Plains teams have tough week
The carnage continues for both the Plains boys and girls basketball teams as they battle through high school’s version of a rebuilding program, young but promising teams.
The Plains boys were soundly beaten twice, possibly three times this past week. They opened the week this past Monday by falling to Western 7B foe Mission 84-19, then concluded the week with a 69-14 defeat at the hands of 7B conference leading Bigfork, 69-14.
No reports or scores were made available for a game versus Superior Friday night.
In a year that features a mostly sophomore and freshmen line-up with promising but inexperienced young players, the Horsemen fell behind Mission early and big, trailing 36-7 at the end of the first quarter of play.
By halftime the Mission lead had grown to 66-14 and the Montana high school Mercy rule, which keeps the clock running to prevent huge blowout losses, was in effect.
St. Ignatius-based Mission added another 13 points to their lead in the second half to account for the final score.
The loss dropped Plains to 0-7 in league play and 0-9 overall in this most frustrating of seasons for them and their fans.
Mission rose to 6-1 in 7B play and 12-1 overall with the win.
With no stats or scores available for the boys encounter with Superior, the Horsemen moved on to Saturday night when they hosted 7B league leader Bigfork.
Again, the Horsemen fell behind by a large margin from the onset of play and were behind 23-3 after the first eight minutes. Bigfork upped its lead to 40-12 by halftime behind a balanced scoring attack that featured two players in double figures, led by Cole Knopik, who led all scorers with 12 points.
The Valkyries continued to pour it on in the second half, outscoring Plains 17-2 in the third period and 12-0 in the final quarter to reach the final total of 69-14.
With the win, Bigfork maintained its slender half-game lead over Mission as the Valykries climbed to 8-1 in league action.
Plains fell to 0-8 in Western 7B play and 0-10 overall this season.
The Plains girls, the Trotters also had a tough week, beginning with a 60-29 loss to Mission this past Monday evening in Plains. The girls were behind 29-16 by halftime and could not catch up with the Lady Bulldogs the rest of the way. Lady Bulldog Kooper Page led all scorers with 27 points on the night.
The loss put the Trotters 7B mark at 0-6, while they fell to 0-8 overall.
Friday night the Trotters took on the visiting Lady Bobcats from Superior, with much the same results, falling to the visitors 53-29.
Plains trailed 15-8 at the end of the first quarter as Superior senior Cassie Green scored seven of her game-high 19 points in the opening frame. Lady Bobcat Darby Haskins led the way for Superior in the second quarter as she exploded for 12 points on four three-pointers in the second quarter to quash any Trotter hopes of keeping the game close.
Superior led 38-12 at the half and held off a third quarter Plains rally to nail down the win.
Carlie Wagoner led Plains with nine points.
Saturday night it was back into the fray for the Trotters, who found themselves trailing league-leader Bigfork 45-4 at the half in what would become a 73-9 loss.
Bigfork’s reserves kept up the pressure in the second half outscoring Plains 21-5 in the third quarter and pitching a 7-0 shutout against the Trotters in the game’s final period.
Lady Valkyrie Emma Berreth paced all scorers with 21 points.
The loss dropped Plains to 0-7 in league play and 0-9 on the year, while Bigfork came out of the game with an 8-1 league-best record and a sparkling 15-1 mark overall.
The Trotters return to action tonight (Tuesday) with a game at Hot Springs, then close out their regular season with a road game versus Mission this Saturday.