Tigers rebound with win over Victor

There’s a logjam atop the boys Western 13C conference regular season, with three teams tied with one loss each.

And those single losses are evenly shared between the three teams:  Lincoln beat St. Regis, St. Regis beat Noxon and Noxon beat Lincoln. 

Stay tuned for the solution. 

As for St. Regis, the Tigers, who were momentarily derailed by Lincoln last week, got back on track this past week with a pair of wins to close out their regular season schedule. 

The Tigers snuck by Hamilton (class A) JV boys 53-50 in overtime this past Tuesday, then routed Victor 78-21 Friday night in St. Regis. 

The Lady Tigers also had a good week, knocking off Hamilton’s JV team 54-44, then rolling over the Victor Lady Pirates 45-23. 

The St Regis boys opened their final week of the regular season with a squeaker over Hamilton, which took a 16-10 lead after the first quarter of play. 

But St. Regis held serve in the second quarter and trimmed two points off the Broncs lead, leaving the visitors with a 33-29 halftime edge. 

Hamilton increased the lead in the third quarter, outscoring St. Regis 8-5 as both defenses tightened the screws.  That gave Hamilton a 41-34 lead heading into the final quarter of regulation. 

St. Regis outscored Hamilton 13-6 in the fourth quarter as seniors Kaden Sanders and Ayden Rael scored six and five points respectively to knot the game at 47-47 at the end of regulation play. 

In the four-minute overtime period, forward Barrett Bessette scored four points and senior Kaleb Park added two points while the St. Regis defense limited Hamilton to three points. 

That effort allowed the Tigers to pull out to a last-minute, three-point lead which held up through the final ticks of the game clock. 

Sophomore guard Conner Lulis paced St. Regis with 13 points, including a pair of threes, and Sanders added nine in the Tigers’ victory. Ash Lakhart scored 23 points for Hamilton to lead all scorers. 

Friday night against Victor, St. Regis erupted for 27 first quarter points, including eight by Sanders and seven from Rael, giving them a 27-10 lead at the end of one quarter. 

Nate Bohn and Bessette scored six points each for the Tigers in the second quarter as they outscored the visitors 24-3, giving them a 51-13 lead at the half. 

The Tigers, with several reserves getting valuable playing time in advance of this weekend’s District 13C playoff tourney, outscored Victor 27-8 in the second half as they coasted to the win in the final regular season game. 

Sanders had 11 points to lead St. Regis, which also got 10 from Lulis in the win. 

“It was a great way for our seniors to go out,” said St. Regis coach Jesse Allan. “What these young men lack in height, they sure make up for in heart and determination”. 

The group of seniors, including Sanders, Rael and Hunter Stolla, combined for two conference championships, four district titles and a 17-1 record this season, including an unblemished record at home this year. 

St. Regis’ girls also had a good final weekend of the regular season, beginning with their 10-point win over Hamilton’s JV team, 54-44.  The Lady Tigers opened a 16-12 lead after the first quarter of play, then weathered a Hamilton second quarter rally before holding on for a 25-25 halftime tie. 

St. Regis limited the visitors to six points in the third quarter, while scoring 12 of their own to create a 37-31 lead with one quarter left to play. 

The Lady Tigers outscored Hamilton 17-13 over the final eight minutes of play to secure the non-conference win. 

Guard Shannon Todd and Shylah Dalka tied for the St. Regis team scoring lead, with each player tossing in 12 points for the Lady Tigers. Shelby Simkins added 10 points to the St. Regis cause. Kassies McKee led all scorers with 13 for Hamilton. 

Friday night against Victor, the Lady Tigers eked out a 6-4 lead after one quarter, then added four points to their advantage in the second quarter, giving them a 15-9 lead at the half. 

St. Regis then held Victor to four points in the third quarter and scored 14 points to take a 29-13 lead going into the fourth quarter. 

The Lady Tigers outscored the Lady Pirates 16-10 in the final quarter to clinch the 13C conference victory. 

The two wins gave St. Regis’ girls a 4-8 league record, and an 8-10 season mark as they concluded the regular season. 

Victor fell to 3-5 in the league and 5-11 overall. 

Averie Burnham led all scorers with 18 points for the Lady Tigers, who also got 11 points from Dalka. 

Both schools' boys’ and girls' teams will take part in this coming weekend’s Western 13C District tournament in Frenchtown.