St. Regis boys off to good start; girls stumble
St. Regis senior Kylee Thompson brings the ball upcourt at the Ronan tip-off tournament. (Chuck Bandel/Mineral Independent)
St. Regis center Andrew Sanford grabs a rebound at the Ronan tip-off tournament. (Chuck Bandel/Mineral Independent)
St. Regis's Ian Farris (15) dribbles against Valley Christian during the Ronan tip-off tournament. (Chuck Bandel/Mineral Independent)
There were mixed results for St. Regis High School basketball fans in the wake of last weekend’s Ronan Tip-off Tournament.
The boys opened their season with two impressive wins, while the girls, despite a pair of losses can look to the season ahead and beyond with hopes of a bright future.
The Tiger boys kicked off their 2019-20 season with a 57-42 win over Valley Christian. Senior Ian Farris scored the first basket of the year for St. Regis when he stole the ball and banked in a layup in the game’s opening minute for a 2-0 Tiger lead.
The two teams traded baskets for most of the opening quarter that saw both squads employ aggressive defenses. However, led by the scoring and rebounding of 6-foot-4-inch junior Andrew Sanford and 6-foot-2-inch senior Nicholas Day, St. Regis’ edge in controlling the glass began to emerge. The Tigers led 16-10 after one quarter.
Sanford picked up his third foul early on in the second period, sending him to the bench for several minutes. During that time, the lead changed hands with Valley
Christian holding a temporary 17-16 lead before the swarming Tiger defense began to regain control.
St. Regis built their first half lead to 25-19 before Valley Christian popped in a 3-point shot at the buzzer, cutting the Tigers halftime advantage to 25-22.
In the third quarter, the lead changed hands or was tied four times before a pair of layups off VC turnovers allowed St. Regis to ease ahead 38-34 with one quarter remaining.
The final quarter opened with St. Regis hitting a pair of long range triples and the Tiger defense smothering Valley Christian and forcing turnovers that allowed them to build a 50-38 lead midway through the final eight minutes. The Tigers held on to that lead on their way to the season-opening win.
Saturday the Tiger boys raced to an impressive 33-4 first quarter lead behind a stifling defense that overwhelmed Drummond and propelled St. Regis to a 68-27 win.
Three different Tiger players drained 3-point shots in the opening quarter and St. Regis once again owned the offensive and defensive boards. By halftime the Tigers ruled 44-12. They extended that lead to 55-21 after three periods as they coasted to the win.
The Lady Tigers, who have only one senior on the team and rely on one junior, five sophomores and two freshmen to fill out the squad, opened the tournament with a hard-fought loss to the Valley Christian girls, 35-31 on Friday night.
Saturday against Drummond, the Lady Tigers fought gamely against a taller, more experience team but fell 53-37.
Throughout the game, the young Lady Tigers demonstrated promise of good things in the years ahead with their scrappy, no-quit style of play. The team’s lone senior scored 10 points but it was not enough to offset the blanket defense played by Valley Christian.
Up next for the Tigers and Lady Tigers are a pair of road games. The teams will travel to Charlo Thursday, Dec. 19 to take on the Vikings, then journey down I-90 the following night to Superior to play Clark Fork Dec. 20.