Tourney roundup: Trotters clip Superior, 29-28

The 14C and 7B boys and girls basketball tournaments were a treat for local hoop fans from the opening tip-off.

In Superior, a last second desperation shot by the Lady Bobcats circled the rim and fell off, preserving a nail-biter of a 29-28 win for the Trotters.

Following is a round-up of other games played by Sanders and Mineral counties teams.

Also Tuesday night, this time in Plains, the third seed from 7B Horsemen took on Troy, the No. 6 seed and Plains came away with a comfortable yet hard fought 59-45 win over the Trojan boys.

“We are deeper this year on the bench which really help us play through foul trouble,” Plains boys coach Tyrel Allen said. “Without Darren (Standeford, who sat out the game after a late season leg injury) we needed to have our role players play much more and they have done the job”.

The Horsemen would go on to win Saturday consolation final, a 52-50, down-to-the-wire thriller at Mission High in St. Ignatius, host of the 7B tourney.

Also in Tuesday 7B action, the St. Ignatius Bulldogs took a 22-5 first quarter lead and never looked back versus the host Superior Bulldogs. Superior was without the services of 6-5 freshman standout Landon Richards, who slipped and hurt his head the day before the Tuesday game.

Then it was on to Thursday for the 14C main tournament at Polson’s Linderman Gym, an excellent facility for such an event.

In a noon game, eventual tourney runner up Two Eagle River (TER) came away with a 30-19 girls win over fourth seed Noxon, sending the Lady Devils into the consolation round.

Next up in Polson Thursday was another fan pleasing game that ended with the Hot Springs boys pulling out a 42-35 win over Noxon. Hot Springs took a 17-3 first quarter lead over the Red Devils, then fended off a second half comeback by Noxon that fell short.

Friday, down the road from Polson in Pablo, St. Ignatius’ top seeded Lady Bulldogs ran out to a commanding 27-3 lead over outgunned Plains on their way to a 48-11 semi-final win. The loss steered Plains into the consolation rounds, while St. Ignatius went on to the championship final.

Also Friday night in Pablo, Thompson Falls’ girls engaged in a tight battle with Eureka, with the Lady Hawks escaping with a 60-54 win over the Lady Lions. T Falls sophomore forward Gabbi Hannum scored a game high 27 points to lead the Lady Hawks offensive effort.

Back up Highway 93 in Polson Friday afternoon, Hot Springs number two seed girls pulled out a narrow, last minute win over St. Regis 39-33. The win sent Hot Springs to the 14C championship game against top-seed Charlo, while St. Regis worked it’s way back through the consolation round and won the consolation final, thus earning a play-in game for the Divisional tournament.

St. Regis’ girls knocked off Noxon 34-30 in yet another last minute win Saturday.

Also Saturday, Noxon’s boys pulled off the closest thing to an upset when they beat number two seed Charlo 52-50, knocking the Vikings out of the tournament and sending the Red Devils to the consolation final where they fell to Hot Springs. Junior Ricky Williams scored 21 points for Noxon in the win over Charlo.

Noxon had defeated Charlo once during the regular season.

In a Saturday morning game in Pablo, Plains Horsemen advanced to the consolation final with a commanding 70-41 win over Superior, knocking the Bobcats from the 7B tourney.

Plains went on to win the consolation round with a 52-50 win over St. Ignatius’ boys, while the Plains girls lost to Eureka in the girls consolation final, 60-37.