55 score.

Chief Lucas Black led Ronan with 16 points; Kevin Wroblewski had 11 and Justin Dustybull had 10 points.

Bulldog Connor Silliker led Whitefish with 15 points.

On Friday, the Chiefs journeyed to Superior for a non-conference game with the Bobcats and bussed back with a 19-point victory. The Chiefs went on a 23-11 first quarter run and never looked back. They led 43-27 at the half. They followed their first half output with a 38-25 second half that added up to an 81-52 victory. The win put the Chiefs at 1-4 in Northwestern A and 4-10 overall.

Chief Marcus Hungerford led Ronan with 18 points; Kevin Wroblewski had 13 and Lucas Black 11 points.

Bobcat Eric Steinbach led Superior with 25 points.

The Chiefs host Libby Saturday, Feb. 6.