Lustre Eliminates Scobey, 43-37

Clutch free-throw shooting and a great defensive effort in the fourth quarter led Lustre Christian over defending state champion Scobey, 43-37, in loser-out play at the Eastern C divisional tournament on Friday, March 4.

The Lions trailed 27-20 until reeling off the last 10 points of the third period including six by Kolden Hoversland and two baskets by Braden Ewing to lead 30-27 at the end of the quarter.

After a three-pointer by Scobey’s Jace Bilbrey with 7:08 left, Lustre responded with three free throws by Kolden Hoversland.

The Lions were able to increase their lead to 37-31 on free throws by Kolden Hoversland, Jasiah Hambira and Elijah Lenihan, Scobey’s Gage Hallock accounted for a three-point play to cut the gap to 37-34 with 1:26 remaining.

Lenihan connected on two free tosses, but Scobey’s Jace Bilbrey hit three free throws to pull the Spartans to 39-37 with 49 seconds left.

Lustre’s defense stopped the Spartans the rest of the way. Two baskets by Hambira in the final 43 seconds put the margin at 43-37.

Kolden Hoversland led the Lions with 20 points while Hambira finished with 10. Also scoring were Kaleb Hoversland with six, Ewing with four and Lenihan with three.

Kolden Hoversland grabbed eight rebounds and had four assists.

Leading Scobey were Braxton Wolfe with 18 and Bilbrey with 11 points.

Hudson Kjos had four steals for the Spartans.

The Spartans, using the hot three-point shooting of Wolfe, gained a 12-5 lead in the first quarter.

Two three-pointers and a baseline shot by Wolfe increased Scobey’s lead to 22-8 with 1:50 remaining in the half. The scoring of Kolden Hoversland and Kaleb Hoversland closed the gap to 25-15 at the half.