Wildcats 2nd at Northern B Divisional, Headed Back to the Montana Class B State Tournament

The (12-7) Harlem Wildcats were back in Glasgow this past weekend, this time to take part in the Northern B Divisional. The Wildcats had their sights set on a top three finish and qualifying for the Montana Class B Boys State Basketball Tournament in Bozeman, March 10-12. The Last time the Wildcats qualified for the state tournament was back in 2007. The seniors on the 2021-22 Wildcat team have been dreaming of this opportunity since grade school and they certainly have put in the work to earn it.

The Wildcats turned in an outstanding Northern B Tournament effort and accomplished their goal with a very impressive 82-79 win over the Rocky Boy Northern Stars Friday night in the semifinal round. The Wildcats defeated the Conrad Cowboys soundly Thursday afternoon, 71-24 to advance to the semifinal. Saturday night, having already punched their ticket to the state tournament, the Wildcats suffered a tough 83-67 loss to the Malta Mustangs in the Northern B Championship.

The Wildcats have been a very exciting team to watch all season but predicting the outcome has been a challenge from day one. Harlem has clearly shown an ability to compete with and beat any team in Class B since the first game of the season against Cut Bank. Harlem lost a thriller in Billings the second week of the season 77-74 to the two time defending state champion and current No. 1 Lodge Grass Indians. They have also shown themselves to be vulnerable at times as well. The Wildcats during the season suffered tough losses to Wolf Point and Malta only to redeem them later during the season. The Northern B Divisional was a perfect example of what the team is capable of.

In the tournament opener on Thursday the Wildcats took on the No. 4 1B Conrad Cowboys. Senior RJ Ramone got the Wildcats on the board first with a quick basket. Senior Tyler Cichosz followed moments later with an easy bucket off a nice pass from senior Daniel Lawrence. Junior Caleb Cole then finished a Wildcat fast break with a two handed slam for a quick 6-1 lead. Cole had the hot hand early knocking down a mid range jumper then scoring off a nice behind the back spin move to the basket and adding a corner three ball to give the Wildcats a 15-3 lead late in the first quarter.

Senior DeShon Shambo kept the offense rolling to begin the second quarter with a long three to put Harlem up twenty 23-3. Lawrence then connected from deep and freshman Lance Morgan and Ramone each converted offensive rebounds into easy buckets for a 30-6 advantage early in the second. Harlem extended the lead to 40-6 following long three point buckets from Lawrence and Ramone with 4:56 left in the first half. The Wildcats took a comfortable 54-12 lead into the halftime locker room.

Head Coach Geno LeValdo slowed things way down after the break and got his young kids some tournament experience in the process. Harlem led 67-20 at the end of the third quarter and coasted to a 71-24 win to advance to the Northern B semifinal Friday night. Ramone led the Wildcats with a solid all around performance scoring 20 points, collecting nine rebounds and recording six steals. Cole finished with 15 points, seven rebounds and five steals in a solid effort for the Wildcats. Lawrence added 13 points, six rebounds, three steals and dished out eight assists on the night.

With the win the Wildcats earned an opportunity to take on the Rocky Boy Northern Stars in the Northern B Divisional semifinal. Rocky Boy owned a pair of lopsided wins over the Wildcats in the regular season defeating Harlem in the Jungle 90-58 on December 22 and 77-62, January 27 in Rocky Boy. Harlem had turned around tough losses to Malta and Wolf Point previously and were looking to do the same against the Northern Stars. Harlem set the tone early on, doubling up Rocky Boy 22-11 after eight minutes of action. With the style of play the Wildcats and Stars bring to the court, no lead is safe, but the Wildcats were determined to make it hold up.

The fans in the Glasgow High School Gymnasium were in for a treat the final three quarters as action heated up in the second quarter. Shambo converted on a pair from the charity stripe with 6:50 left in the second quarter to keep the Stars doubled up, 24-12. Shambo then found Ramone all alone for a long three ball to push the lead to 27-14. The Wildcats moved the ball around the perimeter very well all night long and after Ramone swung the ball to Lawrence for a wide open corner three the Stars called timeout trailing 34-17 with 5:06 remaining in the half. Ramone turned defense into offense with a nice steal and finish for a 38-21 midway through the second quarter.

The Stars strung together a couple of stops on defense while scoring on the other end to trim the Wildcat lead to eleven, 38-27. Lawrence responded with a long straight away three and then took a nice pass from Ramone and drained another corner three to push the lead back to seventeen, 44-27 with 2:02 left in the half. Ramone and Lawrence connected again before the break on a beautiful cross court skip pass for an easy layup. Ramone then closed out the half with a little floater in the paint to give the Wildcats a 48-34 lead heading into the break.

Rocky Boy came out firing to start the third quarter, scoring the first nine points to cut the Wildcat lead to 48-43 with 5:40 remaining in the third quarter. LeValdo called a timeout to slow the Stars momentum and his team responded with Ramone leading the way. Coming out of the timeout Lawrence hit Ramone in the right corner for a long three ball. Moments later Ramone again connected from distance to push the lead back to 54-43. Following a deep three from the Stars, senior Teagan LeValdo knocked down a corner three to keep the lead at eleven. Rocky Boy responded with a bucket underneath, but Ramone wasn't done yet and followed with a pair of straight away three balls on back to back possessions for a 63-48 Wildcat lead at the 3:35 mark of the third quarter.

Harlem began the fourth quarter with a 71- 56 lead and were looking to be in good shape. Ramone connected on a pull up twelve foot jumper to keep the offense rolling and moments later found Cichosz underneath for another bucket and a 75-58 lead. Cichosz was a workhorse down low for the Wildcats all night long and a big offensive rebound and score with 4:32 left in the contest led to a Rocky Boy timeout with Harlem on top 77-62. Coming out of the timeout the Stars suddenly found a spark and began to turn the tables on the Wildcats.

Rocky boy trimmed the Harlem lead to 78-70 when Lawrence was able to make a great feed into Cole at the rim for an 80-70 Wildcat lead with just 2:45 remaining. The Stars kept attacking the Wildcats on offense and managed to get stops on defense trimming the Wildcat lead to 80-77 with :46.8 remaining on the clock. LeValdo connected on 1-2 from the charity stripe moments later to make it a two possession game with time running down. Ramone added a free throw with :14.4 left to maintain a three point lead but the Stars still had a shot. Following a timeout Rocky Boy tried to get the shot they wanted to tie the game but an outstanding defensive effort from Shambo kept the Stars from even getting a shot off securing a hard fought 82-79 Harlem win and punching the Wildcats ticket to the state tournament in Bozeman.

Harlem got big time contributions from everyone in the line up in securing the big win. Ramone finished the contest 14-23 from the field for a game high 36 points. Ramone's effort included a 5-9 performance from beyond the arc, nine rebounds eight assists and three steals. Lawrence added 14 points to the Wildcat effort while Cichosz finished with 13 points and eight rebounds. Cole added nine points and eight rebounds as well.

Saturday night the Wildcats took on a very familiar foe in the Northern B Divisional Championship contest, the Malta Mustangs. The two teams had split their regular season meetings with each winning on the others home court. At the District 2B Tournament in Glasgow the Wildcats defeated the Mustangs 71-56 to earn the top seed entering the divisional tournament. Harlem entered the contest trying to regroup after an exciting but exhausting semifinal win the night before as well as weary road legs after traveling back and forth from Harlem each night of the tournament.

The Wildcats took a 20-16 lead after eight minutes of action only to see the Mustangs even the score at 35-35 heading into the halftime locker room. Malta had all the momentum to start the third and took a 57-45 lead into the fourth quarter. Harlem fought hard but it was not meant to be as they fell to the Mustangs 83-67 to finish second at the Northern B Divisional. Cichosz led the Wildcats with 19 points, Lawrence added 15 for the Wildcats while Cole scored 14 and Ramone 12 in the loss.

This marks the first time the Harlem Wildcat boys basketball team has qualified for the Montana Class B State Basketball Tournament since 2007. In that appearance the Wildcats had some success finishing fourth after falling to Columbus in the Consolation Final. The Wildcats last won the State Tournament back in 2002 with a thrilling 69-67 win over the Wolf Point Wolves.

The 2022 Montana Class B State Boys Basketball Tournament will be played March 10-12 at the Brick Breedan Fieldhouse on the campus of Montana State University in Bozeman. The Wildcats will be the No. 2 North Seed and will begin play on Thursday, March 10 against the No. 2 West Eureka Lions (10-13). The Lions fell to the Bigfork Valkyries in the Western B Divisional Championship this past Sunday. A win will have the Wildcats taking on the winner between the No. 1 South versus No. 3 North Shelby on Friday, March 11. The Southern B Divisional will be played this weekend with Lodge Grass, Lame Deer and Columbus among the favorites to take the top seed.