Seeley-Swan sweeps Superior

Seeley-Swan is usually considered a welcoming place for folks to visit.

It was not so welcoming for the Superior boys’ and girls’ high school basketball teams this past week who ran into the hometown Blackhawks’ boys’ and girls’ teams. 

The Superior boys were defeated by Seeley’s boys, 61-51, while the Lady Bobcats’ girls fell to their counterparts from Seeley by a 49-24 score in a pair of non-conference clashes. 

The Seeley boys, members of the newly enlarged Western 13C conference and the Superior boys, from the Western 7B league, fought to a 10-10 draw after the first quarter of their game this past Friday night in Seeley. 

The host team then turned up their defense and held Superior to eight points in the second quarter while they scored 18, making the score 28-18 at halftime. 

Superior fought back in the third quarter behind sophomore guard Gannon Quinlan’s 11 third quarter points but only managed to shave one point off the Blackhawks’ lead, giving the home team a 44-35 lead with one quarter of regulation left in the game. 

Quinlan hit a pair of threes in his 11-point outburst, part of his game and team-best 19 points.  But Seeley held serve on their home court, outscoring Superior 17-16 over the final eight minutes of play to wrap up the 10-point victory. 

Seeley had four players score in double figures, led by Derick Brovold’s 13 points.  Blake Irwin chipped in 12, Noah Stone had 11 and Jay Garland had 10 points as part of the balanced Seeley offense. 

The win boosted Seeley to 9-6 on the year, they are 5-3 in 13C play. 

The loss dropped Superior to 6-6 on the year.  The Bobcats are 1-3 in Western 7B games. 

A scheduled pair of boys’ and girls' games versus Eureka this past Saturday evening in Superior was cancelled due to inclement weather. 

In the girls’ game, Superior came away from the first eight minutes of play with a 10-6 lead of the Lady Blackhawks. 

However, Seeley outscored Superior 11-4 in the second quarter to erase the Lady Cats’ lead and give the home team a 17-14 lead at the half. 

The Blackhawks then erupted for 18 points in the third period while limiting the visitors to seven, increasing their lead to 35-21 going into the final quarter of play. 

The home team then clamped down on Superior in the final eight minutes, holding them to three points while scoring 14 of their own to secure the final margin of victory. 

Senior Braelynn Mangold led Superior with 10 points, as the Lady Cats overall record fell to 5-8 on the season.  They are 2-3 in 13C games. 

Next on the schedule for Superior’s boys and girls are 7B conference games this Friday (Feb 7) at Plains, and Saturday (Feb 8) at home versus Troy.