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

The final weekend of the high school basketball regular season was record breaking. Harlem senior Brad Cichosz torched the nets for 31 points in Harlem's 88-76 win over the Box Elder Bears Friday night.

Saturday in Harlem, in front of the hometown fans, on senior night, Cichosz turned in a performance for the ages. Cichosz scored an all-class state record 68 points in the Wildcats 101-53 win over the Poplar Indians.

The sensational senior scored in every way, in transition, inside, mid-range and included an astounding 12 three-point bombs.

The win capped a 16-2 regular season for the Wildcats and secured their No. 1 seed heading into this weeks District 2B Tournament in Malta.

The Chinook Sugarbeeters escaped with a narrow 56-54 win over the North Star Knights at home Friday night as they also recognized their seniors. Saturday the 'Beeters fell to the top seeded Fort Benton Longhorns and will have the No. 2 seed at this weeks District 9C Tournament in Havre.

The Hays/Lodge Pole Thunderbirds finished the regular season with a 3-15 mark following a pair of weekend losses to the Roy/Winifred Outlaws on Friday night (76-47) and the Box Elder Bears on Saturday (90-63). The Thunderbirds will be the No. 7 seed at the District 9C Tournament.

The Turner Tornadoes concluded their regular season with a pair of losses to the Big Sandy Pioneers on Friday (56-38) and the North Star Knights on Saturday (74-44). The Tornadoes played hard all season long but finished 0-18 and will be the No. 8 seed at this weeks tournament.

Friday in a non-conference tilt with the Box Elder Bears the Wildcats were looking to build on the momentum they had generated throughout the season as they prepare for the District 2B Tournament next week in Malta.

Cichosz made sure the Wildcats did just that, scoring 25 of his 31 points in the second and third quarters to help Harlem secure a 88-76 win over the Bears. Cichosz connected three times from distance in the win. Also turning in a superb effort for the Wildcats was sophomore RJ Ramone. The sharp shooting guard knocked down eight triples in the contest and scored 32 points in the Wildcat win.

Saturday afternoon was something special that will be remembered for years to come by all in attendance and will go down in the Montana High School Association Record books as one of the great all-time performances in the state of Montana, regardless of class.

The Wildcats started fast putting 34 on the scoreboard in the opening stanza. Cichosz was responsible for 23 of those as he connected four times from distance and eight times from the field. "Keep swimming, don't worry about the score, just have fun, it's senior night," said Cichosz when asked about his hot start to the contest.

The offense kept rolling in the second quarter and so did Cichosz. The senior connected three more times from long range while adding eight more field goals and 21 points in the frame to give him 44 first half points. "My teammates were telling me 'go for 80' at halftime but my coach said 'just keep doing what your doing, you got one more half in this gym," Cichosz stated.

Well in reality he essentially had just one more quarter. Cichosz connected on five bombs from beyond the arc and scored 22 of the teams 26 third quarter points before taking a seat on the bench in the final minute of the third quarter. As he walked off the court the public address announcer informed the crowd that he had scored 66 points and just broke the All-Class State scoring record for the state of Montana. According to the Montana High School Association archives, the previous mark of 65 points was shared by Shane Lorash of Reed Point and Wally Doney of Pine Hills. Both were achieved in 1988.

"I didn't even think about it. When I got taken out at the end of the third quarter and they announced it, it hit me and I was just in shock. The crowd roared and they were happy for me," said Cichosz.

He did return to the contest late in the fourth quarter with a running clock. He made the most of his brief return adding another bucket to give him 68 for the contest won easily by the Wildcats 101-53. When asked about it three days later he was very focused in his comments, "That's over with, we're focused on Districts and the post season. We worked hard this summer and we're not done yet, it's (off-season work) starting to pay off." He added, "These are stepping stones, our sights are set on advancing to Divisionals and hopefully qualifying for State."

Cichosz finished the contest 12-18 from long range and 25-40 from the field in a incredible offensive effort.

The Wildcats will begin play at the District 2BTournament in Malta against the winner of Thursday nights contest between the Glasgow Scotties and the Poplar Indians. By virtue of their top seed entering the tournament the Wildcats have already locked up a spot at the Northern B Divisional next week in Malta as well.

The Chinook Sugarbeeters hosted the North Star Knights Friday and honored their lone senior Hunter Neibauer in the process. Chinook had already secured the No. 2 seed at this weeks District 9C Tournament but were looking to stay in the race for the top spot with a win.

Early on things went according to plan as Chinook led 17-10 after eight minutes of action. Junior Ethan Bell led the charge with 13 points in the opening stanza. Bell added another nine in the second quarter, giving him 22 first half points as the Sugarbeeters held 34-25 halftime lead.

Chinook was unable to build on that lead after the break and the Knights found their mark from the field, outscoring the 'Beeters 14-8 to send the teams to the fourth quarter with Chinook holding a tenuous 42-39 lead.

The Knights continued to shoot the ball very well and eventually took a lead late in the contest, but Neibauer came in clutch on senior night, scoring the final points of the contest and then securing the rebound following a North Star miss as time wound down on a hard fought 56-54 'Beeter win.

Bell finished with 23 points to lead the 'Beeter effort while Neibauer added 17 in the win.

Cichosz connects on one of his 12 three-point buckets.

Saturday the 'Beeters headed west to take on the undefeated Longhorns in Fort Benton. The 'Beeters hopes of pulling off the upset steadily went away as the home team opened up a early 10 point lead and never looked back in a 63-42 win over Chinook.

The 'Beeters finished the regular season with a 14-4 record overall and were 12-2 in District 9C play. They will begin the District 9C Tournament with a game tonight (Wednesday, February 19) against the No. 7 Seed Hays/Lodge Pole Thunderbirds at 7:00 p.m. at the Havre High School Gymnasium.

The Turner Tornadoes will take on the top seeded Fort Benton Longhorns this afternoon at 1:00 p.m. in the tournaments first contest of the day.

The top three teams will advance to the Northern C Divisional in Great Falls next week.