Wolves Boys’ Basketball Team Falls Short At Divisional

The District 2B tournament champion Wolf Point Wolves opened the Northern B Divisional tournament in Malta hopeful of qualifying for the state Class B tournament for the first time since 2012, but fell short with two disappointing losses Thursday through Saturday, Feb. 27-29.

For the Rocky Boy Stars, beating Wolf Point by 14 points in what had been a close game was a key element on the path to third-place and a state tournament.

It was like history repeating itself when the three Northern B teams that will advance to the state tournament are all from District 1B. That has happened numerous times the past few years.

Fairfield beat Shelby 54-34 in the championship game played Saturday night. Rocky Boy qualified for the state tournament with a 50-41 win over Malta in the third- and fourth-place contest. The Wolves finished the divisional in fifth-place.

In the divisional opener with District 1B Cut Bank, Wolf Point controlled the first three quarters with the Cut Bank Wolves posting a 20-14 final stanza, which was not enough to catchup with Wolf Point. The final tally was 64-48.

Lance St. Germaine led Wolf Point with a game-high 16 points. Nick Page posted 12 and Tade Wallette scored 11. Treyton Lilley and Antone Manning recorded 10 each.

Wallette drained three 3-point goals, Page recorded two and Kelby Bauer hit the net once from outside the arc.

Wolf Point led on the boards, recording 45 total rebounds, 21 offensive and 24 defensive. Manning led on the boards with 14 total, four offensive and 10 defensive.

The Wolves were not able to continue the momentum from a great tournament start. Wolf Point was upended 63-48 by Shelby in the quarterfinal. The disappointing loss forced the Wolves into the consolation bracket.

St. Germaine poured in a game-high 23 points against Shelby and tied for 3-pointers with Wallette with two treys. Page recorded one 3-pointer.

The Wolves recorded two offensive rebounds and 32 defensive for a total of 34 boards.

Rocky Boy, forced into the losers’ bracket after a 57-50 loss to Harlem, gave the final blow to the Wolves.

Rocky Boys’ Stars controlled three of four quarters against Wolf Point for a 71-57 win that ended the Wolves’ season.

Lilley led Wolf Point with 19 points, followed by Wallette with 11 and St. Germaine with 10.

Wallette drained a pair of treys and Page and St. Germaine posted two each.

The Wolves recorded 33 boards, 16 offensive and 17 defensive. In contrast, Rocky Boy posted 39 rebounds, 15 offensive and 24 defensive.

“It’s not the ending we wanted or expected, but we finished 13 and 10, which is a winning season,” Wolf Point head coach Troy Blount said.

“I’m happy we came out on top of our district and that’s something these boys can always be proud of,” he said.

“Every year, we have improved and gone further. My program is starting to gain some traction and I’m optimistic about the future,” Blount said.

After a slow start with the first few games in December, the Wolves came out of the holiday break and won most of their games in January through the end of the regular-season schedule Feb. 15. There was a five-game winning streak where Wolf Point dispatched all of the other District 2B conference teams. The Wolves finished the schedule in second-place behind Harlem and won the District 2B title that gave the Wolves a divisional tournament No. 1 seed.

The Wolves last played in a state tournament in 2012 where they were the runner-up for the title and won the championship in 2011. Rocky Boy 71, Wolf Point 57

Rocky Boy 13 16 24 18—71 Wolf Point 17 11 14 15—57 Rocky Boy: Joe Demontiney 16, Ben Crebs 11, Sean Gibson 14, Kellen Colliflower 2, Blake Cantrell 13, Isiah Limberhand 2, Sage Bradley 13.

Wolf Point: Wallette 11, Manning 4, Page 3, Lance St. Germaine 10, James Lien 10, Lilley 19.

Wolf Point 11 11 11 15—48 Shelby 20 13 12 18—63 Wolf Point: Wallette 8, Manning 5, Page 8, St. Germaine 23, Lien 2, Lilley 2.

Shelby: Logan Leck 7, Tanner Watson 6, Rhett Reynolds 21, Trenton Emerson 5, Tanner Parsons 18, Taylor Parsons 6. Wolf Point 64, Cut Bank 48

Cut Bank 8 6 14 20—48 Wolf Point 19 14 17 14—64 Cut Bank: Devin Gobert 9, Hayden Harrell 12, Justin Crowe 3, Dawson Vasboe 2, Coalten Liffrell 9, Quinn Rides At The Door 1, Dayne Gray 12.

Wolf Point: Bauer 3, Wallette 11, Manning 10, Page 12, St. Germaine 16, Lien 2, Lilley 10.

Northern B scores Thursday Fairfield 59, Glasgow 42 Harlem 57, Rocky Boy 50 Wolf Point 64, Cut Bank 48 Shelby 60, Malta 46 Friday

Rocky Boy 60, Glasgow 48, loser out Malta 55, Cut Bank 36, loser out Fairfield 68, Harlem 66 Shelby 63, Wolf Point 48 Saturday

Malta 59, Harlem 54, loser out Rocky Boy 71, Wolf Point 57, loser out Rocky Boy 50, Malta 41, consolation Fairfield 54, Shelby 34, championship