Lustre Falls To Manhattan Christian In First Round

The Lustre Lions put together a comeback effort in the fourth quarter but lost to Manhattan Christian, 67-52, in the opening round of the Class C boys’ basketball tournament in Butte on Thursday, March 13.

Trailing by a 52-37 margin entering the final period, the Lions rallied with the first nine points of the quarter. Johnslee Pierre accounted for the first five points of the period. After a basket by Byron Ewing off a pass from Cam Reddig, Pierre scored off a rebound to cut the margin to 52-46 with 3:43 remaining.

The Lions, however, then struggled with turnover issues, and the Eagles were able to score the game’s next 14 points to gain a 60-46 advantage with 1:24 left in the first-round contest.

Lustre’s top scorers were Pierre with 17, Ewing with 11 and Cam Reddig with 10 points.

Also scoring were Prestyn Klatt with nine, Clay Reddig with three and Diek Olfert with two points.

Leading Manhattan Christian were Christian Triemstra with 26, Andrew Kimm with 13 and Jack Scott with 13 points.

Lustre’s last lead of the contest was at 10-9 when Klatt hit a 14-footer with 3:56 left in the opening quarter.

The Eagles held a 21-12 advantage at the end of the first period and increased the gap to 29-14 early in the second period. Manhattan Christian led 35-22 at intermission.

After the Eagles increased the margin to 43-24 midway into the third quarter, the Lions responded on three-pointers by Pierre, Clay Reddig and Klatt.