The Broadus basketball teams had a tumultuous week, with three games played over a five day span.

The teams led off playing at home against Ekalaka on Tuesday, followed by hosting Wibaux on Friday and hitting Hwy 59 to Jordan on Saturday. Over the course of the five day span both girls and boys varsity teams went 2-1, with each team falling in overtime losses at Jordan.

With only one two games left in the regular season, both boys and girls teams currently sit second in the conference as they look toward the post-season.

Boys

Ekalaka came out to a hot start last Tuesday against Broadus, hitting a trio of three pointers early to drop the Hawks down 2-11 in the first quarter. The Hawks climbed back out of their hole to tie the game at the end of the first, but Ekalaka continued to sink shots from beyond the arc, making 7 over the course of the game, and regained a healthy lead.

Broadus was down six points with 1.5 minutes to go in the game when the Hawks finally made their comeback to tie the game and send it into overtime. The Hawks were able to come out ahead in the extra quarter, putting up five to the Bulldogs' 4, to win a close one 56-55.

"We kept them out of the paint this time around," Broadus Coach Dustin Lanke commented on the game in comparison to their first meeting, which was another close win for Broadus at 62-60.

Broadus displayed balanced scoring, with Landen Capp scoring 12, and Jaxon Bilbrey and Eli Heacock with 11 each.

Broadus shot the 3 well against Wibaux on Friday, (scoring 27 points on 20 attempts, for 45% as a team), and minimized turnover to 6, in an 83-38 win.

At Jordan on Saturday, the Hawks faced a team which they had gone into overtime against in their first meeting. Once again that was the case this time around, as 40% free throw shooting and 20 turnovers plagued the Hawks to send the game into overtime. Jordan went on to win the game 55-52.

"We had a lot of mental mistakes and weren't showing great basketball IQ late in the game – we were showing signs of panic when the score was close," Lanke commented on the game.

Jaxon Bilbrey had a good game at Jordan, scoring 13, grabbing 16 rebounds, and aiding with five assists.

The loss to 8-0 Jordan puts the Hawks into a situation where they can finish no better than second in the district, but they control their destiny going into the final weekend of play, hosting Plevna on Friday and Terry on Saturday, which will also be Senior Night for the bevy of Hawk Seniors.

Plevna holds the third place seed in the conference at 4-4 to the Hawks 6-2, while Terry is in fourth, at 3-5.

From there it's on to the District Tournament, February 15-17 in Miles City at the High School. The top three teams move on to Divisionals, February 28-March 2, also in Miles City.

Girls

The Lady Hawks outscored Ekalaka in 3 of four quarters last Tuesday, playing well overall and putting up 60 points, to beat Ekalaka's 45 points.

Zeason Schaffer had her highest scoring game of the year with 22 points. Mia Mader had 14 and Maddie Zimmer 12.

Broadus knew they would be in for a physical game against Wibaux, according to Head Coach Kristie Lanke, but the team persevered against the taller team, maintaining a steady lead after the first quarter.

After Zeason Schaffer fouled out, Kassie Hagedorn took her place and performed well to help seal the win.

"Our bench players have done a great job doing the right thing," Lanke commented on the 47-38 Broadus win.

Hopes that Broadus would carry that momentum into the Jordan game seemed dashed early on Saturday, as the Lady Hawks found themselves in a seemingly insurmountable hole at half time, down 13-31.

With two quarters left to turn it around, the Lady Hawks came out and dug themselves out of their hole, slowly but surely, outscoring Jordan 18-7 in the third and 15-8 in the fourth, and tying the game to go into overtime.

In overtime, with players fouled out for Broadus, Jordan pulled ahead to win.

"That was our hardest loss of the season," Lanke commented. "It was a team loss – there were lots of missed shots and missed offensive rebounds that contributed to the loss."

Despite the tough loss, there was an immense bright spot with the team now knowing they can dig themselves out of a serious hole.

With that knowledge, they look towards the last week of the season.

Broadus currently sits at 5-3 in the conference, in second place. Their tournament seeding will likely come down to this weekend, with Terry at 4-4 and having beaten Broadus the first time around. The second seed is important in that it ensures a first round bye, an important asset in a conference which features four fairly evenly matched teams when going by win/loss record – only two wins separate the second ranked Lady Hawks from fifth ranked Ekalaka.