Red Devils fight way into divisional round
Noxon’s boys basketball team lives to fight again in the Montana Class C playoff battle.
The Red Devils went 2-2 in the three-days of the District 13C postseason tournament this past week, leaving town with a ticket to the next round of the playoffs in hand.
In that sense, mission accomplished.
Noxon, which finished in a three-way tie atop the 13C West with a 9-1 league record, was the second seed at the start of the tournament and had a first-round win, 64-49 over Valley Christian this past Thursday in Frenchtown, host of the tourney.
That put them into a second-round game versus league rival St. Regis, one of the trio of teams that finished knotted for the league lead. St. Regis won that encounter 57-49, nearly identical in score and result to regular season game between the two.
The loss moved Noxon on to the consolation round for a game versus Hot Springs this past Saturday morning. The Red Devils stayed alive in the tournament with a hard-fought 74-69 overtime win over the Savage Heat, eliminating Hot Springs and sending Noxon to a second Saturday game, this time against Lincoln, whom they defeated in the regular season.
The win over Hot Springs in effect clinched a berth in the Western C Divisional tournament this weekend in Butte.
In the Devils’ game versus Valley Christian, they jumped out to a 13-7 first quarter lead, then outscored VC 20-11 in the second quarter, giving Noxon a 33-18 halftime advantage.
The two teams played even up, with each scoring 31 points in the second half to preserve the Noxon lead and move them on to the second round. Cameron Blair led the Red Devils with 23 points.
Friday the hooked up with St. Regis in a classic back-and-forth battle that saw the Tigers take a 28-26 lead into the halftime break. St. Regis took control of the game in the third quarter, outscoring Noxon 19-10 and extending their lead to 47-36 with one quarter left.
Noxon fought back in the fourth quarter, shaving three points off the Tigers’ lead but it was not enough to overcome the early deficit.
Conner Lulis drilled five three-pointers as part of his game-high 27 points to lead St. Regis. Noxon forward Shane Murray topped the Red Devils with 16 points, while teammate Ricky Williams pitched in 15.
St. Regis coach Jesse Allan had high praise for the Noxon team after the game.
“Noxon boys are tough, fast and physical,” Allan said. “They played their tails off and I think they are good enough to play in the divisional, and I think they are going to get there”.
The Red Devils made the Divisional round as the fourth seed from the 13C.
Saturday morning Noxon played Hot Springs in a loser out game and came out of the first quarter with a 22-17 lead over the Heat. Noxon held onto that lead, heading into halftime with a 33-26 advantage.
The game featured a key matchup between centers, Shane Murray for Noxon and Nick McAllister for Hot Springs. Both are agile, 6-4 seniors who tangled all game long under the basket. Murray wound up outscoring McAllister 28-24. The game was knotted 66-66 at the end of regulation, but Noxon outscored Hot Springs 6-3 in the overtime period to clinch the win.
In addition to McAllister’s 24, Hot Springs got 15 points from sophomore Chase Depoe. Noxon got 13 points each from Williams and Cameron Blair.
The win sent them to the game against Lincoln Saturday afternoon for the Consolation round championship.
The Lynx, who suffered their only conference loss of the year in Noxon, grabbed an 18-9 lead after the first eight minutes of play and never trailed as they cruised to a 38-15 halftime lead.
By the end of the third quarter Noxon trailed Lincoln 60-30 as the Lynx coasted to the win, clinching the 13C third seed in the upcoming playoffs. Noxon earned the fourth seed.
Roegun Dietz led Lincoln with 21 points, while going up against Murray, who shared the Noxon scoring lead with Cameron of 12 points apiece.
The 2-2 tournament run left Noxon with a 17-5 season mark, while Lincoln improved to 19-3 on the year.