Warriors end Diggers season

By The Associated Press - 03/06/2008

The Lights of MSU-Northern and Lewis-Clark State’s Warriors advanced through the first round of the Frontier Conference Men’s Basketball tournament Wednesday at the Maroon Activities Center.

MSU-Northern started slow, but chugged past the Argos, while L-C State simply outshot the Orediggers from tip to buzzer.

The Lights will face the winner of Thursday’s 4 p.m. matchup of Carroll College and UM Western, while the Warriors will face the winner of the 8 p.m. game between Westminster and Rocky Mountain College.

Lewis-Clark State 76,

Montana Tech 58

Mike Gordy seemed nearly impossible for the Orediggers to contain, as the 6-foot-5 senior went off for a dozen points in the first half and another 14 in the second. Add to that six rebounds, four assists and three steals, and you’ve got a bona-fide all-around performance.

“Gordy was a beast,” noted Montana Tech head coach Nate Larson. “We gave these guys two tough games during the season, but then we took care of the ball and we shot a solid percentage.”

On Wednesday, the Orediggers turned the ball over 22 times and shot 39 percent.

“That will not win basketball games,” Larson said. “At tournament time you’ve got to hit the shots.”

In contrast, the Warriors shot 55 percent from the field and committed 13 turnovers. They surged through the first 11 minutes, outscoring Tech 26-10 after 10 minutes of play, and the Orediggers never got within 15 points of the lead thereafter.

“This wasn’t the game we envisioned against this team,” Larson said. “We went man (defense) against them and that was a tough match up for us, especially against Gordy.”

Andrew Packwood was the only other Warrior to break into double digits with 10 points.

While Tech seniors Casey Briggs and Shea Bradshaw didn’t go out with a win, they were both successful from beyond the 3-point line with their last shots. Shea finished the year shooting 32 percent on the long ball, while Briggs ended up at 50 percent — 2-for-4 — on the season.

“The three was Shea’s bread and butter, and I guess it was Casey’s liver and onions,” Larson joked. “I want to thank those guys for their leadership. They had to go out on a rough year, but they handled it well.”

Briggs notched seven points and Bradshaw had eight.

Returning for Tech will be Dusan Veselinovic, who led the Orediggers with 13 points, along with Tony Trudnowski, who knocked down 10 points and six rebounds. Stephen Thomas, who tallied four assists, a steal and two points will round out next season’s seniors.

— Pat Ryan,

The Montana Standard

MONTANA TECH (6-23)

Casey Briggs 3-9 0-1 7, Dirk Anderson 4-5 0-0 8, Jeramie Hopson 2-7 0-0 5, Stephen Thomas 0-2 2-2 2, Tony Trudnowski 4-8 0-0 10, Shea Bradshaw 3-7 0-0 8, Dusan Veselinovic 5-18 2-2 13, Collin Fehr 1-2 0-0 2, Ivan Sljivar 1-1 0-0 3. Totals 23-59 4-5 58.

LEWIS-CLARK STATE (20-9)

Jon Daly 3-6 2-4 8, Mike Gordy 13-18 0-1 26, Brian Duckworth 2-3 0-0 5, Rob Comer 0-3 2-2 2, J.R. Gordon 3-10 3-6 9, Karl Stedman 1-1 0-0 2, Max Papendieck 2-2 0-0 5, Caleb Orr 1-3 0-0 3, Justin Fraser 2-5 0-0 6, Andrew Packwood 4-5 2-2 10. Totals 31-56 9-15 76.

Halftime score — LC 42, MT 23. 3-point goals — MT 8-26 (Briggs 1-1, Anderson 0-1, Hopson 1-3, Thomas 0-1, Trudnowski 2-5, Bradshaw 2-6, Veselinovic 1-8, Sljivar 1-1), LC 5-15 (Gordy 0-1, Duckworth 1-2, Comer 0-2, Gordon 0-2, Papendieck 1-1 Orr 1-2, Fraser 2-5). Rebounds — MT 38 (Anderson 7, Trudnowski 6, Briggs 5), LC 25 (Gordy 6). Fouls — MT 18, LC 11. Assists — MT 13 (Thomas 4, Hopson 3), LC 15 (Gordy 4, Daly 3, Duckworth 3). Turnovers — MT 22, LC 13. Blocks — MT 2, LC 1. Steals — MT 6 (Briggs 2, Hopson 2), LC 9 (Gordy 3, Gordon 2).

MSU-Northern 65, Great Falls 54

It took the second-seeded Lights nearly 16 minutes to take the lead.

But it didn’t take long for them to take complete control after that.

Great Falls scored the game’s first six points, and the Lights battled back to tie the game five different times — the last time at 27 on a jumper by Travis Noble with 5:28 to play in the first half.

That bucket sparked a 9-0 run. Drew Petterson scored off a nice pass from Delvaughn Tinned to give Northern the lead for good at 29-27 with 4:18 before the break.

The Northern defense held the Argos scoreless for 5½-minute stretch late in the first half, and led 37-31 at the halftime.

The Lights scored the first six points after the break, and didn’t surrender a point for the first 8½ minutes to take a comfortable lead.

Pettersen, a 6-7 senior, led the way with 25 points for the Lights (21-8). Tinned added 16 points and nine rebounds.

Derek Trimbley added eight off the bench, while true freshman Shaun Tatarka — the MVP of the 2006 Class AA tournament in Butte — tossed in seven.

Junior guard Keithan Gregg scored 15 points to pace the Argos. He scored 13 in the first half.

Rayshaun Ames scored 10 for Great Falls, which closed the season at 8-19.

— Bill Foley, The Montana Standard

GREAT FALLS (8-19) — Rayshaun Ames 4-10 2-4 10, Brian Harrison 2-3 0-0 4, Cory Brothers 2-8 0-0 4, Keithan Gregg 6-12 1-1 15, Levi Lopez 1-6 2-2 4, Royce Fulp 0-2 3-4 3, Matt Niemeyer 2-4 2-2 7, Tom Donnelly 0-1 0-0 0, Jay Jamieson 2-9 2-2 6, Marko Lakic 0-0 0-1 0, Josh Volinkaty 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 19-54 13-18 54.

MSU-NORTHERN (21-8) — Clinton Shelton 0-1 0-0 0, Drew Pettersen 9-14 7-9 25, Travis Nobel 2-8 0-0 5, Delvaughn Tinned 6-25 2-3 16, Andrew Sellars 1-7 2-3 4, Shaun Tatarka 2-4 202 7, Cody Ball 0-0 0-0 0, Derek Trembley 3-4 2-2 8, Keegan Hoover 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-53 15-19 65.

Halftime — Northern 37-31. 3-point goals — GF 3-12 (Brothrs 0-2, Gregg 2-5, Niemeyer 1-1, Jamieson 0-2), Northern 4-19 (Noble 1-4, Tinned 2-8, Sellars 0-4, Tatarka 1-3). Rebounds — GF 34 (Ames 7), Northern 36 (Tinned 9). Assists — GF 6 (Gregg 2), Northern 9 Tinned 2, Sellars 2). Steals — GF 6 (Gregg 5), Northern 3 (Pettersen, Tinned, Tatarka). Blocks — GF 1 (Volinkaty), Northern 2 (Trembley 2). Turnovers — GF 12, Northern 10. Fouls — GF 19, Northern 16. Fouled out — none. Technicals — none.

Class B State Girls

At Butte Civic Center

Thursday

12:30 p.m. — Malta (21-2) vs. Shepherd (21-2)

2 p.m — Whitehall (16-8) vs. Deer Lodge (16-9)

6:30 p.m. — Missoula Loyola (19-4) vs. Cascade (19-4)

8 p.m. — Columbus (19-4) vs. Fairfield (22-1)