St. Regis holds off Seeley for 13C title
St. Regis at the Western 13C basketball tournament in Frenchtown. (St. Regis courtesy photo)
In the last minute of the boys Western 13C tournament title game between St. Regis and Seeley-Swan, which seemed to take an eternity, the last 1.4 seconds featured a big release of energy.
As the final horn sounded, coach Jesse Allan, his staff, team and fans swarmed the court and began celebrating St. Regis’ heart-stopping 42-40 win over Seeley-Swan, giving St. Regis the district championship and a number one seed in this week’s Western C Divisional tourney in Butte.
In what became a war of free throws over the final 90 seconds of an extremely tight game, sophomore guard Conner Lulis dropped six charity tosses each, eventually staking the Tigers to a two-point margin.
Conner, who led the Tigers in scoring with 22 points, had 10 points in the fourth quarter.
Derrick Brovold paced Seeley, which advances with the number two seed, with 16 points.
Lulis hit two crucial free throws in the final 24 seconds of the game after being intentionally fouled twice by the desperate Blackhawks defenders.
The outcome and the game itself were part of a prophetic statement come true made by coach Allan before the final showdown.
“I think it’s going to be a dogfight, but at the end of the day, that’s what we want to be better for next week,” said Allan, whose team had already clinched a trip to the Divisional tourney in Butte this week.
The win improved St. Regis to 20-1 on the year, their lone loss being to 13C member Lincoln, which placed third in the tournament following a consolation final win over Noxon, 71-42.
The Tigers will take on the number four seed from either the 13C or 12C in the first round of the Western Divisional at the Butte Civic Center. Their opponent will be the winner of a seeding game this past Monday between Twin Bridges and Two Eagle River.
St. Regis advanced to the championship game after a first-round win over Two Eagle River, 74-48, then a semifinal victory over Noxon 57-49 Friday night.
Coach Allan praised his team’s effort in the tournament.
“I’m proud of our guys’ heart!!” he said. “No matter how hard I challenge them or what they are stacked up against, they always give it their all”.