Hawk Boys are District Champs

The Broadus Boys team went into the 4C District Tournament seeded second in the District. In opening round action, Broadus faced off against Custer/ Hysham.

Broadus came out of the tip- off looking like they were hungry for a win, going up 31-4 at halftime. Coach Richards rotated out his players and was able to play his freshmen players for a large portion of the game, as Broadus easily handled their opponents, winning 54-25.

Dillon Gee shot 9 of 12 for 20 points.

On Thursday, Broadus faced off against Terry. Broadus Coach Mike Richards told us that though Broadus had beaten Terry twice in the regular season, they're a good team and it's very difficult to beat a good team three times in a season. Richards said that the Hawks played a sloppy game, turning the ball over 27 times – but Terry also played sloppily, with 26 turnovers. The Hawks shooting overcame Terry's offense, as the Hawks were led by a monster night from Sophomore Dillon Gee, who put up 27 points. Johnny Richards put up 17 points, and Marcus Mader 10, while the other Hawks did a great job of playing their roles and contributing to the team. The Hawks went on to win 63-49, sending Broadus to the championship game on Saturday.

Going up against the Melstone Broncs in the title game on Saturday, Broadus had its sights set on another upset, similar to the scenario played out in Miles City last year, when the Hawks last beat the then undefeated Melstone Broncs.

Melstone had previously beaten the Hawks twice this year, but in a sort of flipped version of the Terry game, Melstone found that it was tough to beat a good team three times in a season.

The lead see-sawed back and forth throughout the game, as each team gained momentum and lost it several times. In the waning few seconds of the game, Marcus Mader hit a free throw to put the Hawks up one, then missed his second shot. The ensuing shot by Melstone was no good, and the Hawks stood triumphant, winning 49-48.

"The Melstone game really showed the importance of making our free throws," Coach Richards commented. "We went 9 for 11 for 81%, and Melstone made 11 of 18 for 61%. If they would've made a couple more or we had missed another shot, the outcome could've been much different."

The 2021 District tourney win is the first time the Hawks have won the trophy since 2005, and the first win in the 4C since 1962.

The Hawks go into the Southern C Divisional Tournament in Laurel facing Plenty Coups in the first round. Plenty Coups has been a traditionally solid team, with Broadus losing to the Warriors in their last two conference meetings. This year, Plenty Coups is the fourth ranked team coming out of their district, but Richards says they've really come on strong in the second part of the season, having nearly beaten the number seven in the state ranked Bridger near the end of the regular season.

Plenty Coups plays an uptempo, active game, and Broadus will have their work cut out for them in the game this Thursday evening, at the Laurel High School gym at 5 pm.

Two teams will go on from the Southern C to State, March 10-13th at the new high school in Lockwood.