Hawks Repeat As District Champs

The Broadus boys team went into the 4C District Tournament last week in Miles City as the #1 seed, having beaten every team in the district twice, save Melstone with whom they split games. Broadus won the tie-breaker of point differential by four points, which put Broadus into the #1 seed, facing #8 ranked Plevna in the first tournament game, on Wednesday morning.

The Hawks played like they have all year in the Plevna game, scoring well and spreading around the ball, while keeping the fouls to a minimum. Plevna had difficulty on offense in the first half, only scoring two points, but came alive on three pointers in the second half to jump start their offense. Nevertheless, Broadus sailed to an easy win, 81-22.

The Plevna game was perhaps most notable for its lack of fouls – Broadus racked up two fouls in total, while Plevna had five in total. No free throw shots were attempted the entire game.

The win put Broadus up against Jordan on Thursday. The Mustangs, going into the tournament as the #5 seed had upset #4 ranked Custer/Hysham the previous day, and were looking to extend their luck against the Hawks. That luck would not hold as they faced off against the Hawks juggernaut.

Jordan managed to keep the game close into the fourth quarter, keeping the score within five points into the third quarter.

The Hawks' ability to spread out the Mustang defense and hit shots with multiple members of the team, as well as the team's excellent free throw shooting ultimately led to a Hawk win.

"I tell the guys, when we're playing one of those teams that just hangs around all game, keep to the game plan and ultimately we'll pull ahead," Broadus Coach Mike Richards commented on the game.

Broadus went 70.8% from the free throw line, sinking 17 of 24 in the 65-52 win, while only turning the ball over 9 times during the game.

The Hawks had an impressive 19 assists in the game, led by Marcus Mader with seven. Marcus also had 10 points and a pair of rebounds. Johnny Richards hit four of seven three point shots to lead the team in scoring with 15, while Dillon Gee had 14 points, and Tytan Hanson 11.

The win against Jordan punched the Hawks' ticket to the Divisional tournament, as at that point they would place no worse than second, and with four teams going on to the Southern C tourney, no challenge games would be held.

Broadus faced off in the championship on Saturday with their old rival, the Melstone Broncs. Melstone and Broadus had traded blows earlier in the season and shared the conference champion crown, with Broadus winning the first game of the season by seven points at home, and falling by three in overtime at Melstone.

In their third meeting, the Hawks were looking to repeat as the District Champs – a feat which was last accomplished by a Hawk team in 1994 and 1995, according to Richards.

A great crowd was on hand for the game, with Miles City locals who didn't have a vested interest in either of the teams attending the game, since it was "the game to watch" in town that weekend.

Fans were not disappointed. The Hawks and Broncs traded blows once again in the evenly matched shootout, with the Hawks coming out to a 5-0 lead and Melstone storming right back to lead by as many as seven points in the second quarter. In the third quarter the Hawks reversed the tables, leading by as many as six points, but Tytan Hanson tied the score in the waning seconds to send the game to overtime.

Cooper Zimmer then sunk a pair of free throws at the end of overtime, sealing the win for Broadus, 57-54.

Interestingly enough, neither team shot very well from the free throw line until Broadus made their shots in overtime.

"Either team could've won that game with better free throw shooting in the first four quarters," Richards noted. Broadus made 11 of 22 shots for 50%, while Melstone made 13 of 28 for 46% from the line.

Coach Richards joked with Melstone's Coach Grebe after the game, with Grebe saying "The fans got their money's worth out of that game," and Richards replying "I believe everyone should've had to pay an extra five bucks to watch that!"

The Hawk win puts them in the advantageous position going into the 4C Divisional Tourney facing the #4 team from the 6C District, Plenty Coups.

The 6C, according to Richards, has been a lot closer overall compared to the 4C, with several teams trading wins throughout the season. Bridger is the #1 team from the 6C, but Richards hopes that Melstone will see their way to beating Bridger next week on their side of the bracket at the Southern C in Miles City, which means if the Hawks are able to do their jobs could mean a rematch of last weekend's championship. That is still all to be determined, as Broadus will have to face some tough competition if they expect to move on. Richards looked towards the games: "At the Divisional level you're facing quality opponents, and you've gotta play to win."

Broadus will tip off against Plenty Coups in first round Divisional action in Miles City, next Wednesday, March 2, at 10 AM in the Custer County Gym.

Two teams will advance from the Southern C to State, to be held in Great Falls on March 9-12.

In a demonstration of the Hawks' ability to spread the ball around and score as a team, over the course of the District tournament five Hawks averaged over nine points per game and three Hawks averaged over three assists per game. Dillon Gee scored an average of 14 points per game and had an average of 7.7 rebounds per game to lead the team in those categories, with Marcus Mader leading in average assists, with 4.0 per game. The Hawks' multiple scoring threats makes it difficult for teams to single out any one player to defend, while it also allows the Hawks a bit of breathing room if one of their players has an off day – someone else is always ready to step up and sink the shot.