The Broadus basketball teams played at the Southern C Divisional Tournament last week. Both girls and boys teams went into the tournament as the #1 seed from the 4C, and had a week in between the district and divisional tournament to prep for action. One problem: they each had to prep for one of two teams, as a Wednesday game decided which of two teams would play Broadus. Broadus would face off against the winner of Custer-Hysham and Absarokee, and the girls would play the winner of Harlowton-Ryegate-Judith Gap against Bridger-Belfry-Fromberg.
The former team in each list would prove to be Broadus' opponent.
Eli Heacock launches a three pointer in front of his teammates and Hawk fans in Miles City.
Boys
On Thursday the boys led off against Custer-Hysham, knowing their opponents played great defense but also featured a limited offense of their own.
That limited offense was much the story of the game, as Broadus put up only 39 points, led by Josh Rasmussen knocking down a three point shot in each quarter to score 12. Meanwhile, Custer-Hysham was limited to 32 points in the game.
With the win, the Hawks went into the semi-finals against long-time rival Melstone.
Broadus Coach Dustin Lanke commented on the preparation for Melstone: "We knew it would be a chess match going into the game. We had been preparing to see their zone defense, and penetrating to the rim and drawing fouls. In the first half we had trouble with that plan, and instead put up a lot of threes that didn't fall."
Despite the difficulties, Broadus had a 13-11 lead going into the half on the backs of a good defensive performance. Melstone and Broadus both started to score in the second half, with the Broncs' foreign exchange student scoring 11 in the fourth quarter. Eventually for the Hawks the lack of consistent scoring would come back to bite them, as Melstone won 42-34, in what would turn out to be Broadus' tie for lowest scoring game of the year, matching their performance from December against Scobey.
A big difference maker in the game was free throws. Broadus shot 3 for 8 from the line, while Melstone sunk 10 of 13, with Broadus missing shots at key times during the game.
The loss late at night Saturday, and ensuing stay for the girls game meant Broadus was late in getting home, arriving around midnight, only to have to be back on the bus by 7 AM on Saturday morning to return for a 9 AM loser out game.
Perhaps the lack of rest or let down from the loss resulted in Broadus starting out slow against Jordan on Saturday morning. Jordan had won their way back from a first round loss and the Mustangs were out for revenge against Broadus for the District championship game, as they scored on their first four possessions. The Hawks had a tough time on offense as they once again showed limited ability to score big points, and with no one on the team scoring double digits, Jordan went on to win 55-39, ending the Hawks' season.
Coach Lanke talked about the tournament during a Monday interview: "We had a tough weekend, but everyone from Peewee basketball to the NBA can have a tough weekend. We lost to some good teams. These boys can hold their heads high knowing how well they performed this season. I'm really proud of the team."
Melstone and Jordan played in a challenge game Monday night in Miles City, with Melstone winning 42-39 in overtime to go on to state, along with #1 seed Harlowton.
Looking back at the season, the Hawks started out slow with a brutal early season schedule, and lost to Jordan twice in overtime, eventually snagging the district championship title.
The Hawk seniors were a part of 4 straight district titles and two divisional titles. Lanke spoke about the graduating group of seven seniors: "I had a lot of fun coaching those guys. I've coached them since 8th grade, and it's sad to see them go."
Girls
The Lady Hawks used their speed and fast break offense to great use in their first game Thursday against the Harlowton Lady Engineers, a team which featured several bigger, stronger players compared to Broadus.
Earlier in the season Broadus had beat the Engineers 41-38, so they knew some of what to expect, and capitalized on that experience by wearing down Harlowton throughout the game. That lead came about after Broadus was down early, then went on a 17-1 run in the second quarter, led in part by a steal and score from Gracey Bradley.
Later in the game, a breakout performance by Lady Hawk Emelyn Harper netted the 8th grader 7 points.
Mia Mader would finish the game with 12 points, Zeason Schaffer 11, and Emma Isaacs 8.
Zeason Schaffer gains some serious elevation to score at the Southern C divisional basketball tournament last week.
The 51-36 win would prove to be the final high school game for Emma Isaacs, who had previously been chosen to represent Montana at the National Rural Electrical Cooperative Association national conference in Texas.
With knowledge about Isaac's departure date before the season began, Lady Hawk Coach Kristie Lanke prepared the team by having the younger players step up into leadership roles in the weeks leading up to tournaments, and the practice paid off as younger Hawks including Gracey Bradley, Shaylee Bilbrey, Kassie Hagedorn, and Emelyn Harper excelled during the tournament in their roles.
On Friday night Broadus played in the late game against Custer-Hysham, in a game which went until 10:30 at night, finally finishing in double overtime.
"It was a heartbreaker," Lanke said of the loss 59-63 loss, "but if I had to go back I wouldn't change a thing with our game plan, they just came out ahead at the end."
Mia Mader scored 21 points against Custer-Hysham, Maddie Zimmer 16, Zeason Schaffer 15, and Emelyn Harper sunk a big shot in overtime to send the game into overtime, while Gracey Bradley forced a number of steals and double dribbles on defense.
The loss meant Broadus had to win their way back through the losers bracket to try and play for a challenge game, and their first test would be to overcome Bridger on Saturday morning.
"Mia Mader went all in," Lanke said. "She knew that could be her last game as a high schooler so she left it all on the court."
Mader would score 35 points in the game, one point short of Kristie Coulter's 36 point Lady Hawk single game scoring record, according to Lanke.
The early win meant Broadus would play against Roberts, a team featuring Taylee Chirrick, a 5'11" guard who has signed on to play basketball at MSU-Bozeman next fall.
The Lady Hawks were down three at the half and led 32-31 in the third quarter, but seemed to run out of gas, while Chirrick used her blazing speed (she broke the Class C record in both the 400 and 800 meter last year in track) to put up 58 points in the game, while scoring her 2,000th career point against Broadus. The Lady Hawks would score 54 points of their own on the way to the end of their season, as Roberts put up 79 total.
Maddie Zimmer led the Lady Hawks in scoring with 15, while Zeason Schaffer and Mia Mader each had 11.
The Lady Hawks finish their season saying goodbye to Schaffer, Mader, and Emma Issacs, who graduate this year.
Overall this season the Lady Hawks went from beginning the season with Coach Lanke and Assistant Coach Jamie Harper filling out teams to have ten players for drills, to moving on to adapt and excel with a young squad to win the District championship and place 4th in the division.
"I'm super proud of each and every one of the girls on the team," Lanke concluded.
Melstone won first at the tournament, while Roberts went on to successfully challenge and beat Custer-Hysham in Lockwood Monday night by a score of 74-41 for second place and a spot at the Class C state tournament in Great Falls later this week.
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