The District 9C Basketball Tournament returned to Havre on Thursday morning. The girls’ took the floor first and here are how things shook out on Day 1:
In the opening contest, the No. 4 Hays-Lodgepole girls took over in the fourth quarter and ran away from No. 5 Turner for a (47-30) victory. Despite scoring just two points in the third quarter, the Lady Thunderbirds sandwiched 17-point quarters in between and were able to turn Turner over at will. Shayden Blount had a strong second half, scoring 9 of her 16 points in the fourth quarter. Chaynell McConnell had 11 points as well for the Lady Thunderbirds. Bridget Reed scored 8 points in the loss for the Lady Tornadoes.
The next matchup featured No. 6 North Star and No. 3 Chester-Joplin-Inverness and the game turned from half to half with the Hi-Line Hawks taking it, (50-34). The Lady Knights jumped out to a (9-1) lead and held a (21-18) halftime edge with the Lady Hi-Line Hawks missing 13 1st half free throws. The defensive claws came out for C-J-I and held North Star to three total points coming out of halftime. In the second half, Jayla Ramberg came alive and had 13 points in the final 16 minutes. Brynn Kammerzell kept her team in it after eight points in the first quarter and four points in the fourth quarter. Brea Sattoriva was the only Lady Knight in double-digits with 10.
No. 2 Big Sandy then throttled No. 7 Box Elder, (66-30). The game was end-to-end Lady Pioneers route, forcing 26 Box Elder turnovers throughout the contest and holding the Lady Bears to single-digit quarters. Eva Yeadon went off for Big Sandy, pouring in 35 points on 15-of-22 from the floor. Jai Baumann joined her in double-figures with 10 points. Martay Stiffarm-Rosette was the only Lady Bear to break 10 points as she had 12.
District 9C Basketball Friday schedule: North Star v Box Elder Girls 11am, Fort Benton vs Hays-Lodgepole Girls 4pm, CJI vs Big Sandy Girls 5:30pm
