Red Devils stay hot in two wins

The Noxon Red Devils boys’ basketball team remained hot with a pair of victories this past weekend, 58-37 over Drummond and a 76-68 win over Philipsburg.

The Noxon Lady Devils, however, were burned twice, on the road Friday by Philipsburg, 65-18, the Saturday night at home by Drummond, 43-6. 

The boys' wins appeared to give them the 13C conference regular season title.  They finished tied with Lincoln in conference play at 10-1, but Noxon won their only head-to-head meeting, 79-66 in Noxon two weeks ago. 

However, further complicating the regular season title situation was Noxon’s 59-52 home court loss to St. Regis, which also closed the regular season at 10-1 in 13C play.  St. Regis lost to Lincoln earlier this month, creating a three-way tie which will ultimately be decided by games between the three 10-1 teams. 

District 13C play begins this weekend in Fenchtown. 

Saturday in Noxon, the Red Devils ran out to a 19-5 lead after the first quarter of play behind 6-4 senior post Shane Murray’s eight points and five points from senior forward Ricky Williams.  

Drummond managed to trim one point off the first quarter lead by halftime, with Noxon leading 28-15.  Murray, who scored four points in the second quarter, had three in the third as Noxon held off a Drummond rally that pulled the visitors to within 10 points, 40-30 heading into the fourth quarter. 

Murray, who finished with a game high 23 points as he controlled the paint area of the court, hit four free throws and added a pair of two-pointers in the last eight minutes of play to help Noxon preserve the 21-point league win. 

Cameron Blair added 14 points for the Red Devils, while Williams contributed 10.  Michael James paced Drummond with 14 points. 

Friday night the Red Devils took on Philipsburg and emerged from the first quarter with a narrow, 19-16 lead.  The Prospectors outscored Noxon 21-18 in the second quarter to knot the score at 37-37 at the half. 

Noxon cranked up their defensive pressure in the third quarter, holding Philipsburg to 10 points while scoring 19 of their own.  That gave them a 56-47 lead heading into the final quarter. 

Philipsburg trimmed one point off the Noxon lead in the fourth quarter, but they could not overcome the earlier Red Devils’ lead as Noxon hung on for the win. 

Murray finished with a game best 31 points, most of them rebound putbacks or short-range jumpers as he dominated inside play.  Blair chipped in 21 points for Noxon, while Williams scored 14 and Shane Hatchel added 10 to the Red Devils cause. 

The wins raised Noxon to 14-3 overall. 

The Noxon girls, meanwhile, had a rocky weekend, falling behind Philipsburg 25-5 after one quarter of play Friday.  By halftime, the Lady Devils trailed 39-9. 

Philipsburg continued to pour it on in the second half, outscoring Noxon 28-9 over the final two quarters to seal the lopsided victory. 

Things didn’t get better for the Lady Devils Saturday in Noxon, as they scored just two points in the first quarter to fall behind Drummond 11-2. 

The visitors then cranked up their defense, holding Noxon scoreless in the second quarter while racking up 16 of their own.  The Lady Prospectors led 27-2 at the half. 

Drumond held Noxon to four total second half points while scoring 16 of their own to ice the 13C conference win.  The victory boosted Drummond to 8-3 in league play and 9-8 overall, while Noxon fell to 1-8 in 13C play and 2-12 overall. 

Charlee Cline led Drummond with a game-high 21 points, while teammate Kimber Parsons added 17 points for the Lady Prospectors. 

Both schools’ boys’ and girls' teams will take part in the 13C District tourney this weekend in Frenchtown.