The Blaine County Journal News-Opinion - We've Got The County Covered

The final week of the high school girls basketball season is upon us and teams are battling to for seeding position in the upcoming District 2B and District 9C Tournaments.

The Harlem Wildcats sit at the top of the District 2B and are looking to close out the season on a high note. Thursday the Lady Cats were in Chinook to take on the Sugarbeeters and rolled to a 71-23 non-conference win.

Saturday the girls were at home where they honored their seniors prior to the start of their District 2B contest against the Glasgow Scottie's. Harlem got an unexpected challenge and had to come from behind to secure a 54-52 win over the visitors.

The Turner tornadoes began the week with a 59-38 District 9C win over the Hays/Lodge Pole Thunderbirds. Turner got off to off to a fast start and then cruised down the stretch to secure the win. Saturday at home against the visiting Chinook Sugarbeeters. The Tornadoes got off to a torrid start en-route to a 55 to 18 victory over the Sugarbeeters.

The Thunderbirds also took on the Fort Benton Longhorns Saturday afternoon at home and were defeated 76-35.

Harlem got off to a quick start Thursday night against the Sugarbeeters. Senior Skylee Dirden scored the first points of the contest just moments in to take a 2-0 lead

Chinook senior Rachel Gunderson scored on the other end moments later off a nice pass from senior Kourtney Hanson but the Wildcat offense was just getting started.

A Dirden theft of an errand beater pass led to an easy lay-up and she followed on the ensuing possession with an offensive rebound and a nice pass to junior Taeshon Schaefer for another easy score.

Another steel by Dirden led to another lay-up and Schaefer connected on a 20-footer for an 11-2 Harlem lead. Dirden then made a great look inside the freshman Taya Trottier to push the lead to 13-2.

The Beeters responded when senior Lindsey Johnson connected on a mid-range jumper but Dirden knock down a long 3-pointer of on the next trip down the court and then scored off of great step through move at the basket to push the Harlem lead to 18-4 at the end of one quarter.

The Lady Cats began the second was a three-point bomb from junior L'Tia Lawrence, who then quickly followed with an offensive rebound put back to push the lead to 23-4.

Sugarbeeter senior Megan Molyneaux knocked down a three pointer of her own. Seconds later Lawrence made another great pass inside, this time to junior Aria Owens to keep the Harlem offense rolling.

Two possessions later Lawrence knock down a three pointer while being fouled and then converted the free throw to complete the four point play and extend the Harlem advantage to 29-9 midway through the second quarter.

Harlem added 19 more in the third quarter and 17 in the fourth while limiting the Sugarbeeters to just five points in the second half to secure a 71-23 non-conference win.

Dirden and Lawrence each tallied 19 markers in the contest.

Saturday Harlem was home to take on the Glasgow Scottie's in a District 2B contest as well as honor their seniors before the game started.

Glasgow has struggled to find the win column this season but as any fan of the game knows,anything can happen when two teams step onto a basketball court.

The Scotties certainly gave the Wildcats everything they could handle Saturday night .Harlem held just a slim 12-11 lead after eight minutes of action.

Glasgow kept applying the pressure to the Lady Cat game plan and secured a 28-27 lead heading into the halftime locker room.

Harlem regain the advantage in a defensive oriented third quarter, outscoring the Scotties 8-6 to take a 35-34 lead into the fourth quarter.

Harlem figured a few things out offensively, scoring 19 down the stretch, but they allowed 18 and were able to hold on for a hard fought 54-52 conference win.

Lawrence scored 15 points in the contest while Dirden added nine to lead the Lady Cats.

The Turner Tornadoes have had quite the season so far and continue to excel on the court as they picked up a pair of 9C wins over the weekend.

Friday night they raced out to a 41-16 halftime lead over the Hays Lodgepole Thunderbirds getting solid efforts across the board.

Senior Raegan Conlan, junior Sarah Billmayer and senior Rylee Conlan each connected from long range in the half to ignite the Tornado offense.

Billmayer added two more trifecta's down the stretch and scored 22 points in the contest to lead the Tornadoes. Sophomore Shyan Krass added 17 for the Turner squad.

Junior Muleeah Stiffarm and freshman Tahtianna White Cow-Morgan each tallied eight for the Thunderbirds.

Saturday Turner was home to take on the Sugarbeeters and were operating on all cylinders both on offense and on defense.

A steal by Rylee Conlan led to a Billmayer bucket and a quick 11-0 Tornado lead.

Following a Sugarbeeter timeout senior Melanie Watkins scored inside and Billmayer added a basket at the buzzer to give the Tornadoes a 19-0 lead heading into the second quarter.

The Turner offense kept attacking in the second and after a great look from Rylee Conlan inside to Watkins The Tornadoes led 31-0.

Turner extended their lead to 45-0 by intermission. Turner would slow things down after the break.

The Sugarbeeters scored 12 in the third quarter as they kept competing. Turner in the end would secure a 55-18 win to improve to 9-3 in District 9C play and 12-4 overall.

The Tornadoes are locked into the Districts No. 3 seed heading into the tournament while the Sugarbeeters and Thunderbirds are yet to determine who will be the No. 5 or the No. 6 seed in two weeks.

The District 9C Tournament will be held at the Havre High school gymnasium February 13-15 while the District 2B will be in Glasgow February 14-16.

Girls Basketball

Harlem 71 Chinook 23

Harlem 18 17 19 17 — 71

Chinook 4 14 4 1 — 23

Harlem: Kristyn Kittson 1 0-0 2, MacKenzie Doney 0 0-0 0, Skylee Dirden 9 0-4 19, Melonie Fetter 2 0-0 5, L’Tia Lawrence 7 2-2 19, Taya Trottier 7 3-3 17, Taeshon Scheaffer 1 0-0 3, Gabi Bell 0 0-0 0, Alaynee Hawley 0 0-0 0, S. Jones 0 0-0 0, Aria Owens 2 0-0 4, Shontelle Talks Different 1 0-0 2. Team Totals 28 5-9 71.

Chinook: Megan Molyneaux 1 0-0 3, Ginger Hauer 0 0-0 0, Kourtney Hanson 2 1-2 5, Delaney Kellam 0 0-0 0, Ashley MacLeod 2 0-0 5, Lily Surber 1 1-2 4, Lincy Johnson 2 0-0 4, Rachel Gunderson 1 0-0 2, Allison Powell 0 0-0 0, Jade Cecrle 0 0-0 0, Anna Morrow 0 0-0 0, Tylie Richman 0 0-0 0, Jayden Miller 0 0-2 0. Team Totals 9 2-6 23.

Three Point Field Goals: Harlem 5 (L’Tia Laurence 3), Chinook 3 (Megan Molyneaux,Ashley MacLeod, Lily Surber); Team Fouls: Harlem 11, Chinook 12; Fouled Out: None

Turner 59 Hays/Lodge Pole 38

Turner 12 29 4 14 — 59

Hays/Lodge Pole 9 7 12 10 — 38

Turner: Raegan Conlan 1 4-6 7, Sarah Billmayer 8 3-4 22, Dakota Krass 0 0-0 0, Rylee Conlan 3 0-0 7, Melanie Watkins 1 2-4 4, Brandy Calvert 0 0-0 0, Laci Maloney 0 0-0 0, Brooke Reed 0 2-4 2, Shyan Krass 7 3-8 17, Lacey Hickel 0 0-0 0. Team Totals 20 14-26 59.

Hays/Lodge Pole: Tahtianna Whitecow-Morgan 3 0-1 8, J. Conay 0 0-0 0, Kassi Perez 1 2-2 4, Sierra Chandler 0 1-2 1, Latasha Kirkaldie 3 0-0 6, Rayleigh Kirkaldie 1 1-2 3, Justice Werk 1 0-0 3, Jaedyn Chandler 2 0-2 4, Mulleeah Stiffarm 3 1-3 8, Tahlia Werk 0 0-0 0, Shaunte Hawley 0 1-2 1. Team Totals 14 6-14 38.

Three Point Field Goals: Turner 5 (Sarah Billmayer 3), Hays/L.P. 4 (Tahtianna Whitecow-Morgan 2); Team Fouls: Turner 11, Hays/L.P. 19; Fouled Out: J. Conay .

Turner 55 Chinook 18

Chinook 0 0 12 6 — 18

Turner 19 26 4 6 — 55

Chinook: Megan Molyneaux 2 1-2 7, Ginger Hauer 0 0-0 0, Kourtney Hanson 1 3-4 5, Delaney Kellam 1 0-0 2, Ashley MacLeod 0 0-0 0, Lily Surber 1 0-0 2, Lincy Johnson 0 0-0 0, Rachel Gunderson 0 0-0 0, Allison Powell 0 0-0 0, Jade Cecrle 1 0-0 2, Anna Morrow 0 0-0 0, Tylie Richman 0 0-0 0, Jayden Miller 0 0-0 0. Team Totals 6 4-6 18.

Turner: Raegan Conlan 1 0-1 2, Sarah Billmayer 7 1-2 16, Dakota Krass 0 0-0 0, Rylee Conlan 1 2-2 5, Melanie Watkins 4 2-2 10, Brandy Calvert 1 0-0 2, Laci Maloney 0 0-0 0, Brooke Reed 3 3-4 10, Shyan Krass 3 0-0 6, Lacey Hickel 2 0-0 4. Team Totals 22 8-11 55.

Three Point Field Goals: Three Point Field Goals: Chinook 2 (Megan Molyneaux 2), Turner 3 (Sarah Billmayer, Rylee Conlan, Brooke Reed); Team Fouls: Chinook 10, Turner 11; Fouled Out: None

Harlem 54 Glasgow 52

Glasgow 11 17 6 18 — 52

Harlem 12 15 8 19 — 54

Glasgow: Keely Fossum 5 4-7 15, Anika Peters 1 1-2 3, Tyann Graham 2 1-1 6, Cordelia Nickels 1 0-0 2, Tehya Campbell 2 0-0 4, Rachelle Glaser 1 0-0 3, Blaire Westby 0 0-0 0, Abrianna Nielsen 0 0-0 0, Laura Ross 3 0-0 6, Taylor Pederson 5 3-9 13. Team Totals 21 9-19 52.

Harlem: Kristyn Kittson 0 0-2 0, MacKenzie Doney 0 1-2 1, Skylee Dirden 1 6-10 9, Melonie Fetter 3 0-0 8, L’Tia Lawrence 4 7-9 15, Taya Trottier 6 1-2 14, Taeshon Scheaffer 2 1-3 7, Aria Owens 0 0-0 0, K. Begay 0 0-0 0, S. Jones 0 0-0 0, Shontelle Talks Different 0 0-0 0. Team Totals 16 16-28 54.

Three Point Field Goals: Glasgow 3 (Keely Fossum, Tyann Graham, Rachelle Glaser), Harlem 6 (Melonie Fetter 2, Taeshon Scheaffer 2); Team Fouls: Glasgow 16, Harlem 18; Fouled Out: None.

Fort Benton 76 Hays/Lodge Pole 35

Fort Benton 15 16 24 21 — 76

Hays/Lodge Pole 8 16 2 9 — 35

Fort Benton - Cassie Nack 3 2-2 9, McKenzie Clark 3 4-4 10, Ashlee Wang 3 0-0 6, Aspen Giese 3 6-7 13, Abby Clark 2 3-4 7, Sam Vielleux 1 0-0 3, Maci Molinario 4 1-2 9, Megan Clark 1 2-2 4, Cloe Kalanick 1 0-0 3, Leah Gannon 3 0-0 7, McKenna Hanford 2 0-0 5. Team Totals 26 18-21 76.

Hays/Lodge Pole: Tahtianna Whitecow-Morgan 0 0-0 0, Kassi Perez 2 0-0 4, Sierra Chandler 0 2-8 2, Justine Gray 2 0-0 4, Latasha Kirkaldie 4 2-8 10, Rayleigh Kirkaldie 0 0-0 0, Justice Werk 0 0-0 0, Jaedyn Chandler 4 0-0 8, Mulleeah Stiffarm 3 0-0 7. Team Totals 14 6-22 35.

Three Point Field Goals: Fort Benton 6 (Cassie Nack, Aspen Giese, Sam Vielleux, Cloe Kalanick, Leah Gannon, Mckenna Hanford), Hays/L.P. 1 (Mulleeah Stiffarm); Team Fouls: Fort Benton 16, Hays/L.P. 18; Fouled Out: None

District 2B Girls Standings

Team Conf Overall

No. 2 Wolf Point 7-1 15-1

No. 3 Harlem 6-1 13-3

Glasgow 2-4 6-10

Malta 2-5 8-7

Poplar 1-7 9-7

Harlem junior Kristyn Kittson keeps the offense rolling Thursday night with a first quarter jumper.

District 9C Girls Standings

Team Conf Overall TP

#1 Box Elder Bears 12-0 16-0 +113

#2 Fort Benton Longhorns 10-2 14-2 +87

Turner Tornadoes 9-3 12-4 +52

North Star Knights 7-6 10-6 +18

Chinook Sugarbeeters 5-7 7-9 -25

Hays/L.P. Thunderbirds 5-8 5-11 -35

Chester/J-I Hawks 1-11 3-13 -101

Big Sandy Pioneers 0-12 2-14 -109