Crabb scores 34 in Superior's win over Troy

One of the many fun things about the approach, and arrival, of Montana high school sports is playoff scrambling as the regular season comes to a conclusion.

Superior’s girls got 34 points from freshman Josie Crabb, while the boys took advantage of 30 from freshman Gannon Quinlan to stir a pot apparently needing some scrambling.

A classic example of that is the scrambling for playoff seeding is taking place with both the Superior boys and girls teams.

The Lady Bobcats, who were deemed likely to be the fifth seed from the Western 7B conference prior to this past week of play, now have a legitimate shot at moving up a notch to the fourth seed.

And not to be out done, the Superior boys moved into a tie for the fourth seed with Mission.

Both the Bobcats and Lady Bobcats host Mission this coming Friday night in a seeding battle supreme.

And both Superior teams have morphed into dangerous first round opponents in the tumultuous 7B playoff race.

The Lady Bobcats picked up a pair of big wins this past weekend, first knocking off the Plains Trotters, a team which started out 7-1 but has struggled in recent weeks. Superior upended the Plains girls 57-47 Friday night at home, then journeyed to Troy Saturday night and routed the Lady Trojans, 67-31.

The two victories moved the Lady Cats to within one game of the fourth seeded Trotters with two games remaining in regular season play. They play the Trojans again tonight (Feb 6) at home in a rescheduled game, then host Mission this Friday (Feb 9) before concluding their regular season this Saturday in Thompson Falls.

The Superior boys split their games with Plains and Troy, falling to the visitors from Plains 55-33 Friday night, then rebounding for a narrow 56-53 win Saturday in Troy.

Plains girls meanwhile, run the gauntlet of Eureka and Mission, this Friday and Saturday evening. Eureka is tied for second in the 7B with Thompson Falls, while Mission sits atop the current league standings.

Friday night in Superior, the Lady Cats fell behind Plains 12-4 after one quarter play. They regrouped in the second quarter, outscoring the Trotters 18-5 to erase that early deficit and take a 22-17 halftime lead.

While their swarming defense held Plains to 10 third quarter points, their resurgent offense was cashing in on double figure scoring from three players: Braelynn Mangold, Eddye Betts, and freshman standout Crabb. That combination was instrumental in Superior out-pointing the visitors 23-10 in the third quarter on their way to a daunting 45-27 lead heading into the final quarter of play.

Plains staged a furious rally in the fourth, outscoring the home girls 20-12 but the Trotters could not overcome the early Superior lead.

Plains forward Blakely Lakko had a team high 14 points for the Trotters, but it was not enough to overcome the three-pronged scoring contributions of Crabb (13 points), Betts (13) and Mangold (12)

Saturday night the Lady Cats were in Troy for a league game against the win-less Lady Trojans. Superior blew out to a 25-7 first quarter lead, then kept up the pressure in the second quarter as they raced to halftime with a commanding 47-18 advantage over Troy.

Superior outscored the home team 20-13 in the second half to secure the win.

Crabb exploded for a season-best and game-high 34 points to lead the Lady Cats to the victory.

The Superior boys, meanwhile, got off to a rocky start against the Plains Horsemen Friday night and found themselves in a 15-3 hole after the first quarter. Plains increased that lead to 29-13 at halftime. The Horsemen then outscored Superior 26-20 over the final two quarters to improve their season record to 10-6 and boost their 7B mark to 7-4.

Aden West had a game-high 17 points for the victors, while Quinlan topped Superior with 12.

Saturday night after the long bus ride to Troy, the Bobcats got off to a sluggish start, falling behind Troy 9-7 following the first eight minutes of play. Troy then outscored the Cats 20-10 to take a 29-17 advantage at the half.

The second half was a different story as the Cats, riding the outside shooting of Quinlan and the inside play of fellow freshman Landon Richards, a 6-5 post, to a 20-8 third quarter advantage that resulted in a 37-37 tie with one quarter to play in regulation.

Quinlan and company came out on top of a back and forth final quarter battle, outscoring the host team 19-16 to lock up the crucial conference win.

With the victory, Superior lifted its 7B record to 2-5 and its overall mark to 5-9. The win snapped a five-game losing streak and kept the Cats tied with St. Ignatius for the conference’s fifth seed.

The Bobcats play at home tonight (Feb 6) against Troy, then host St. Ignatius (Mission) this Friday night. The Cats close out their regular season with a game Saturday in Thompson Falls against the Blue Hawks.