Plains Horsemen secure trip to Divisionals
Plains’ Esvin Reyes goes against Hot Springs’ Jack McAllister during Friday’s game at the 14-C District tournament in Ronan. (Scott Shindledecker/Valley Press)
Plains guard Treydon Brouillette gets between Hot Springs defenders Lincoln Slonaker (2), Jack McAllister (3) and Brandon Knudsen (20) for a shot attempt during Friday’s 14-C District tournament in Ronan. Plains beat the Savage Heat, 70-46, and St. Regis, 55-45, Saturday to claim the title. (Scott Shindledecker/Valley Press)
Plains’ Jake Weyers (44) sizes up a free throw during Friday’s game in the 14-C District tournament. Weyers’ 3-point shooting helped the Horsemen to a 70-46 win over Hot Springs. Plains beat St. Regis Saturday for the title. (Scott Shindledecker/Valley Press)
The Plains Horsemen celebrate winning the 14-C District tournament Saturday night in Ronan. (Chuck Bandel/Valley Press)
Third time is not always the charm.
Case in point, the Saturday showdown between the Plains High Horsemen and the St. Regis Tigers for the District 14C boys basketball tournament crown and a guaranteed trip to the Divisional round this weekend in Frenchtown.
After sweeping the Tigers in their two regular season games, Plains made it three in a row with a 55-45 win over St. Regis to secure a spot in the next round.
For St. Regis, the loss set them up for a challenge from consolation round winner Hot Springs thanks to the Savage Heat’s 59-47 victory over Charlo. Under Montana high school basketball rules, the consolation round winner can challenge the second place finisher for the right to move on to Divisionals if the two have not played each other earlier in the tournament.
The challenge game was played Monday evening in Ronan, where St. Regis beat Hot Springs 65-52 to advance from 14C to Divisional.
The Plains-St. Regis game turned out to be a near copy of the first two meetings between the teams during the regular season. Both games were settled in favor of Plains by roughly the same margin as the final matchup.
As was the case in their earlier encounters, Plains proved to have too much firepower inside and out for St. Regis, although the Tigers proved to be a worthy opponent once again.
Saturday night, St. Regis once more came out strong to open the game and despite some timely scoring by Plains senior guard Treydon Brouillette, the Tigers held a 10-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.
By halftime, the two rivals had battled to a 20-20 tie as both defenses played with intense pressure throughout the first half.
The often physical game became a factor midway through the second half as players from each team began to wrack up personal fouls.
Horsemen junior post Parker Flock and senior guard Jake Weyers both had four fouls by the start of the fourth quarter, but the Tigers could not cash in at the free throw line.
Flock fouled out of the game with just under two minutes remaining, while Weyers and St. Regis junior post Andrew Sanford managed to survive to the end with four fouls each.
Plains senior forward Esvin Reyes scored several key baskets in the third quarter as the Horsemen began to wear down and pull away from the Tigers and by the end of the third Plains held a 38-26 lead.
With Brouillette and junior forward Kade Pardee scoring inside and out, the Horsemen managed to hold onto the lead the rest of the way. The victory gives the Horsemen the No. 1 seed coming out of District 14C.
Plains advanced to the championship game the day before with a convincing 70-46 win over Hot Springs, while St. Regis likewise dominated Two Eagle River, 77-44 to enter the championship matchup.
Hot Springs, meanwhile, behind the scoring of senior guard Brandon Knudsen, slid into the consolation bracket, where they beat Noxon 66-53 to set up the consolation final against Charlo, which bested Two Eagle River in the other end of the consolation round.