Red Hawks Defeat Shields Valley At State

The Froid/Lake Red Hawks were led by Javonne Nesbit’s 28 points and strong contributions from their bench as they downed Shields Valley, 74-60, in the first round of the Class C state boys’ basketball tournament in Great Falls on Thursday, March 10.

The Red Hawks trailed by a 41-40 margin until Brett Stentoft hit a three-pointer late in the third quarter.

A steal and layup by Nesbit put the lead to 45-41. After a steal by Bode Miller, Mason Dethman scored for a 47-41 advantage.

After Shields Valley’s Cole Flatt scored on a drive, the Red Hawks ended the quarter ahead 52-47 thanks to a free throw by Connor Huft and two hoops by Nesbit.

Patton Bighorn then provided a big lift off the bench by hitting consecutive three-pointers to open the fourth quarter.

A drive by Huft and free throws by Stentoft and Dethman put the margin at 62-51 with 3:49 remaining.

Ahead by a 61-53 score, the Red Hawks ran off six straight points on a basket by Dethman, two free throws by Tyler Wivholm and a pair of free tosses by Nesbit for a 68-53 lead with 1:54 left.

A dunk by Dethman highlighted action down the stretch.

Top scorers for the Red Hawks were Nesbit with 28 and Dethman with 18 points.

Also scoring were Wivholm with 11, Bighorn with six, Miller with four, Stentoft with four and Huft with three.

Nesbit grabbed 12 rebounds and Dethman finished with 11 rebounds. Nesbit had five assists, five blocked shots and three steals.

Leading Shields Valley were Cole Flatt with 22 and Dylan Flatt with 16 points.

Nesbit scored 14 points during the first quarter as the Red Hawks took a 19-18 lead.

After falling behind 26-22 in the second quarter, Froid/ Lake responded with eight straight points on five points by Nesbit and a three-pointer by Dethman.

The Rebels, however, struck for the last six points of the half for a 32-30 advantage. There were 12 lead changes in the contest.