Bobcats take first place at district tournament

Nick Ianniello

Mineral Independent

The Superior Bobcats Boys Basketball team took first place at the Western Montana District 14 – C Basketball Tournament in Ronan last week, and will be heading to Butte for the Divisional tournament next week.

“They just played really well as a team. They’re outstanding athletes and they just rise to the occasion,” said Bobcats Head Coach Dan Lucier.

The first seeded Bobcats, along with the second seeded Noxon Red Devils, had a bye for the first game of the tournament, so the Bobcats first faced off against the Hot Springs Savage Heat Friday evening.

The Bobcats took an early 12 – 7 lead over the Savage Heat in the first quarter and widened it by outscoring them 6 – 2 for a 18 – 9 lead at halftime.

The Noxon turned up the “Savage Heat” in the second half offensively, but it was not enough to overcome the Bobcats who outscored the Savage Heat 16 – 12 in the third quarter.

The Savage Heat outscored the Bobcats 14 – 12 in the fourth quarter, but it was not enough to overcome the Bobcats solid lead which gave them a 46 – 35 victory.

“The guys really played well and they really improved every time they played,” Lucier said.

Tyler Stenberg led the Bobcats in against the Savage Heat with 19 points and 12 rebounds, while Drew Walen racked up 11 points for the Bobcats.

The Bobcats stepped up for a second win that proved to be somewhat of an upset when they played the Noxon Red Devils for the championship game Saturday evening.

The last time the Bobcats and the Red Devils faced off on Feb. 14, Noxon came away with a 47 – 28 victory.

“There was a lot of speculation after Noxon beat us last Saturday that they would beat us in the tournament, but we knew we were better than them,” Lucier said.

Superior took an slight lead over Noxon early in the game, outscoring the Red Devils 8 – 6 in the first quarter and again 12 – 9 in the second quarter, heading into halftime with a 20 – 15 lead.

The Red Devils attempted a comeback in the third quarter, outscoring the Bobcats 10 – 8 to close Superior’s lead up to 28 – 25.

However, the Bobcats hit hard offensively in the fourth quarter and outscored the Red Devils 15 – 5 for a 43 – 30 win.

Stenberg led the team in scoring with 20 points while also bringing in eight rebounds for the Bobcats. Rollin Rennick followed Stenberg with 10 points in the game against Noxon.

“We had to be patient on offense and shoot only when we had good shots, which we did do,” Lucier said.

The Bobcats will head to Butte’s Maroon Activity Center Thursday to compete in the Divisional tournament against Sheridan.

The Bobcats are 14 – 6 so far this season.