If ever there was a time for the St. Regis boys basketball youth movement to step forward, it was Saturday night.

The Noxon Red Devils were in town to take on the St. Regis boys and girls teams and the boys were missing an important element of their so far successful season.

Junior forward John Pruitt, who along with senior standout Caleb Ball form the backbone of the 10-1 Tigers, was sitting in the stands in street clothes.

Oh oh was a prevailing thought hovering over the gym.

But the talented group of sophomores did not disappoint as they stepped up their games and help Ball deliver a 61-50 win over the visiting Red Devils as Pruitt, who may have a broken bone in his hand, cheered them on from the sidelines.

In the evening’s other game, the St. Regis girls also got a boost from their promising sophomores as they defeated the Lady Red Devils 63-46.

With a starting lineup of Ball and four sophomores, the Tigers opened the game showing the same defensive intensity they have had all year by limiting Noxon to 12 points in the first quarter. At the same time, Ball, who recently broke the school’s career scoring record, scored 13 first quarter points to give the home team a 17-12 lead at the end of the first eight minutes of play.

Ball added nine more points in the second quarter when he and the youngsters on defense held Noxon to 10. At the half St. Regis was in front 31-22.

Noxon began to whittle away at the Tigers’ lead in the second half as 6-3 junior Shane Murray and standout sophomore Ricky Williams began finding their rhythm on offense and defense.

The Red Devils continued to peck away at the St. Regis lead into the fourth quarter and pulled to within two points, 44-42 with just under three minutes play. With time ticking away, Ball scored on a short jumper, to put the Tigers’ lead at 46-42. Williams then hit a jumper on the other end of the court to go with a free throw and with less two minutes to play, St. Regis’ lead was down to one, 46-45.

That’s when sophomore guard Hunter Stolla drilled a clutch three-pointer to put the Tigers back in front by four. Ball then sank a pair of free throws after being fouled while shooting, and followed that a short time later with a layup for two that put the Tigers up 55-47.

A Noxon three-pointer pulled the Red Devils back within five with the clocking ticking closer to the final buzzer. St. Regis junior Kaleb Park was fouled twice in a short span and sank three free throws with 43 second to play to close out the game scoring and preserve the Tigers’ win.

Ball scored 34 points to lead all scorers, while sophomore Ayden Rael added 10 to the Tigers’ victory. The win boosted St. Regis to 11-1 on the year and 7-1 in Western 14C conference play. Noxon dropped to 3-7 overall and 3-5 in conference play with the loss.

Meanwhile, Pruitt was scheduled to have his hand X-rayed Monday to determine if he may have broken a bone at the base of one of his fingers. The potential loss of Pruitt was of concern to St. Regis coach Jesse Allan, especially with the playoffs looming in about three weeks.

“Unfortunately we may not have Johnny for the next month,” Allan said. “There is a big probability he broke a finger in the base of his hand. We may look a little different over the next month or so. Hopefully he will be back by the district tournament (Feb 16-18)”.

The news was somewhat better for the Lady Tigers, who clawed their way to a 12-9 first quarter lead over the Lady Red Devils.

Both teams traded baskets in the second period, with each scoring 15 points to produce a 27-24 St. Regis lead at the half.

St. Regis expanded its lead by three during the third quarter, then took control of the game by outscoring Noxon 28-17 over the last eight minutes of the game.

Bailey Hutchinson paced St. Regis with 14 points, while sophomores Shylah Dalka and Avery Burnham contributed 11 and 10 points respectively and were instrumental in amped up defensive play in the second half.

St. Regis senior Macy Hill, the team’s leading scorer was held to eight points, but was a solid contributor in the second half with her scoring, rebounding and passing.

Noxon senior Emily Brown led all scorers with 22 points.

The loss left the Lady Red Devils with a 6-5 overall mark and a 4-3 conference record. St. Regis squared it’s season record at 6-6 and improved to 3-5 in 14C play with the win. This week St. Regis travels to Hot Springs for a set of Friday night games with the Savage Heat and Lady Savage Heat. The Tigers return home the following evening for a pair of games with Two Eagle River.

Noxon has a home encounter with Charlo Friday, then journeys to Superior for Saturday night games with the Bobcats. The Red Devils also play tonight (Tuesday) in a pair of home games against Clark Fork, Idaho.