The Class C boys basketball teams got their season started this past weekend with games in Frenchtown. 

Arlee 67

Valley Christian 72

One of the most anticipated games of the opening tournament took place Friday night. It was scheduled for 8 p.m. but didn’t start until much later than that. Valley Christian and Arlee both had great seasons last year, with both teams playing on Saturday at the divisional tournament. Valley jumped out to an early lead, but good defense and transition play brought the Warriors back to even the score after one. The second quarter saw the well rested Valley team take a 36-28 lead into half. It seemed Valley had all of the momentum in the third, and Arlee’s little mistakes led to a 16 point advantage for Eagles over halfway through the third. However, the Warriors weren’t going to go away easily, and through a full court press and strong transition play, Arlee cut the lead to 10 at the end of the third. In the fourth, Arlee continued their press, making some great steals and gaining momentum until a three-pointer by Phillip Malatare tied the game up with just under two minutes to play. However, with a double bonus situation, Valley made their free throws down the stretch, and ended up winning the game by five points. Pat BigSam and Tyler Tanner each had 14 points, and Brad Brazill and Phillip Malatare each added 12.

Valley- 18 18 17 19 – 72

Arlee- 18 10 15 24 – 67

VALLEY CHRISTIAN – Brian Gragg 6, Nic Luoma 5, Elijah Redfern 8, Cameron Ireland 18, Jacob Dargan 6, Zach Baugher 14, Brad Klein 2, Joe Lodine 13.

ARLEE – Philip Malatare 12, Tyler Tanner 14, Justis Haynes 11, Patrick BigSam 14, Aaron Perry 4, Brad Brazill 12.

Arlee 90

Drummond 36

On Saturday, the Warriors came out strong against Drummond, looking for some positive play after their tough loss the night before. Arlee jumped out to a 21-10 lead after one quarter, and didn’t look back, scoring over 20 points in each of the next three quarters. It looked a little bit more like the Warriors of last year, with five players scoring over 10 points. The team was led by Tanner’s 19. Justis Haynes had 16, Malatare had 14, Brazill had 12. Aaron Perry had 10.

Arlee- 21 25 24 20 – 90

Drummond- 10 18 6 2 – 36

ARLEE – Isaac Desjarlais 4, Philip Malatare 14, Colt Brazill 4, Tyler Tanner 19, Alex Moran 2, Justis Haynes 16, Patrick BigSam 9, Aaron Perry 10, Brad Brazill 12.

DRUMMOND – Mark Estes 3, Cade Estes 13, Gomez 2, Allen 8, Davis 6, Spencer 4.

Charlo 47

Seeley 42

The Charlo boys started out their season against Seeley-Swan on Friday night. In the first quarter, Seeley was shooting well, but Charlo still lead 12-10 after one. Charlo really got going in the second, shooting well and playing great defense, allowing Seeley only two points, and scoring 17 of their own, making the score 29-12 at half. Seeley got back on track in the third, but still couldn’t make up for their bad second quarter, and Charlo took a 19 point lead into the fourth. Seeley wasn’t going to go away easily, and put on a press in the fourth that gave the Vikings problems. Their tough defense brought them back within five points, but Charlo was able to hold on to go 1-0 to start the season. Jade Smith led the scoring with 11, Tyson Petticrew had 10, and Greg Montgomery added eight.

Charlo- 12 17 12 6 – 47

Seeley-Swan- 10 2 10 20 – 42

CHARLO – Michael Delaney 4, Tyson Petticrew 10, Landers Smith 8, Dougan Runkel 5, Greg Montgomery 8, Jade Smith 11.

SEELEY-SWAN – Jacob Hailey 6, Nino Robinett 1, McKinley Nicholas 2, Joshua Cahoon 17, Bradley Miller 11, Cameron Haines 1, Billy Bedson 5.

Charlo 36

VICTOR 25

On Saturday, Charlo took on Victor. In a slow scoring contest, each team scored only four points in the first quarter. Charlo stepped it up a little in the second, scoring 11 to Victor’s six. Charlo would outscore Victor in three of four quarters to win their second game of the season, moving to 2-0. Dougan Runkel led all scorers with 11 points, Jade Smith added eight, and Landers Smith had seven. The Vikings take on Two Eagle River on Friday night in Pablo.

Charlo- 4 11 14 7 – 36

Victor- 4 6 9 6 – 25

CHARLO – Michael Delaney 2, Tyson Petticrew 3, Landers Smith 7, Garett Vaughan 2, Dougan Runkel 11, Greg Montgomery 3, Jade Smith 8.

VICTOR – Austin Lewis 6, Connor Wilson 1, Colt Neville 10, Jace Allred 8.

TER 48

Lincoln 51

Things started out exciting for the Two Eagle River boys’ basketball team on Friday morning. Under new coach Lloyd Irvine, the Eagles set out to take down the Lincoln Lynx. After a slow first few minutes, the Eagles put on a full court zone press and got some momentum going, scoring four points off steals right away. In the second quarter, TER struggled with making good passes, and the Lynx hit a three toward the end of the quarter, putting them up 26-22 at halftime. In the third quarter, the Eagles continued their press. When they had time to set the press up, they succeeded at making defensive stops, sometimes leading to points. About halfway through the quarter, the Eagles lost senior Dante McDougall to fouls, and freshman Coree Cadieux stepped into his place. TER was able to take a lead into the fourth, 35-30.

Right away in the fourth, Issaiah Mathais made two great defensive plays and scored four points to put the Eagles up by nine. However, the Lynx worked their way back into the game, and eventually went up by one with less than a minute left. After TER fouled to stop the clock, both free throws were made, and the Eagles were down by three. With just over five seconds left, senior Julian Cutfinger put up a three that went long, and the game was over. He ended the game with 20 points, leading all scorers.

Lincoln- 6 20 4 21 – 51

Two Eagle- 10 12 13 13 – 48

LINCOLN – Nathan Brown 10, Ian Nick 6, Gage Fitzgerald 17, Payton Petersen 6, Coletin Trump 13.

TWO EAGLE – Issaiah Mathias 19, Zachary Mathias 3, Julian Cutfinger 20, Dante McDougall 2, Drey Tenas 4.

TER 62 Darby 55

On Saturday, the Eagles took on Darby. Things started off good for TER, and they took a 18-15 lead going into the second quarter. Darby would come back to even the score, out scoring the Eagles 15-12 in the second, making the score 30 all at half. Darby had a strong third quarter, holding the Eagles to just nine points, while putting up their strongest scoring quarter with 19. TER made a comeback in the fourth, but weren’t quite able to get the job done, losing their second close contest by a score of 55-62. Julian Cutfinger put up big numbers again, scoring 21. However, the Eagles couldn’t shut down Darby’s Zach McCrossin, who put up 38 points.

Two Eagle- 18 12 9 16 – 55

Darby- 15 15 19 13 – 62

TWO EAGLE – Isaiah Mathis 8, Zachary Mathis 4, Julian Cutfinger 21, Dante McDougal 3, Drey Tenas 2, Josiah Nicholas 4, Corey Cadeux 13.

DARBY – Zach McCrossin 38, Zack Kline 9, John Beckers 2, Rylee Smith 2, Anthony Westfall 2, Cory Balendano 9.