High Flying Hawks

The Broadus boys and girls Varsity teams strutted their stuff at home against St. Labre on December 21st, in the final game before the Christmas break. St. Labre has been rebuilding after the school did not take part in the 2020-21 basketball season, which meant a number of students transferred away from the school to play at other schools. The Class B St. Labre teams had a number of players on the roster who were fairly new to the Varsity court, and both Broadus teams were able to go into the Christmas break with wins.

Broadus will host Melstone this Thursday, and Ekalaka on Friday. Additionally, Friday will be "Beach Night" at the school, with fans encouraged to wear Hawaiian shirts, flip-flops, sun hats, and other warm weather beach attire, per the school. The forecast high for Friday is a balmy 39 degrees, which very well might feel like short sleeve weather after the -12 forecast high for Wednesday.

Girls

"We didn't know what to expect with St. Labre," Broadus Head girls coach Ashley Emmons described the lead up to the game. "We just knew going in that we needed to focus on executing our game plan."

Broadus pulled out to an early and led 13-6 after the first quarter, and 32-9 at the half.

"When we went into the locker rooms I emphasized that we needed to come out in the second half and play the game we were capable of playing and execute our plan, and I think the girls played much better in the second half. The intensity was higher, and they pulled down more rebounds."

The Lady Hawks won 60-14 over St. Labre, making three wins in a row for the Lady Hawks in December.

Broadus players racked up 33 steals and 31 rebounds in the game, and were led in scoring by Emma Isaacs, with 14 points, while Abi Krantz had 11 points. 12 girls on the Broadus team scored on the evening.

Ashley noted that the upcoming games are likely to be the most challenging of the season for the Lady Hawks, as they host the formidable Melstone Lady Broncs on Thursday and the tenacious Ekalaka Lady Bulldogs on Friday.

The Melstone team is led by Draya Wacker, a 5' 8" Senior guard who recently signed a letter of intent to play at the University of Montana following graduation.

Emmons tells us that though Wacker gets a lot of attention, her teammates are talented as well, having led the team to the Southern C Divisional title last year with Wacker out of the lineup, as she suffered a knee injury earlier in the season. Melstone is 4-0 overall in the conference.

Regarding the upcoming matchup against Carter County's Lady Bulldogs, Emmons commented: "Ekalaka has a strong program and good coaching staff, so they're someone we can't underestimate." Ekalaka goes into the week with a 2-1 conference record, matching the Lady Hawks' record.

The Lady Hawks have been suffering with a number of players out from practice with cold and flu over the Christmas break, but Emmons hoped to have the team back and healthy by game time this Thursday.

Boys

"We shared the ball very well," Broadus boys coach Mike Richards commented on the St. Labre game. "Anytime you're at 21 assists in a game you know you're doing well, and we saw that on the court against St. Labre with a lot of give and gos and high-lows. It was a good way to end the first part of the season as we went into the break."

The Hawks went up 36-11 in the first quarter and handled the Braves easily, winning 83-37. Broadus had a 66% field goal percentage in the game, and shot 5 of 11 from 3 point range for 46%, scoring an impressive 1.23 points per possession.

Tytan Hanson had a huge game against his former St. Labre team, where he played in the past. Hanson racked up 24 points on the evening, going 11/12 from the field and was 2/2 from 3 point land. Hanson also had 8 rebounds and 4 assists on the evening. Hanson also showed his sportsmanship during the game, congratulating his old teammates from St. Labre when they would score.

The Gee brothers, Wyatt and Dillon, also had big nights, with each scoring 16 points and a dunk a piece.

The Hawks look strong as they go into what Coach Richards described as the "home game of the year to watch", this Thursday against Melstone. Melstone currently sits atop the conference with a 4-0 conference record, and are 5-1 overall, while the Hawks have played one less conference game and sit at 3-0 in the conference, with a 6-0 overall record.

Melstone's Bryce Grebe, who Richards said has put on height and depth of physique from last season, will lead the Broncs against the Hawks, while a pair of talented foreign exchange students will provide a challenge for the Broadus players.

The weather is forecast to be cold for the game, but Richards said the gym will be "72 and sunny", and encourages Hawk fans to come cheer on the team.

On Friday Broadus will host Ekalaka, a scrappy team who are currently 0-6 overall, but Richards said Ekalaka is always a team to watch.