Lustre Christian Boys Second at 3C

In a somewhat surprising boys 3C championship game, Scobey handed Lustre Christian their first loss of the year. The Spartans defeated the Lions by a single-point in the low-scoring game 34-33.

North Country staged a 21-point fourth quarter against Dodson in the consolation game to win third place. The Mavericks defeated the Coyotes 50-48.

Lustre Christian and North Country both advance to the Eastern Divisional tournament in Sidney after a week off.

Game One:

North Country v. Frazer

North Country hit double digit scoring in three of four quarters in their 61-40 win over Frazer to kick off the boys 3C District tournament.

The Mavericks went up 20-9 after one quarter. The Bearcubs cut their lead to 26-21 at the half by putting up 12 points and holding North Country to 6 in the second.

North Country outscored Frazer by a 10-point margin in the third to carry a 42-27 lead into the final quarter. The Bearcubs had their strongest offensive quarter with 13 points, but the Mavericks added 19 to their side of the big board.

Aiden Albus led all scorers with 23 points, going 7-for-8 on free throws for the Mavericks. Trey Johnson added 18 points, including a three-pointer. Blaine Downing also hit a shot from downtown and added 14 points for North Country. Coy Bowman added 4 and Taylor Mogan 2 points.

Keein Ackerman led the Bearcubs with 13 points, including shots from beyond the three-point line. Joseph Beston scored 11 and Ryker Akerman added 10, both hitting a trey. Ty Fourstar, Jonathan Jackson and Travis Long added 2 points a piece for Frazer.

Game Two:

Dodson v. Nashua

After a strong first half, Dodson was forced to fend off a surging Nashua team for a 55-47 Coyote win.

Nashua went down by 10 after one, 14-4 and trailed 29-18 at the half.

The Porcupines cut significantly into the Coyotes lead with a 17-point third quarter while Dodson scored 12 points for a 41-35 lead heading into the final eight minutes. Nashua fought hard with 12 points in the final frame, but Dodson scored another 14 to secure their victory.

Xander Pugh and Kevan Viste each scored 13 points for the Porcupines. Grady Nielsen added 11, Damon Adkins 6 and Caden Laumeyer 4 points.

Game Three:

Lustre Christian v. North Country

Lustre Christian defeated North Country 57-20 after a slow first half by the Lions.

The Lions held a 12-6 lead after eight minutes. The Mavericks trailed 20-11 at the half.

Finding their game legs in the third quarter, the Lions doubled their score while holding the Mavericks to 7 points. North Country scored a basket in the fourth while Lustre Christian ran up 17 more points.

Kolden Hoversland led the Lions, and all scorers, with 20 points, including two three-pointers. Jasiah Hambira added 13 points with a downtown shot and Elijah Lenihan scored 11 with a three-pointer. Kaleb Hoversland added 4, Gabe Alves 3, and Cauden Klatt, Alex Chen and Braden Ewing 2 points a piece.

Klatt had seven rebounds, three steals and three assists. Kaleb Hoversland added two rebounds, two steals and four assists. Alves had one rebound and one steal. A. Chen had one rebound. Kolden Hoversland had five rebounds, two steals and three assists. Lenihan had one rebound, one steal and one assist. Clay Reddig had one steal and two assists. Ewing had two rebounds and two steals. Hambira pulled down six rebounds and had one steal and one assist.

Albus led the Mavericks with 12 points, going 4-for-5 on free throws. Johnson added 6 and Bowman 2 points.

Game Four:

Scobey-Opheim v. Dodson

The Unified Scobey-Opheim team defeated Dodson 56-29.

The Spartans led 19-3, 32-13 and 47-19 in the first three quarters.

Statistics were unavailable.

Game Five:

Dodson v. Frazer

Frazer came out firing in their second, and final, game of the tournament but fell to Dodson 78-70 after four quarters.

Frazer led 18-13 after a big first quarter and maintained a 4-point margin at the half 39-35.

Dodson led 52-50 after three quarters. The Bearcubs fought hard until the final buzzer to stay in the game but trailed 78-70 when time ran out.

Statistics were unavailable at press time.

Game Six:

North Country v. Nashua

North Country hit double-digit scoring in all four quarters of their game against Nashua as they went on to win 61-36.

The Mavericks led 11-6 after one and put up 23 points in the second frame to lead 34-12 at the half. Nashua closed the gap in the second half, getting outscored by only 3 in the third, and tying North Country with 14 points each in the final eight minutes. But the Mavericks first-half lead proved too much for the Porcupines.

Nashua's Xander Pugh led his team with 16 points. He hit two threes and went 4-for-6 on free throws. Nielsen and Walker Laumeyer added 5 each for the Porcupines while Adkins and Viste had 4 a piece. C. Laumeyer hit a free throw for Nashua.

North Country's four scorers all hit double digits. Johnson led the squad with 19 including a three-pointer. Bowman also hit a three and scored 15. Albus scored 14 for the Mavericks. Downing hit three outside shots and added 13 points.

Game Seven:

Dodson v. North Country

North Country's win over Nashua advanced them to the third place match up against Dodson Saturday evening. Strong performances in the second and fourth quarters helped the Mavericks come from behind to claim a 50-48 victory over the Coyotes to earn a trip to the Eastern Divisional tournament.

Dodson whipped up a 15-2 lead after one quarter. North Country outscored them 16-13 in the second, giving the Coyotes a 28-18 lead at the half.

The Mavericks cut into that lead with an 11-point third quarter. They held Dodson to 7 points in the same frame.

A 21-point final quarter performance propelled the Mavericks past the Coyotes for the win.

Trey Johnson scored 21 points in the Mavericks' victory, 9 in the final eight minutes. Albus added 16 points, 4 in the fourth-quarter surge. Bowman scored 6 of his 8 points in the last frame, including a trey. Downing added 3 and Strommen 2 points.

Game Eight:

Lustre Christian v. Scobey

The Scobey Spartans transformed themselves into a thorn Saturday night which the Lustre Christian Lions found in their paw. The Spartans, avenging two regular season losses to the Lions, defeated Lustre Christian 34-33 in the boys 3 championship game.

In the lowest scoring game of the year for the Lions, Lustre Christian led 9-3 after one and 14-12 at the half.

Scobey rallied in the third, outscoring Lustre Christian 11-7 to take a 23-21 lead into the final frame. The Lions outdid the Spartans by a one-point margin in the last eight minutes, but still found themselves down a point at the final buzzer.

Kolden Hoversland led the Lions with 12 points. Lenihan added 9 while Hambira and Ewing scored 4 each. Kaleb Hoverlsand contributed 3 and Klatt hit a free throw.

Klatt led the Lions with six rebounds and four assists. Kaleb Hoversland also had six rebounds. Kolden Hoversland had two rebounds and one assists. Lenihan one one steal. Ewing added three rebounds and one steal while Hambira had four rebounds.

The Eastern C Divisional Tournament will be held in Sidney Wednesday through Saturday, Mar. 2-5.

Lustre Christian opens their tournament on Wednesday, Mar. 2, with a 4 p.m. game against Bainville. North Country will play Fairview at 7 p.m. that same day.

A full bracket and schedule should appear in next week's Courier.