We've Got The County Covered
We've Got The County Covered
Junior Jace Shambo floats a shot just over the outstretched hand of the Sunburst defender.
Junior Tyson Shambo gets a shot to fall in the paint Wednesday afternoon.
Junior Frank RunsAbove attacks the Refiner defense in first round action. Far right, sophomore Thane Hegelson scores inside following a great move against Sunburst during Wednesday afternoon action at the Northern C Divisional in Great Falls.
By Kody Farmer
BCJ Sports
The Hays/Lodge Pole Thunderbirds took their game to the Northern C Divisional tournament in Great Falls going 1-2 as their season came to an end.
The Thunderbirds continued to play hard for thirty two minutes, regardless of the score. They defeated the Heart Butte Warriors Thursday morning 73-57. The Thunderbirds lost their first round contest with Sunburst 79-70 and were eliminated Thursday evening following a 76-57 loss to District 9C rival Chester-Joplin-Inverness.
Early Wednesday morning the Thunderbirds and Refiners met in first round action. Sunburst got off to a quick start leading 22-13 entering the second.
Hays/Lodge Pole would match the Refiner effort the next two quarters and trail 64-49 entering the fourth quarter. The Thunderbirds made a strong push at the Refiners closing the gap to 70-66 before falling 79-70.
Junior Jace Shambo scored 20 on the contest while fellow junior Tyson Shambo added 18. Junior Frank RunsAbove scored 15 for the Thunderbirds.
The Thunderbirds dropped into a loser out contest with the Heart Butte Warriors, the three seed out of the District 10C.
A fast paced, high energy game was played for 32 minutes as both teams had their offenses firing on all cylinders.
The Thunderbirds led just 11-9 after eight minutes of action in an entertaining first quarter that didn't produce many points but contained baseline to baseline action.
The Thunderbirds extended the lead to 29-23 as Tyson Shambo drained a pair from beyond the arc. Sophomore Thane Hegelson was a force down low scoring eight first half points to help the Thunderbirds take the lead.
Tyson Shambo owned the third quarter as the sharpshooting junior canned five straight from long range, including a couple that made fans shake their head in disbelief after knocking them down from thirty five plus feet.
Tysons effort along with five more points from Hegelson and a trio from Jace Shambo helped the Thunderbirds move out to a 54-46 lead with eight minutes left on the clock.
Hegelson did his job in the paint down the stretch, scoring eight fourth quarter points. Jace Shambo added eight of his own in the quarter and the Thunderbirds advanced with a 73-57 win over the Warriors.
Tyson finished the contest with seven three point bombs and 28 points. Hegelson added 21 and Jace Shambo 16
A fourth meeting with their rivals from the District 9C was a battle early on with the Chester-Joplin-Inverness Hawks holding a slim 31-30 halftime lead.
The final 16 minutes were all in favor of Chester J-I as the Thunderbirds fell 76-57.
RunsAbove and Hegelson led the attack with 14 points each. Tyson Shambo added a pair of triples and 10 points. Jace Shambo scored ten himself in the loss
The Thunderbirds will return an experienced and talented group next fall but will say goodbye to seniors Damon Castillo and Terrell Young.
The Thunderbirds have qualified for the Northern C the past two seasons and another trip in 2017 seems to be in the cards.
