Local teams kicked off their basketball season this past weekend with games in Frenchtown.

Girls

St. Regis 48

Victor 35

The St. Regis Lady Tigers took on the Lady Victor Pirates at 12:30 p.m. on Friday at the Frenchtown Tip-Off Tournament.  The game was close, and St. Regis was behind going into the fourth quarter with a 30-25 score.  However, Courtney Cheesman and Anna Sanford each had two triples and Maddie Hill scored nine points in the final eight minutes of the game, giving St. Regis the 48-35 win over Victor.

Going into the games, St. Regis girls basketball coach, Brooks Sanford, said that this year they lost some of their veteran leadership with no seniors playing.  

There are three juniors, Courtney Cheesman, Jasmine Jones, and Madi Hill.  Plus there’s three sophomores, Justice Tate, Anna Sanford, and Krystina Thompson, and three freshman, Madison Kelly, Emma Hill, and Nicole Orrison. In addition, one eighth-grader was pulled up to complete the roster, Kylee Thompson.

“We have a lot of potential,” said Sanford, “this is a good group of girls; they work hard in practice. And over the summer they played ball and some went into the weight room. I’m looking forward to the season.”  

Coaching staff this year is Assistant Coaches Sarah Etter and Ryan Antos and student manager Bailey Pruitt.

Final Box scores:  

St. Regis:  Courtney Cheesman 12, Emma Hill 4, Justice Tate 7, Madi Hill 13, Anna Sanford 12.

Victor: Alyssa Hopper 6, Krissy Kuettel 11, Jamie Burdett 18, Haley Kay 8, Madison Allred 2.  

Clark Fork 57 

Hot Springs 16

The Lady Clark Fork Mountain Cats took on the Hot Springs Lady Savage Heat in a late Friday night game.  Scheduled to begin at 8, the game started around 9:20 p.m. due to tournament delays.  

“If a team goes into overtime, or anything like that, the games get delayed,” explained tournament volunteer, Lexi Fisher.

The Cats took an early lead during their season opener as the newly formed Alberton/Superior co-op, putting six points on the board within the first few minutes of the game.  Four of the points were due to fouls.  By half-time, the Cats had a solid lead of 39-4 over the Heat. In the second half of the game, the Heat didn’t fare much better, with a final score of 57 -16.  

The Cats have three seniors this year, Superior’s Danielle Ewoniuk and Marissa Koke, and Alberton’s Deveyn Dutt.  There are five juniors, Superior’s Morgan Sharp, Emma Duboise, Alise Ruth, Celein Parkin, and Alberton’s Rebecca Pluth. Plus three sophomores, including Superior Mackenzie Mueller, Hailey Kelly, and Alberton’s Montanna Baughman, and five freshman, Superior’s Kathryn Parkin, Sophia Krutilla, Audrie Azure, Madison Mask and Margaret Parkin.  

Coaching staff this year is Head Coach Jeff Schultz, Assistant Coaches Kaylee Crabb and A.J. Angelo, with managers Max Faydo and Hannah Calloway.

Clark Fork 56 

St. Regis 25

Saturday night at the Tip-Off Tournament in Frenchtown, the Clark Fork Lady Mountain Cats faced the St. Regis Lady Tigers at 6:30 p.m.

The Mountain Cats took an early lead in the game and managed to hold onto it. By half time the score was 27-11. By the fourth quarter, the Tigers managed to claw their way up to 20 points, against the Cats 52 points.  In the final few minutes of the game, the Tigers rallied and put up a few more baskets to end the game with the Mountain Cats win of 56-25.

Final Box score:

Mountain Cats: Morgan Sharp 2, Mackenzie Mueller 12, Danielle Ewoniuk 17,Hailey Kelly 4,Montanna Baughman 11, Celein Parkin 4, Marissa Koke 6

Tigers: Courtney Cheesman 8, Madison Kelly 2, Emma Hill 7, Madi Hill 6, Anna Sanford 2

BOYS

Clark Fork 52 

Noxon 43

The Clark Fork Mountain Cats season opener was against the Noxon Red Devils at the Tip-Off Tournament in Frenchtown on Friday.  The game started at 12:30 p.m. and turned into a nail-biter as the two teams fought for victory.  

Each team took turns taking the lead, until the final 17 seconds.  When Cats, Mike Perkins, threw a 3-point basket to even the score, forcing the teams into overtime.  

In the extra period, Perkins and Aaron Kelly racked up nine points.  Leading the Mountain Cats to a 52-43 victory.

Final Box score:  

Mountain Cats: Mike Perkins 17, Connor Voll 4, Aaron Kelly 25, Nick Turnbull 4

Red Devils: Riley Fisher 16, Grant Fitchett 19, Quincy Grupenhoff 7

Clark Fork 47 

St. Regis 52

The finale game during the Tip-Off Tournament in Frenchtown last weekend matched the boys Clark Fork Mountain Cats against the St. Regis Tigers at 9:30 p.m.

The teams went head to head for most of the game.  The Cats took an early lead with 5-0 in the first few minutes of the first quarter.  They kept the lead, and the score was 31-28 at half time.

By the end of the third quarter, the Cats managed to hold the lead, 40-38.  But, as the teams headed into the fourth quarter, the Tigers sprang into action and started putting numbers on the score board.  With 3:31 left in the game, they added 4 points making it 45-44.  By 3:09, it was 45-46; at 2:46 the score continued to shift with 45-48.  With seconds left in the game, the Tigers threw up their final baskets with a 47-52 win over the Mountain Cats.

Final Box score:

Mountain Cats: Mike Perkins 10, Devonte Fuller 2, Connor Voll 10, Isaac Warren 6, Aaron Kelly 13, Nick Turnbull 6

Tigers: Ryan Teeter 2, Trevor Lowry 3, Brock Cantrell-Field 40, Eric Eslick 7