The Noxon Red Devil boys completed season play with a stout team effort in the District 14C tournament in Polson, winning two of four games and finishing fourth in the three-day tourney.

Coach Trever Kayser and his decidedly dangerous Devils downed the Charlo Vikings 64-40, played well but went down 76-56 to St. Regis in the tournament semifinals Friday, fought off elimination with a 65-54 win over Alberton in loser out action Saturday morning and then lost 64-42 to Superior in the consolation game later Saturday.

Since only the top three 14C teams move on to this week’s Western C tournament in Butte, Noxon’s season ended with that game.

“We were hoping to break through with another win or two,” Kayser said. “But we are pretty happy with how we did, the kids played hard and we did get the wins over Charlo and Alberton.”

The first half of the semifinal with St. Regis was the Devils’ finest hour in Polson. With Shane Hatchel and Trever’s son Justice doing much of the scoring, Noxon stayed right with the unbeaten Tigers through the first 16 minutes, which ended with the Red Devils holding an unexpected 29-27 lead.

Unfortunately for the Red Devils, the Tigers righted their ship in the third quarter, outscoring Noxon 29-12 to assert control and eventually move to the win.

Hatchel led Noxon with a game-high 27 points while hitting 3-pointers from all points on the floor, Justice Kayser also demonstrated serious marksmanship from outside the arc and added 18, Fletcher Segura seven points and Ely Sly four.

Individual scoring from Noxon’s other tournament games was not available.

The Red Devils complete the season with a 5-15 record and no regrets. “We did pretty well with the kids we had out, they all played hard, I have no complaints.”