State B-ball Action

Last year at State, the Hawks lost out in two straight games, but this year's overall improvement in their season and tournament record was reflected at the state tournament, where they won their first round game, before facing the buzz saw of Manhattan Christian, and eventually losing out to Melstone, who went on to place fourth.

Broadus rolled into the Class C State Tournament in Great Falls last week on icy roads and fighting high winds through much of their journey. The winds reached such velocity near Harlowton that one of the skylight/vents in the bus was torn open, necessitating some of the players to aid in holding the vent closed until the bus reached Harlow where repairs could be made.

Upon arrival in Great Falls on Tuesday evening, the team sacked out and prepared for their tournament, waking up and practicing at the college before their first game against Belt at 4:30. On the trip up the team had stopped in Harlowton to shoot around as a break from the monotony of the drive.

"Belt is a well-coached, disciplined team," Broadus Coach Mike Richards told us in an interview on Monday, echoing his sentiments from last week.

The Hawks soared to an early lead over the Huskies, up by as many as ten points in the first quarter, and up 35-22 in the second quarter. Broadus maintained a double digit lead into the fourth quarter, until Belt came back to within two points with around six minutes remaining in the game, but Broadus pulled ahead in the final minutes to win 59-52.

The Hawks scored 0.96 points per possession in the win, compared to 0.87 for Belt. In most other stat categories the teams were fairly evenly matched, for example each team had 9 steals, and though Belt led in offensive rebounds with 19 compared to the Hawks' 11, Broadus led in defensive rebounds with 21 to Belt's 11.

Two sets of team stats that stood out were the shooting percentage, with Broadus sinking 52.3%, whereas Belt missed a lot of shots, shooting only 32.8%. Where Broadus had difficulty was in turnovers, with 21 to Belt's 13. The high number of turnovers would come back to bite Broadus later in the tournament.

Three Hawks scored in double digits in the win, with Dillon Gee leading the team with 13, Tytan Hanson scoring 11, and Cooper Zimmer with 10 points.

Garett Metrione led the Huskies in scoring with 17, while Bridger Vogl had 13, and Keaghn McDaniel 12 points.

Though Broadus handled Belt fairly easily in the first round, Belt proved their tenacity as they came back through the loser out bracket to take third in the tournament, beating Melstone in the consolation game.

The first-round win was the first for Broadus in many, many years. Initial reports were that Broadus had won the first round in 1962, but further investigation into old year books found that was not the case in that year.

Nevertheless, the win put Broadus into a precarious situation, facing the #1 in the state ranked Manhattan Christian Eagles, which were the #1 team from the Western Division going into State. The Eagles, hailing from Churchill, just northwest of Bozeman, have been to state every year since 2015.

In those years they have placed 5th or better each year, winning 1st in 2019, and eventually, in 2022. The private Manhattan Christian school costs $8,350 per year, per student, for grades six through twelve to attend, with slightly lower attendance cost for K-5 graders to attend due to additional scholarships for that age group. Cost to send a single student from K-12 would be around $105,000 out of pocket, if that student were not part of a multiple family household where discounts would apply.

The Eagles came out hot, scoring 20 to the Hawks' 8 in the first quarter, and keeping the Hawk offense on ice throughout the game – Broadus didn't score double digits in a quarter the entire game. The Hawks finished by losing 23-67, their lowest scoring game of the season by far – the previous lowest scoring game for the Hawks was in early January against Custer/Hysham, were they scored 49 to win.

As might be expected, Broadus' offensive stats were lackluster compared to Manhattan Christian, with Broadus only leading in blocks, 3 to 2. Broadus led in a less desirable category, turnovers, with 21 to the Eagles' 16. Broadus shot a dismal 22.9% field goal percentage, and scored 0.39 points per possession to Manhattan Christian's 1.06.

Dillon Gee once again led the Hawks in scoring, with 13 points. Tytan Hanson had 5.

Mason Venema of Manhattan Christian led their team in scoring with 13, followed by Seth Amunrud with 12 and Logan Leep with 11.

The Eagles would go on to trounce the #1 East team Froid/Medicine Lake in the championship by a score of 55-32 to win their third state title since their first in 1984.

The loss to Manhattan Christian put Broadus up against their old nemesis on Friday, the Melstone Broncs. Thus far in the season Broadus was 3-1 against Melstone, beating them in both the District and Divisional title games. Two of the previous games had gone to overtime, so the teams have been evenly matched all year.

The game on Saturday would prove to another close match, but this time around Melstone went out to an early lead and Broadus battled back to retake the lead in the second quarter, before Melstone retook the lead and maintained it into the fourth quarter.

In the fourth quarter, with Broadus trailing by three and several of the Hawks in foul trouble, Richards pulled the team into a zone defense. To counter, Melstone pulled the ball out to around half court and held the ball. With no shot clock until next season, Melstone's offensive strategy seemed to be to hold onto the ball and prevent Broadus from scoring, while attempting to draw Broadus out and get their players into further foul trouble. This strategy proved wildly unpopular with fans, with boos and comments to "play ball," from the peanut gallery, but Richards told us the strategy made sense from a strategic perspective: "you've gotta do what gives your team the best chance to be successful," he said.

Following a foul and Melstone sinking one free throw, Broadus scored, and Melstone went right back to their tactic. Broadus eventually scored again, tying the game. Broadus would score a whopping four points in the fourth quarter to Melstone's 1 point – a stat we are not likely to see in competitive games in the future, with the inclusion of a shot clock next season.

The tie meant Broadus and Melstone would once again, for the third time this season, play an overtime game.

In overtime Melstone was able to kick their offense into gear, and Broadus faltered, with Melstone scoring nine and Broadus one. Final score, Melstone 48, Broadus 40.

Broadus once again had a tough time with forcing passes and creating turnovers, with 16 turnovers in the game, leading to the Broncs scoring 15 points off turnovers.

Marcus Mader led the Hawks in scoring with 14, while Senior Hawk Johnny Richards finished out his high school career by sinking 4 of 8 three pointers, for 12 points in total. Richards, who played four years on the Varsity team, leads the Hawk all time three point list, with 187. Number two on the list is Kevin Bird, who played from 2000-03, with 120.

Despite what some may see as a disappointing finish to the season, when looked at through a wider lens, the Hawks excelled mightily.

The Hawks finished out their season with a 23-4 record, with one loss coming to the team that took the state title, Manhattan Christian, one regular season loss and one tournament loss to the team that won fourth at State, Melstone, and the other loss coming to Upton, Wyoming, which recently won the state title in Wyoming for the second year in a row.

The last time Broadus had a similar record was in the 93-94 season where they went 23-5, and before that the cinderella year of 91-92, where Broadus went 24-0 before losing two straight games at State.

Broadus won their first conference title in 20 years, their first division championship in 30 years, and their first back to back district championships in 27 years.

Each of the last five seasons the Hawks have improved their conference showing, from 8th in 2017 to 7th in 2018, then 5th, 4th, 2nd, and now 1st.

Overall, a successful season, even if a state placing eluded the team.

The Hawks will lose two Seniors, Johnny Richards and Wyatt Gee to graduation. Both players have been important members of the team and will be missed, but there are a solid array of up and coming Hawks looking for additional time on the court. For example, the Hawks JV Boys team went undefeated this season, and many of those players are likely to see more playing time on the Varsity team next season.

Richards wanted to thank everyone for following the boys, commenting that he had heard from numerous folks how much they enjoyed watching the team play. He noted: "We have lots of loyal fans, and that's always great to see."

Next season, high school basketball will see some changes. The Southern C Division is being divided into three separate districts with the addition of the 5C. Melstone, Custer/Hysham, and Northern Cheyenne will be peeled off from our 4C District, along with Broadview/Lavina, Harlowton/Ryegate, and Reedpoint/Rapelje from the 6C to form the 5C. The remainder of the 4C teams will be the same as previous years. Each district will now send three teams to Divisionals as opposed to the current four. The layout for the Divisional tourney is yet to be decided between a nine-team bracket or a possible play-in game.

What this means for Broadus is a 6 team conference and the addition of more non-conference games, which Richards is looking to fill with some very competitive teams. By including tougher competition in the games leading up to tournaments, Richards is hopeful that next year Broadus will be stronger than ever.