Buzzer beaters rule District 3C Tournament

With three teams huddled at the top of the bracket, the District 2B boys title was up for grabs last weekend.

After a long exciting weekend of basketball, Malta and Wolf Point met up in the championship game and showed why this conference has been so close all season.

The game was back and forth throughout, but never more tense than during the last few seconds of the game.

Having evened the score at 60-60, Wolf Point got the ball with a little more than 30 seconds remaining and burned the clock to guarantee they had the last possession of regulation. With just 13.7 seconds remaining, the Wolves called a time out to scheme up a final play.

What transpired out of the break was nothing near what they had planned. As Wolf Point attempted to make an inbounds pass from the sideline toward midcourt, Malta's R.J. Taylor jumped in front of the ball and ran down the court undefended. Taylor was fouled on his way up to the basket, but made both free throws, giving the Mustangs a 62-60 lead.

Trailing by two with the option to play for overtime, the Wolves called a time out with only six seconds left in the game.

“In the timeout, I asked (Walker) DeWitt, 'Do you want to go for the win or the tie?'” Wolf Point head coach Brent Nygard said. “He said the win.”

Coming off a screen, DeWitt, a senior guard for the Wolves, caught the ball in the left corner, made a move on Taylor stepped back and let the ball fly.

The entire gym stood on its toes as the ball glided toward the net.

More than half the gym was filled with Wolf Point fans and nearly every Glasgow fan left in the building was pulling for the Wolves; everyone of them was silent.

The Malta fans that painted the rest of the room blue all gasped, hoping the shot wasn't as dead on as it looked.

But it was. The shot hit nothing but nylon, sending the Wolves' fans into a frenzy. Students near the court rushed the players and the silence that filled the room just a second earlier was nowhere to be found.

With 0.3 seconds left in the game, the gym had to reorganize itself so Malta could attempt a desperation try, but nothing came of it. For the second time Wolf Point fans went crazy and the players that held such composure in the last few seconds broke down with joy.

“That's a senior leader and one heck of a shot,” Nygard said. “Give Malta credit that was one heck of a championship game.”

The Wolves, who have now won eight games in a row, were led in scoring by DeWitt who had 16 points. Mikel Weeks and Zach Zilkoski each had 14 points and Jordan Moran had 10 points. Jesse Driftwood had nine points in the game.

Malta's effort was led by Dane Stiles, who had 16 points before fouling out late in the fourth quarter.

Glasgow's ride ended just short of the championship game as the Scotties lost to Wolf Point in the semifinals before defeating Plentywood 63-48 to claim third place in the tournament.

The Scotties trailed at halftime against the Wildcats, but used a gigantic fourth quarter to take a commanding victory. The Scotties outscored Plentywood 23-10 in the final frame.

Jon Page led the team in scoring for the tournament, despite battling a bum hip over the weekend. The hip was loose enough to get Page open for 15 points in the final game, including a 6-for-8 performance from the free throw line. Page scored 14 points in the opener against Poplar and eight points against Wolf Point.

Patrick Billingsley, who was experiencing back spasms, also found enough strength to pour in double digits each of his last two games. Billingsley scored 14 against both Plentywood and Wolf Point.

Sophomore guard Chaz Gordon found his scoring touch against Plentywood, scoring 15 points against the Wildcats. Gordon improved his scoring in each game, netting nine points against Wolf Point and four points against Poplar.
Drew Croy had a great tournament defensively, and scored a combined 23 points over the three games. Croy also pulled in 23 rebounds, leading the Scotties each night on the boards.

Poplar qualified for divisionals as the fourth place team in District 2B.
This weekend, the Scotties find themselves at a home tournament once again, with the Northern B Divisional taking place from Thursday to Saturday at Glasgow High School.

Glasgow will open the tournament against Shelby, the No. 2 seed from District 1B, at 2:30 on Thursday. The top three teams from the tournament will advance to the State Tournament in Billings on March 4-6.