Lustre Christian Boys Finish Third at Eastern Divisional

After an upset loss in the championship game of the District 3C tournament, the Lions of Lustre Christian entered the Eastern C Divisional Tournament as the second seed. Lustre Christian battled through the brackets from the championship side to the consolation game to a challenge game for a trip to state. But after five intense games, the Lions found themselves a single point shy of cracking the top eight in the state.

The Lions defeated the Bainville Bulldogs 71-57 in a thrilling overtime game to start the tournament Wednesday before meeting the undefeated Froid/Lake Redhawks in game two on Thursday. The Lions fell 46-32 after running into foul trouble in the third quarter.

Lustre then met the Scobey Spartans Friday morning for a rematch from the District 3C title game. This time the Lions emerged victorious, winning 43-37. Another rematch was in the cards for Lustre Christian as they took on the Bulldogs in the Consolation game that evening. This time the Lions needed only 32 minutes to down the Bulldogs 48-42.

Sitting in third place, the Lions watched the Redhawks defeat the Fairview Warriors in the championship game, opening a door for a Lions trip to the State Tournament.

The Lions threw down a challenge to the Warriors and the teams hit the hardwood Saturday afternoon. When time ran out on another overtime nail biter, the Lions came up just shy of the Warriors in a 39-38 final score.

Bainville took a 20-13 lead after the first quarter in Lustre Christian's first game before the Lions exploded with 17 points in the second for a 30-27 lead at the half.

The Lions built up their lead to 8 points after three quarters, carrying a 46-38 advantage into the final eight minutes. The Bulldogs outscored them 19-11 in the fourth to send the game to overtime.

Rising to the challenge, Lustre Christian poured in 14 points in four minutes while holding Bainville to a single field goal.

Elijah Lenihan set the nets on fire with 25 points, including four three-pointers, while shooting 62.5 percent from the field. Jasiah Hambira shot 69.2 percent from the field and scored 19 points, including a trey. Kolden Hoversland and Braden Ewing each added 10 points for the Lions. Kaleb Hoversland scored 4 and Cayden Klatt added 3 points.

Kolden Hoversland led in assists with six and Kaleb Hoversland added four. Klatt had two dishes and Hambira and Clay Reddig added one each to the stat sheet. Kolden Hoversland and Reddig each had a takeaway for Lustre Christian while Lenihan and Ewing both had a block.

The Lions had 36 rebounds led by Kolden Hoversland with eight. Lenihan and Hambira grabbed five boards each while Klatt and Ewing had four a piece. Kaleb Hoversland had three and Reddig two rebounds.

Bainville had 14 fouls to Lustre Christian's 15 in the game, though the Lions went 3-of-8 at the line while the Bulldogs converted on 12 of 18 bonus shots.

Hambira was called for four infractions while each of the Hoverslands was called for three. Lenihan and Ewing had two a piece and Klatt drew one foul.

The win pitted the Lions against the undefeated Redhawks from Froid/Lake in a Thursday afternoon match-up. Lustre Christian held even with the number one seed out of the 2C until their third-quarter fouls caught up with them in the final eight minutes.

The Lions led 11-8 after the first quarter and trailed by two – 17-15 – at halftime. The Lions drew a number of fouls in the third quarter, both offensive and defensive, but still only trailed by three points heading into the final quarter, down 28-25.

The Redhawks took full advantage of their trips to the free throw line, sinking nine of 15 bonus shots in the second half. Lustre Christian had a single free throw in the second half. The free throws helped propel Froid/Lake to their 46-32 win.

Lustre Christian had 17 fouls while Froid/Lake had only 10.

Kolden Hoversland and Lenihan each fouled out of the game. Hambira was called for three, Ewing two and Klatt and Kaleb Hoversland one each.

Kolden Hoversland was the only Lion to hit double-digit scoring, hitting five from the field for 10 points. Klatt added 8 points, with two shots from downtown. Lenihan added 6, Kaleb Hoversland 5, Hambira 3 and Ewing 2 points.

Hambira led the team in assists and steals, notching three in each category. Kolden Hoversland had two assists with Kaleb Hoversland and Klatt adding one each. Klatt, Kaleb Hoversland, Kolden Hoversland and Lenihan each had a takeaway in the game.

Kolden Hoversland also led in rebounds with eight followed by Hambira with five and Klatt with four. Ewing grabbed two boards while Kaleb Hoversland and Lenihan had one a piece.

Coming off only their second loss of the season, the Lions faced the team that had handed them their first.

The two teams from the District 3C championship game met Friday morning. In the first half, it seemed the Spartans might take a second game off the Lions. Scobey led 12-5 after the first and 25-15 heading into halftime.

Lustre Christian regrouped at the intermission and roared back onto the hardwood in the third quarter with 15 points while holding Scobey to 2 points. The Lions doubled their lead in the final eight minutes, outscoring Scobey 13-10 on their way to a 43-37 victory.

Kolden Hoversland was the stats leader for the Lions with 20 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals. He shot 41.6 from the field and went 8-for-12 from the free throw line. Hambira added 10 points, including a trey, blocked a shot and pulled down three rebounds.

Kaleb Hoversland added 6 points, two rebounds and an assist. Ewing scored 4, blocked two shots and grabbed five rebounds. Lenihan had 3 points, two rebounds, an assist and a steal. Klatt had a rebound, an assist and a steal.

The Lions were called for only 14 fouls in the game while Scobey drew whistles 23 times.

Ewing fouled out. Klatt was called for three while Kaleb Hoversland, Kolden Hoversland and Lenihan had two fouls a piece.

With the win, the Lions moved into the Consolation Game in their second rematch of the weekend. Lustre Christian and Bainville met on the court at 6 p.m. Friday night.

In their second meeting, Bainville would lead only once – by 2 points in the first quarter. The remainder of the clock the game stayed in the Lions' control.

Lustre Christian led 16-6 after one and 28-21 to start the second half. They held a 4-point margin after three quarters and outscored Bainville 14-12 in the final eight minutes.

Three Lions hit double-digit scoring in the game: Kolden Hoversland, 16; Lenihan, 13 and Ewing 10. Klatt added 5 points and Kaleb Hoversland and Hambira each added a field goal. As a team, Lustre Christian had a 44.7 shot percentage from the floor.

Kolden Hoverland had five assists followed by Klatt and Kaleb Hoversland with one each. Lenihan had the team's only steal.

Kaleb Hoversland crashed the boards with eight rebounds, followed by Kolden Hoversland with seven and Ewing with three. Klatt snagged two boards and Lenihan and Hambira had one rebound each.

Both teams held their fouls to 12 in the game.

Kolden Hoversland was called for four while Kaleb Hoversland, Lenihan and Hambira had two each. Klatt and Ewing were called for one each.

Lustre Christian was on standby during the championship game that night, waiting for a Froid/Lake victory over Fairview so the Lions could throw down a challenge for the right to earn a trip to the State Tournament. Fairview fell 76-46 to Froid/Lake and the challenge game was set for 4 p.m. on Saturday.

Lustre trailed by a point after one quarter – presaging what was to be the final outcome – but outscored Fairview 9-6 in the second quarter for a 19-17 lead to start the second half.

Each team put up 6 points in the third quarter before the Warriors edged the Lions 8-6 in the fourth to knot the score and 31 and force an extra four minutes of play.

The Lions put up 7 points in the extra frame, all of which came at the charity stripe. Klatt went 2-for-2 in extra time and Lenihan was 5-for-6 at the line. But a late foul sent Warrior Kanyon Taylor to the line for three extra shots. He sank all three to bring Fairview within in a point.

A steal put the ball back in Warriors hands and they made good on the opportunity, scoring a bucket with 2 seconds left on the clock to put them ahead by one and send the Warriors on to state.

Kolden Hoversland scored 11 points to lead Lustre Christian. Lenihan scored 10 points with a three pointer and five free throws in overtime. Klatt scored 9 points, including a three-pointer. Hambira added 8 for the Lions.

Kolden Hoversland had three of the team's five assists with Klatt and Kaleb Hoversland with one each. Lenihan and Hambira each had a steal while Klatt, Kolden Hoversland, Hambira and Lenihan each had a blocked shot.

The Lions pulled down 36 rebounds to Fairview's 31 with Kolden Hoversland leading the Lions with 11. Hambira grabbed nine, Kaleb Hoversland and Lenihan three each, and Klatt and Ewing one a piece.

Fairview had 14 fouls giving Lustre Christian 13 bonus shots while the Lions had 12 infractions and allowed the Warriors 10 free throws.

Ewing drew four fouls on the Lions side while Klatt, Kolden Hoversland, Lenihan and Hambira drew two whistles a piece.

In a Facebook post, head coach Randy Reddig praised his team and his community.

"I couldn't be more proud and honored to lead this group of young men! Everyone ... played a huge part in our success this year. You won over the hearts of everybody that watched you and represented our families, community, school, and most importantly the cross you wear on your backs! Thank you guys for such a fun ride! Thanks also to the community for all the support throughout the year. You all brought a tear to my eye every time you showed up at a team event or sendoff at the school or hotel and showed us so much love! Proud to be a Lustre Christian Lion. ..."