Caleb Ball sets St. Regis scoring record

It was a night for the record books Saturday in St. Regis.

One record was a new all-time leading scorer in the high school’s basketball history.

The other was the interruption of a Western 14C winning streak which the Tigers had run to 15 over the past two seasons.

That streak was ended by Charlo, which bumped, at least temporarily, St. Regis out of first place in this year’s boys basketball standings via a 65-54 win over the Tigers.

The real show, however, was the first basket scored by senior forward Caleb Ball, early in the opening quarter.

Shot number one broke the school mark of 1,429 points set by Lee Vugrenes when he was a Tiger from 1992-94. Ball, who came into the game with 1,428 points for his career, tickled the twines with a two-pointer that gave him 1,430 points. He finished the game with 22 total points, giving him 1,450 for his storied time as a Tigers roundballer with roughly half of the current season still to be played.

For the Tigers, who hammered Alberton 65-28 Thursday night, the loss to Charlo was their first of the year, leaving them with a 9-1 season record, and moving them to 5-1 in 14C games.

Charlo moved into the top spot with a 5-0 league record and a 7-2 mark as they won their sixth consecutive game when they snapped the nine game St. Regis win streak.

Also this weekend, the St. Regis Lady Tigers split their two games, falling Saturday night to Charlo, 55-31, after beating winless Alberton 55-27 Thursday.

On a night when a large crowd gave Ball, St Regis’ only senior among a solid group of sophomores and freshmen, a warm ovation for his record-breaking shot, the Tigers jumped out to a hard-fought 23-17 lead over the visiting Vikings.

Charlo, which features a trio of strong seniors in their starting lineup, used their superior experience and height to erase the early deficit and trailed by one, 37-36 at the halftime break.

Ball scored 11 of his game-high 22 points in the first quarter, then was held scoreless in the third period as Charlo tied the game at 47-each heading into the final eight minutes of play.

The stingy Viking defense stifled St. Regis in the final quarter, holding them to seven points, including five by Ball, while scoring 18 of their own to clinch the victory.

In addition to Ball’s 22, the Tigers got 15 points from junior power forward John Pruitt. Charlo had three players score in double figures, paced by Keaton Piedalue’s 18.

Thursday evening in another home game against Alberton, which is playing its first season of varsity ball after a co-op with nearby Superior was dissolved, St. Regis ran and shot it’s way to a 25-7 first quarter lead and never trailed the rest of the game.

By halftime, the Tigers were up 38-12. They outscored the visiting Panthers 27-16 in the second half to secure the league win.

Ball was the Tigers’ leading scorer with 22 points, while Shea Fredette led Alberton with 15.

The St. Regis Lady Tigers also had a tough time in their Saturday night game with the Charlo Lady Vikings.

Charlo, which came to town sporting a 3-1 league record (their only loss was to league-leading Superior), used their height and experience to grab a 16-8 lead over the Lady Tigers by the end of the first eight minutes of play.

They extended their lead in a low scoring second quarter when they outscored the home team 9-5 to take a 25-13 halftime lead. Paced by the game-best 25 points from Sheadon Kain, the Lady Vikes outscored St. Regis 30-18 in the second half to wrap up the league win.

The loss dropped the Lady Vikings to 5-5 overall this season and 2-4 in league play, while Charlo held onto second place in the 14C with a 4-1 mark and a 6-3 overall record.

It was a different story for the Lady Tigers Thursday night versus Alberton, St. Regis exploded to a 25-2 lead after one quarter of play. That lead grew to 40-12 by the end of the first half as the Lady Tigers used the scoring of senior Macy Hill and the inside play of sophomore post Avery Burnham to build an insurmountable 51-17 lead going into the fourth quarter.

The never-quit Lady Panthers outscored St. Regis 10-4 in the final quarter 10 but they could not overcome the big deficit.

St. Regis has a pair of league games at home this week, with I-90 rival Superior coming to town Friday evening, followed by a visit from Noxon Saturday afternoon.