The Broadus Hawks Boys Varsity team is now tied for first in the conference, after winning three games in the last week.

Last Tuesday, Broadus hosted Ekalaka for their second meeting of the year. Broadus got out to an early lead, but Ekalaka was able to battle back to regain the lead in the second quarter, and again in the third. Broadus would eventually go on to pull ahead in the fourth to win 65-52, sweeping the Bulldogs in the regular season. Dillon Gee led the Hawks in scoring with 20, while Johnny Richards put up 19 points.

On Friday, the Hawks traveled to Prairie County to play the undefeated Terry Terriers, ranked 9th in the state going into the weekend. Terry had previously beaten Melstone, and looked to be a tough competitor, but the Hawks had a plan and stuck to it. Cooper Zimmer and Marcus Mader played some great defense to hold Terry's point guard, Filippo Ferretti, to zero points on the night. Going into the game, Ferretti had averaged 12 points per game.

Broadus Coach Mike Richards told us that another key to the game was something he's been teaching the team all year – to sink more free throws than the other team shoots. This technique, pioneered by famous Indiana Hoosier head coach Bobby Knight, relies on good shooting, and minimizing your fouling. This technique has paid off for the Hawks this season, and especially so against Terry, as Broadus went 16 of 23 from the free throw line while Terry went 3 of 5.

The Hawks had standout performances from Dillon Gee, who scored a career high 26 points, while nabbing 12 rebounds. Marcus Mader also had a career high scoring night, with 20 points, as well as 12 rebounds.

The Hawks combined offensive and defensive performance had them up by as many as 18 points with three minutes left in the 4th quarter, but Terry mounted a comeback.

With minutes left in the game, Terry pulled to within 11, but Broadus hung on for the win, with a final score of 72 to 61.

The conference win put Broadus into a three way tie for 1st place with Melstone and Terry, at 6-1. Melstone has lost to Terry, Broadus to Melstone, and Terry to Broadus, with all three teams making their wins on the road.

On Saturday, the Hawk Varsity played in Jordan, for a non-conference game. Both Jordan and Broadus had an opening in their schedule, and decided to meet for an extra game. Coach Richards said that he didn't want his team to fall into the trap of having a letdown after the big win at Terry, and he said that's just what happened at Jordan, as he thought Broadus played sloppily. Nonetheless, the Hawks pulled out the win, 45-30 over Jordan.

Over the week, Johnny Richards scored on 7 shots from three point land. This moved Johnny into second in the all-time Hawk three pointers made list, surpassing Chad Harrington, who played Varsity ball from 88-90, and racked up 105 threes. Richards now has 107 threes, while the record holder Kevin Bird, who played from 2000 to 2003, had 120. In researching three pointers, it appears that they were instituted in high school in 1987, meaning the long range shooters before that time wouldn't make the list. Additionally, Broadus played in Class B until fairly recently, making the challenges different in terms of levels of competition, while the larger school sizes in years past meant players often had fewer years of Varsity stats than the players of today. Nevertheless, Richards accomplishment is quite impressive, especially considering he is currently a Junior, and has another year to hone his skills.

Broadus will play at Wibaux this Friday, and then travel to Colstrip on Saturday. Wibaux currently sits at 4-3 in conference play, so the Hawks have to show up and play their game in order to win. Coach Richards told us that Colstrip is a solid Class B team, and has traveled to Class B State the last three years, thus the game might serve as an awakening to the level of competition that's possible across the state.