Big Sandy beat the odds. And then did it again. And again.
The last entry from District 9C to the Northern C Divisional boys basketball tournament won three thrilling games there to force an unlikely championship game.
Though the magic did not carry the Pioneers to lift a trophy Saturday, it did allow them a second chance at a state tournament berth Monday in a challenge game against the District 8C champion Belt Huskies.
Big Sandy (16-10) needed rallies from double-digit deficits in the Feb. 26 opener at Four Seasons Arena in Great Falls against Centerville and again in Thursday's quarterfinal against Heart Butte. The Pioneers then upset Chinook Friday in dominant fashion to avenge a 40-point loss less than a week prior at the 9C. Only undefeated 9C champion Fort Benton had enough to stave off Big Sandy running the table Saturday night.
"Comeback kids," Pioneers coach Thomas Dilworth called the team after the 68-65 overtime win against District 10C champion Heart Butte. "These guys have character. They never give up."
Big Sandy 58, Centerville 54
After three quarters, the Pioneers looked fated to the consolation side of the bracket thanks to the sharp shooting of Centerville guard Carson McGinness. They trailed 46-38 entering the final period. A three-pointer followed by another bucket from senior Ryan Roth put the Pioneers on top midway through the third quarter. Senior Clint Darlington hit key free throws down the stretch and finished the game with a whopping 31 points and 17 rebounds. McGinness led the Miners, the third-seed from the 8C, with 26 points.
Big Sandy 68, Heart Butte 65 (OT)
The Pioneers played in the most edge-of-your-seat contest in the 9C, a consolation semifinal triumph in overtime against Box Elder, so why not up the ante at divisionals for a larger crowd?
After going tit-for-tat in the first quarter and change, Big Sandy led 20-17 with 5 minutes, 45 seconds to go in the first half after Darlington scored going coast-to-coast. The Warriors roared back with a 14-2 run to go to the locker room, however, with a healthy 31-22 lead.
Heart Butte pushed their advantage to its peak at 42-26 with 5:30 to go in the third stanza. Another bucket down low from Darlington, a Roth drive to the hole, free throw from Jeremiah Genereux and three-point play the old-fashioned way by Roth halved the deficit in a little more than two minutes.
Keeping up the pressure, junior Kade Strutz hit a pair from the foul line to draw within one possession of tying the game entering the fourth quarter down just 44-41.
Strutz grabbed a deflected pass and nailed a layup with 6:50 remaining in regulation to give Big Sandy a 45-44 lead.
The Warriors came back to life and re-established a 52-47 edge at the 3:24 mark when Cameron Falcon sank a pair of free throws. Roth responded by running from one end of the floor back down to the other and drawing it back down to a one-possession game.
A converted and-one opportunity by Darlington tied the game back up at 54 with 2:17 left. Jaiden Comes at Night scored in the paint and Falcon downed another pair from the charity stripe to bring the Warriors back up 58-54 with 1:41 left. Roth dished to Darlington to halve that lead at 1:23 remaining.
Falcon made good on three of four free throws in the ensuing possessions to make it a 61-56 game for Heart Butte inside of 30 seconds left. Roth drained a triple from the top of the arc with 23.7 seconds left to breathe new life into Big Sandy. After Blaise Arrow Top Knot missed two pivotal free throws with 19.1 seconds on the clock, the Pioneers got the ball back with one last chance to tie or win in regulation. Roth sank a runner from about 8 feet out and sent the game to overtime knotted at 61-61.
Roth tallied his 42nd and 43rd points of the night at the line, tying a career high, to give Big Sandy the first edge in overtime. After Marcus Rutherford's three put Heart Butte back on top, Roth went to the bench with his fifth foul on a charge called with 2:16 on the clock.
Kade Strutz connected from 15 feet to make it 65-64 with a minute and a half to go. Freshman Kody Strutz added a free throw at the 21.8-second mark. Thomas Young Running Crane's foul shot made it a 1-point game with 15.3 left but Heart Butte came no closer. Fresh off the bench, freshman Braydon Cline hit a free throw at 12.9 seconds remaining when the Warriors were forced to foul and send Pioneers to the line. Senior Brock Proulx added another at 2.8 seconds to go for further insurance and the final tally, as a travel called against the Warriors at 0.5 seconds left sealed the win.
"Down 16, you can look down the bench at these kids' faces and they know they're going to win," Dilworth said in the aftermath. "I never had a doubt. Never doubted these kids. There's something special going on with this team right now."
Roth recalled he had previously scored 43 points in an earlier year in a non-conference tune-up game.
"This game was definitely way (more) worth it," he said. "I wasn't worried (about being down 16). Going to the rack was working."
"He willed us to a victory today," Dilworth said of Roth.
Roth said his confidence did not sag even when he collected his fifth foul at a time when the Pioneers trailed.
"The team stepped up and did a great job," he said.
That included Cline, seeing his first action in the tournament in a crucial moment, given the opportunity based on his free-throw shooting this year.
"It was really nerve-wracking. I was not expecting to go in," he said. "I knew I just needed to go in and do my job. I think (the memory) will stick with me forever."
Darlington again recorded a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Big Sandy 58, Chinook 48
Big Sandy entered its semifinal match with 9C runner-up Chinook having lost by progressively greater margins each time. Fifteen points on the road, 30 at home, 40 on a neutral court. The Sugarbeeters were heavily favored to advance and get a rematch with Fort Benton, who defeated them for the 9C crown.
Somebody forgot to tell the Pioneers they had no business winning this game.
Not only did they win but they led almost from start to finish. Kade Strutz hit a three at the first quarter buzzer for a 12-6 edge. That narrowed to 22-19 at halftime and built back to 34-29 after three quarters.
A Toby Niederegger triple drew the Beeters within 49-45 with a little more than two minutes left but they came no closer. Darlington kissed one off the glass to stretch it back to 51-45. Kody Stutz sank two free throws with 1:44 left and added two more for a 55-45 lead at the 1:21 mark. After Roth extended the lead to 12, Ethan Bell brought it to single-digits with a trey. Nevertheless, time was on the Pioneers' side and after Strutz added a final free throw at 18 seconds remaining, coaches emptied their benches to let the youngsters finish it out.
Darlington led Big Sandy with 18 points and the Strutz brothers scored 15 apiece, including a trio of three-pointers from Kade. Bell had 17 and Niederegger 16 for Chinook.
Fort Benton 57, Big Sandy 39
The drama in the days leading up to the Pioneers' unlikely championship game bid continued right up until the preceding game. If Chinook could hold off Belt in the consolation final, the Pioneers would have entered the final with a state tourney bid already in hand. Alas, the Beeters could not complete a Big Sandy-esque comeback, down 16 entering the fourth quarter. Though they drew within two points, the Huskies finally eliminated the Beeters by a 52-47 count.
That meant Fort Benton clinched its spot at state in Missoula but the Longhorns wanted a first-ever divisional championship and top seed along with it. Not to mention no stain on its unblemished record on the season.
Big Sandy threatened these goals of their southern neighbor for most of the first half, leading 12-10 at the end of the first quarter. Senior Brock Proulx gave the Pioneers their last lead with 1 minute, 52 seconds to go in the first half, spinning and connecting in the low post for a 19-18 edge. Fort Benton connected on 3-of-5 free throws and a Logan Giles jumper to lead 23-19 at the break.
Tired legs became evident for Big Sandy in the third period as the Pioneers had three tournament games under their belt entering the contest compared to the top-seed's two. At 6:32 to play, the Longhorns had finally stretched their lead to that sweet margin of 16.
With less time on the clock and a more formidable foe than when the Pioneers last overcame that deficit, this rally fell short. Though Big Sandy got some needed defensive stops, they were not so easily converted on the other end. Darlington scored in the paint, assisted by Proulx with 4:45 on the clock to make it 45-34 but the Pioneers rally ended there.
"It's basketball. Shots didn't fall," Dilworth said. "I think some of those layups go ... and it might be a different story. Defensively, we did exactly what we wanted."
The Pioneers held Fort Benton to just 34.6 percent shooting but lost the battle of the boards, 37-22. Roth scored 12 and Darlington posted 8 points with 10 rebounds. Hayden Diekhans led the 'Horns with 17 and brother Garett added 11.
The Pioneers faced the winner-to-state, loser-out contest with Belt at 5 p.m. Monday, after press time. For details of that game, see next week's issue of The Mountaineer.
