User Rating: / 0
PoorBest 

SARIE MURPHY, Scobey School seventh grader, works the ball offensively against a Frontier Mustangs player in the 11 a.m. game in the Plentywood School gym. — Leader Photo, mike

   It was a fantastic finish for the Scobey junior high girls’ basketball team in their final game of four on the day at the Plentywood Jamboree, what with that offensive rebound put-back going straight up, barely pecking the glass high above the rim and then dropping straight down for a swish and buzzer-beating victory.
    The seventh and eighth grade

Spartans, coached by Opheim graduate Tawny (nee: Solberg) Criswell and winners in four of their last five games for a 7-5 overall record, will see if their late-game magic continues when hosting the Scobey Jamboree Saturday, November 21, at the Scobey School.
    The pairings are: 7th grade, small gym, Scobey vs. Frontier, 9 a.m.; Plentywood vs. Poplar, 10 a.m.; Glasgow Red vs. Wolf Point, 11 a.m.; Glasgow White vs. Poplar, 12 noon; Frontier vs. Glasgow Red, 1 p.m.; Scobey vs. Wolf Point, 2 p.m.; Glasgow White vs. Plentywood, 3 p.m. 8th grade, new gym, Plentywood vs. Poplar, 9 a.m.; Glasgow Red vs. Wolf Point, 10 a.m.; Frontier vs. Scobey, 11 a.m.; Glasgow White vs. Plentywood, 12 noon; Scobey vs. Wolf Point, 1 p.m.; Glasgow White vs. Poplar, 2 p.m.; Frontier vs. Glasgow Red, 3 p.m.
    Scobey, which has scored 261 points (21.7 average) on offense and allowed 284 (23.6) in its dozen games, posted a 21-16 victory in its opener in Plentywood over the Frontier A squad.
    On the strength of four Sarah Dietrich field goals, the Spartans led 13-7 at the half. Dietrich led Scobey in scoring with 8 points followed by Shae Cady with 7.
    In Scobey’s second game, an 11 a.m. tip-off with the Frontier B team in Plentywood’s secondary gym, the score was tied at 6-all 14 minutes into the 18-minute, running-clock half, before the Spartans pulled away with a 7-0 run.
    Erin Wahl took an assist from BoDayle Battleson to start it out (8-6), Karlee Handy followed with an 8-footer (10-6), Sarie Murphy hit a turnaround in the post (12-6) and Wahl made a free throw with 1:31 left (13-6).
    In the second half, Scobey began extending its lead at the 12:12 mark when Battleson scored inside and followed with a 14-footer from the elbow, Wahl converted an offensive rebound and Murphy tallied down low with a bank shot for a 23-10 advantage with 8 minutes to go. Back-to-back buckets by Bailey Fugere in a 24-second span — a baseline swish from 7 feet and an offensive rebound basket — pushed the score to 27-12. Handy’s 9-foot bank shot with 10 seconds left capped the scoring for the final tally of 29-18.
    Wahl led the Spartans in scoring with 9 points while Battleson, Cady, Fugere, Handy and Murphy all found the hoop for 4.
    Game 3 at high noon in the main gym against Glasgow Red was tight in the first half. A layup by Battleson made it 2-0 but the Scotties tied it at 2. A 13-footer from inside the key by eighth grader Libby Olson made it 4-2 but Glasgow tied it at 4. Wahl scored on a pick-and-roll with Bo for a 6-4 advantage but the Hi-Liners knotted it at 6 and then went ahead by 8-6. Wahl tied it at 8 from the inside but Glasgow went up 10-8. Battleson made it 10-all while driving from the left wing for a layup but the Scotties hit from the free throw line for an 11-10 lead. Eighth grader Kourtney Voorhees countered with a free toss of her own at the 3:14 mark for the sixth tie of the game at 11.
     From the 1:35 mark of the first half, where the Scotties scored one point from the charity stripe, followed by a field goal with 15 ticks remaining for a 14-11 halftime lead, to 14:24 left in the second half, Glasgow outscored the Spartans 10-zip for a 21-11 advantage.
    Wahl broke the scoring drought with a basket but it wasn’t enough to overcome the double-digit deficit in a 31-16 setback.
    Wahl led Scobey in scoring with 9 points followed by Battleson with 4, Olson 2 and Voorhees 1.
    In the final contest against Glasgow White at 1 p.m. in the main gym, the roster featured all Scobey seventh graders, who have boldly set a goal of becoming the Montana Class C girls’ basketball state champions by the end of their junior season in the late winter month of March 2013 (all the ingredients appear to be there with a big strong center in Wahl, a big strong power forward in Murphy and a speedy, good-shooting, good-ball-handling group of guards).
    The first half was very much a carbon copy of the previous game with Glasgow Red — plenty of ties and 2-point leads.
    Fugere gave Scobey a 2-0 lead 29 seconds into the game with a runner for a short bank but Glasgow tied it at 2. Wahl took an entry pass from Battleson and hit a short bank shot for a 4-2 lead but the Scotties made it 4-4. After Glasgow went ahead 6-4, Cady drove the baseline for a layup and Wahl scored on an offensive rebound put-back and 9-footer for a 10-6 margin with 7:59 left.
    Glasgow finished the first half with an 8-0 run, taking a 14-10 lead at intermission.
    Eighty-four seconds into the second half the lead grew to 16-10 but the Spartans whipped up a rally of their own over the next 5:41. Cady hit a 12-footer from the baseline and then swished a 12-footer from the wing to close within 2. A Murphy blocked shot led to a Wahl 14-foot bank shot from the right wing for a tie at 16 and Cady’s two free throws at the 10:30 mark gave Scobey an 18-16 lead.
    Another interior basket by Wahl made it 20-17 but a Scotty free throw followed by a bucket by Amanda Wolf produced a 20-all score with 3:06 remaining.
    Then things got real interesting and the drama intensified.
    Wahl hauled down a defensive rebound and flung an outlet pass to the wing, where her teammate didn’t hesitate to crank a wide-open 13-footer that banked in for two. That’s right, wrong basket, making it 22-20 Glasgow with 1:18 left.
    Following a Scobey turnover with 1:07 to go, the Spartans forced a jump ball in their favor at the 51-second mark and Wahl turned the opportunity into a short bank on a fast break for a tie at 22.
    The Scotties took a 23-22 lead with 12 ticks to go when Amy Breigenzer sank a free throw.
    Scobey turned it over one second later, Glasgow was whistled for traveling with 6 seconds left and the Spartans had possession.
    The ball ended up in Fugere’s hands, she was fouled and went to the free throw line for a 1-and-1 with 1 second left.
    A make and it’s tied. A miss and it’s over and the Spartans would be saddled with their second consecutive loss.
    Well, that’s how it appeared anyway but, as the saying goes, it ain’t over until it’s over.
    Fugere’s free throw was straight at the cylinder but just a tad long, hitting the back of the rim and bouncing upwards to four feet high. Defensively, a Glasgow player forgot to block out Wahl on the shot and the ball fell right down into her hands on the left side of the basket. She put it back up, her shot going almost as high as the missed free throw, barely kissing the glass and then straight down for a swish. Somewhere in all that the buzzer blared but it became official when floor official Scott Harris extended his right index and middle fingers and enthusiastically sent his right arm swinging downward signifying affirmative folks, that basket is good!

PLENTYWOOD JAMBOREE
Plentywood High School
November 14, 2009
    Scobey (21) vs. Frontier A (16), 9 a.m. tip-off — Scobey players/scoring: Sarie Murphy 0 0-0 0, Shae Cady 3 1-2 7, Karlee Handy 0 2-4 2, Kourtney Voorhees 1 0-0 2, Libby Olson 1 0-0 2, Zoe Haugo 0 0-0 0, Savanna Handy 0 0-0 0, Sarah Dietrich 4 0-1 8. Totals: 9 3-7 21. Frontier: C. Holen 8.
    Scobey (29) vs. Frontier B (18), 11 a.m. tip-off — Scobey players/scoring: Karlee Handy 2 0-0 4, Shae Cady 2 0-0 4, BoDayle Battleson 2 0-2 4, Erin Wahl 4 1-2 9, Sarie Murphy 2 0-0 4, Bailey Fugere 2 0-0 4, Alexis Aguilar 0 0-0 0, Katelenn Davis 0 0-0 0. Totals: 14 1-4 29. Frontier B: Holen 11.
    Scobey (16) vs. Glasgow Red (31), 12 noon tip-off — Scobey players/scoring: Erin Wahl 4 1-1 9, BoDayle Battleson 2 0-2 4, Bailey Fugere 0 0-0 0, Zoe Haugo 0 0-0 0, Kourtney Voorhees 0 1-2 1, Sarah Dietrich 0 0-0 0, Savanna Handy 0 0-0 0, Libby Olson 1 0-2 2. Totals: 7 2-7 16. Glasgow: Stein 12.
    Scobey (24) vs. Glasgow White (23), 1 p.m. tip-off — Scobey players/scoring: Karlee Handy 0 0-0 0, Shae Cady 3 2-2 8, BoDayle Battleson 0 0-2 0, Sarie Murphy 0 0-0 0, Erin Wahl 7 0-1 14, Katelenn Davis 0 0-0 0, Alexis Aguilar 0 0-0 0, Bailey Fugere 1 0-1 2. Totals: 11 2-6 24. Glasgow: Amanda Wolf 10.