Hawks Are Southern C Champs

The Hawk basketball team went into the Southern C Divisional Tournament in Miles City as the top seed from the 4C, which put them up against Plenty Coups, the #4 seed from the 6C in the first game of the tournament.

The Hawks knew they had their work cut out for them if they were to be one of the two teams from the division to proceed on to state, and Plenty Coups showed their talent as they challenged the Hawks early. Perhaps the week off between Districts and Divisionals made for a bit of a slow start for the Hawks, as they struggled with rebounding in the first half, while Plenty Coups' 6'2" Irvin Crow knocked down four three pointers in the first half.

Broadus led 17-15 after the first quarter, but Plenty Coups came back in the second to lead by as many as four points before Broadus retook the lead in the last minutes before the half.

Broadus Head Coach Mike Richards told us that during halftime he simply told the team "If you keep letting Plenty Coups get those rebounds, they're going to win," and the team seemed to take the speech to heart, as Broadus upped their rebounding percentage in the third quarter by 20% compared to the first half.

In the third quarter Broadus went on a tear at the offensive end of the court, outscoring Plenty Coups 20-4, leading by 19 points going into the fourth quarter.

In the fourth quarter Broadus was within a point of doubling the score, up 61-31, and soon after Broadus put in some of the younger players to gain some valuable playing time on the tournament stage.

Broadus won their first game 73-43, averaging 0.99 points per possession to 0.60 for Plenty Coups. Each team had 16 turnovers, while Broadus had 12 steals to Plenty Coups' 6. Broadus finished the game with seven fouls, Plenty Coups 12. Broadus made an astounding 54 points in the paint, and conducted a balanced scoring attack, with a season high 25 assists for the team.

Four players on the team scored in double digits: Dillon Gee and Tytan Hanson both had 17 points, while Wyatt Gee scored 13 and Marcus Mader had 12. The Gee brothers each had a double-double, with 18 rebounds for Wyatt and 16 for Dillon. Mader and Hanson each had six assists.

For Plenty Coups, Irvin Crow led the team in scoring with 14 points, sinking five of 17 shots.

The win put Broadus into contention with Broadview/ Lavina, the #2 seed from the 6C coming into the tournament. Richards told us Broadview was much like Broadus early in the season, maintaining an unbeaten streak into late in the regular season.

The Pirates are led by Kade Erickson, a 6'4" Junior who sinks shots from outside the arc and under the basket.

Richards spoke about the game: "We knew going in that it would be a game of runs, with a lot of back and forth, and that's just what we got. In the first half Dillon cracked knees with Erickson and he looked to be hurt, but the team played on."

Indeed Richards was right about the back and forth game, as Broadus took a 15-4 lead through the first quarter, only to see their lead dwindle to five points at half time, outscoring Broadus 16-10 in the quarter. In the third quarter Broadview took the lead briefly before Broadus battled back to a 39-36 lead after three, with Broadview once again taking the lead for most of the fourth quarter.

With around 4:30 second left in the game, Richards called a timeout and devised a plan to win, with Wyatt Gee and Tytan Hanson handling the offense end and rotating out with Johnny Richards and Solomon Bradley on defense.

The plan worked well, as Broadus once again took the lead and won the game 58-54.

Broadus scored 1.05 points per possession in the win, while Broadview had 0.93 points per possession. The teams were fairly even in a number of categories, such as turnovers, with 13 for Broadus and 14 for Broadview. Broadview took the lead in three point percentage, sinking 7 of 20 to Broadus' 1 of 8.

Richards commented that the win was a total team effort – the guys who weren't scoring were keeping Broadview from scoring on defense, and it really took that balanced approach to win.

On the offensive side, Marcus Mader and Wyatt Gee both had a big day with 19 points a piece, while Dillon Gee had 13 points.

Kade Erickson played an outstanding game for Broadview, scoring 27 points and going four of seven from three point land.

The second win for Broadus put them into the championship game on Saturday night against their old rivals, the Melstone Broncs. If Broadus won the game they would be the Southern C champs. If they lost, they would face Harlowton/Ryegate in a challenge game on Monday night. The Hawks didn't seem overly interested in a challenge game, so instead they simply went out and snagged the championship trophy for themselves.

Thus far in the season Broadus had split regular season games with Melstone, with the second game going to overtime. Broadus then eeked out a narrow overtime win for the 4C District title. The teams were very familiar with one another, and though Broadus came out with a 14 point win, the game was much closer than the final score indicated.

Broadus came out ahead early, with Melstone tying the score for one possession in the first quarter, and keeping the score close in the first half. Broadus led 16-13 after the first quarter, and in the second quarter each team scored 13 to maintain a three point Broadus advantage going into the locker rooms.

In the third quarter the Hawks' scoring drive came alive, scoring 19 to Melstone's 10, leading by 12 at the end of three. The Broncs demonstrated that they are never a team to count out during the fourth quarter, as they pulled back within five points midway through the quarter, before a series of offensive drives led by Tytan Hanson, Marcus Mader, and Wyatt Gee took Broadus ahead, and Melstone's offense simultaneously faltering in the waning minutes.

As time expired the Custer County gym erupted in cheer for the Southern C Champion Hawks, as they won 63-49, bringing home their first Divisional Championship plaque since 1992.

Richards commented on the win: "After the first game I talked to Lynn Safranski [longtime Broadus coach in the '90s] and mentioned how we had a shot at a divisional win. He told me "go get it man," and that's just what we did."

Richards also heard from some of the team members of the 1992 team who offered their congratulations on the win.

Looking at game stats, neither team shot well from the free throw line, with Broadus averaging 56% and Melstone 52%. This has been the story in their games all year; Richards thought that the physical demands of the gameplay style between Melstone and Broadus could be part of the reason for all the misses.

Broadus scored 1.09 points per possession in the win, compared to 0.82 for Melstone. Broadus sank 6 of 15 three pointers for 40%, compared to 3 of 18 for 16% for Melstone.

Broadus had 11 turnovers to Melstone's 8, and committed 14 fouls to Melstone's 19.

Marcus Mader had a huge game for Broadus with 20 points, sinking 6 of 9 from the free throw line, and perhaps most impressively – zero turnovers.

Dillon Gee had a double double with 13 points and 15 rebounds, as well as four blocks.

Tytan Hanson scored 14 points and went two of three from beyond the arc, while nabbing seven rebounds and contributing four assists. Johnny Richards scored on two three pointers early in the game, which helped Broadus' momentum early on. Wyatt Gee attacked the boards, pulling down seven contested rebounds and scoring six.

6'2" Junior Bryce Grebe led Melstone in scoring with 20 points, while Jannes Fuessel had 11 points, and 10 points for Jayson Roth.

Broadus will now face off against Belt, a team which Broadus lost to 33-50 at State last season. Richards tells us that Belt graduated some of their big guys, but is still a very talented and well coached team.

The teams played each other last summer in a tournament in Belt, where Broadus maintained a lead through most of the game before the Huskies rallied to win.

The State Class C Tournament began on Wednesday in "The Electric City", Montana's third most populous metropolis of Great Falls.

Please check out the March 10 photo gallery for more pics from the tournament.