Horsemen take second place at District Tournament

Ryan Ovitt dodges one of Noxon’s players to take a shot during the Plains senior night earlier this season.

Alec Cole moves the ball down the court after a rebound during a game between the Horsemen and St. Regis Tigers.

by Adam Robertson Clark Fork Valley
| February 24, 2016 11:56 AM

Alec Cole moves the ball down the court after a rebound during a game between the Horsemen and St. Regis Tigers.

PLAINS – After an intense game against the Arlee Scarlet Warriors, the Horsemen came out as the runner up in the District 14-C Tournament.

The Horsemen started off slow in the first quarter, struggling against the Arlee defense as they pushed to get ahead. It was a hard fight, though, and the quarter closed with a final score of 4-19 to Arlee.

The Plains team rallied in the second quarter and burst back into a strong game. They kept up with the Warriors, matching them point for point and nearly getting the same number of baskets. The gap was too much for Plains to get the lead and the half came to a close with Plains behind to a score of 26-42.

The Horsemen tried to gain the lead as the third quarter began, but Arlee’s defense was too strong. They plaid well, but had trouble improving their score. The third quarter ended with Plains behind, 39-64.

As the final quarter began, the Plains offense burst out strong, pushing through the Arlee defense. Their defense also improved and they kept the Warriors from getting the scores they had in the rest of the game. It was not quite enough, though, and Arlee’s defense was able to keep the Horsemen from tying the game. The game closed with a final score of 54-74.

The Horsemen also played games against St. Regis and Hot Springs, both of which were victories putting them into the championship round. THe game against the Tigers closed with a score of 75-32 and the game against Hot Springs ended 48-46.

Head Coach Carl Benson recalled St. Regis could not handle the Horsemen’s speed and they got ahead fairly quickly. He also called the game against Hot Springs a barnburner with how close it was.

Some of the younger kids got some play time during the tournament; Benson commended Jay VonHeeder and Sam Rehbein for their performances.

“They played real well against those kids and we got the win to get into the championship,” he said.

For the championship round, the boys were all fired up and ready for the game. Benson recalled the Warriors got ahead early, though the Horsemen played about even later in the game. They could not overcome the advantage, though, and the victory was taken from them. The slow start was not too surprising, but not making baskets was what killed the win.

“That’s kind of our fortey,” Benson said. “We start out a little slow ... we played pretty well defensively, but couldn’t get the ball in the hole and we got down and couldn’t catch up.”

He is looking forward to the divisional tournament this week. He said they are on a good side of the bracket and he thinks it will be a good tournament. They play Manahtten Christian on Thursday; the coach noted they are a very large team, with many players over six feet tall, and it will be intereting to see how the Horsemen’s speed matches up against them. The team’s goal was to win 18 matches and, with 15 currently under their belts, the divisional tournament is a good place to finish that out.