Northern hoops teams suffer sweep from Carroll
By Ryan Divish/Havre Daily News Sports Editor/rdivish@havredailynews.com
The Montana State University-Northern basketball teams have never been so happy
to see Havre. The Skylights and Lights both suffered losses to
The Skylights could have very easily been 1-1 or even 2-0 on the weekend. For
the second straight game, the outcome came down to the Skylights' final
possession. Unfortunately, that final possession wasn't successful in a 78-77
loss.
Northern cut the lead to 78-77 with just over two minutes
left to play on a 10-0 run highlighted by 3-pointers from Jenna Heggem, Camille Gardner and Jessi
Reome.
Over the next two minutes, the teams couldn't toss it in the ocean, let alone
the basket. It wasn't for lack of opportunities, as missed free throws, missed layups and turnovers plagued both teams.
Northern did have the final attempt. After rebounding
an Emili Woody missed 3-point attempt, the Skylights
ran the clock down before calling a timeout with eight seconds remaining.
"We felt like we could get to the basket," said Skylights head coach
The Skylights got that as Jaci
Heny drove the lane and attempted to float a shot
over Carroll's Laci High while drawing a possible
foul. High avoided most of the contact and swatted the shot away, preserving
the win.
"We didn't exactly execute the last play like we wanted, but we still got
a decent look," Erickson said. "Really, we should've never been in
that position. We had plenty of opportunities to win the game down the stretch.
In a one-point loss, you can go back to find a dozen plays that would've made a
difference."
The loss was disappointing, considering the Skylights' valiant comeback. Still,
Erickson was happy to be in a position to win the game against a very good
Carroll squad playing in its home gym.
"It's something we've been doing the last four games," Erickson said
of the comeback. "These girls just never give up. They keep fighting and playing
the whole 40 minutes because they know they are never out of it."
Besides the comeback, Erickson was also pleased with the resurgence of his post
game. Senior Megan Valgardson had one of her best
games of late, scoring a team-high 20 points, including a perfect 6-6 from the
free-throw line.
"Megan really had a good night," Erickson said. "We've really
missed that production from her in recent weeks. She really stepped out and
dominated. Her numbers could've been even better but she got in some foul
trouble that limited her minutes."
Heny and
"Michele had another great game," Erickson said. "She did a good
job defending Woody and got some big baskets. She played a really complete
game.
"I thought Jena Heggem really had a big night
for us," he added. "She came in and hit a big 3-pointer and played
some solid minutes."
Besides Woody's 14 points, Carroll got 16 points from Andrea Hall, 13 from
former HHS standout Jolene Fuzesy, 11 from Carly Syverson and 10 from Laci High in the win.
"They have so many weapons that you can't have any breakdowns
defensively," Erickson said. "A couple times we had some lapses and Fuzesy and High hit some huge 3-pointers."
Despite the loss, Erickson believes his team took a step forward.
"We realized that we are capable of playing with any team in this
league," he said. "We're already looking forward to playing Carroll
again."
In the men's game, the outcome didn't come down to a final shot, but with the
way the Carroll men were shooting, they would have made it.
The Saints shot a ridiculous 61 percent from the field and an even more ludicrous
65 percent from 3-point range in a 98-73 win over the Lights.
"If they play like that every night, forget about it," said Lights
head coach
It really was pick your poison for the Lights. If they tried to stop the
outside shot, forwards Andy Brown and Jeff Hays scored inside. If they helped
inside, Dallas Leslie, Hays and Sinan Guler buried threes.
Northern led early in the game and trailed 45-35 at halftime, but the Saints
simply pulled away in the second half behind Hays, Brown and Leslie.
Hays scored a game-high 21 points, including four 3-pointers, while Brown was a
perfect 8-8 from the field and 4-4 from the free-throw line en route to 20 points
and seven rebounds. Leslie put the game out of reach with his 3-point shooting.
He came off the bench to score 19 points, highlighted by five 3-pointers.
"It's not like we weren't defending them," Huse said. "Leslie
and Hays both hit a couple of threes with guys right
in their face."
Besides being tough offensively, Carroll was also stingy defensively, holding
Northern to 73 points and leading scorer Marcus Wilson to just 10.
"They were very physical on defense and I don't think Marcus expected them
to be that physical," Huse said. "We really didn't play that bad
offensively, but when Carroll is playing at such a high level, you almost have
to be near perfect and we weren't."
Northern was led by Jordan Matthews' 14 points. Cory Brothers came off the bench
to score 10 points, while Reid Stovall and Cody Gillespie added nine each.
It was definitely a learning experience for a Lights' team that has just three
players with any Frontier Conference experience.
"We do have a lot of players on the floor that are still pretty green when
it comes to this type of basketball," Huse said. "The biggest thing
is that our players have to get used to that physical-type of play at both ends
of the floor."
After defeating NCAA Division I Idaho State earlier this season, Carroll seems
to be as advertised.
"I can't help but think that Carroll is as good as there is in the
conference," Huse said. "We have to grow from this. We know it won't
be any easier as the season continues."
Northern will return home for a pair of Frontier Conference games against
CARROLL COLLEGE 78, MSU-NORTHERN 77
MSU-NORTHERN (2-2, 16-6)
Jessi Reome 3-10 1-1 8,
Camille Gardner 4-8 0-0 10, Jaci Heny
3-6 4-5 10, Michele VanDyke 4-8 0-1 8, Megan Valgardson 7-10 6-6 20, Heather Riener
1-1 1-1 3, Kristie Pullin 1-4 2-5 4, DeLayne Johnston 2-4 1-3 5, Jena Heggem 3-3 0-1 7, Ashley Trulock
1-1 0-2 2. Totals: 29-55 15-25 77.
CARROLL COLLEGE (3-1, 16-5)
Laci High 3-7 1-2 10, Emili
Woody 3-9 6-8 14, Carly Syverson
4-14 1-1 11, Rachel Bromily 2-4 0-1 4, Andrea Hall
6-13 2-2 16, Catie Priddy
1-2 0-0 2, Jolene Fuzesy 4-6 2-2 13, Katie Rodgers
1-2 0-0 2, Sophi Forney 1-2 4-8 6. Totals: 25-59
16-24 78.
Three-point field goals: MSU-N 4-13 (Gardner 2-5, Reome
1-6, Heggem 1-1), CC 12-24 (Fuzesy
3-4, High 3-5, Woody 2-3, Hall 2-5, Syverson 2-7).
Rebounds: MSU-N 31 (Heny 7,
CARROLL COLLEGE 98, MSU-NORTHERN 73
MSU-NORTHERN (1-3, 10-8)
Reid Stovall 4-7 1-2 9; Marcus Wilson 5-7 0-0 10; Jordan Matthews 3-4 14;
Landen Grant 1-3 0-0 2; Leo Bullchild 0-2 0-0 0; Rodrick Carter 3-3 0-0 7; Cory Brothers 4-8 1-1 10; Antonio
Jordan 0-1 0-0 0; Cody Gillespie 3-4 2-2 9; Ed Lowe 1-2 0-0 3; Tim Hutchins 1-3
2-2 5; Dan Brigham 1-1 0-0 2; Pathe Yatera 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 29-55 9-11 73.
CARROLL (2-2, 14-5)
Kurt Paulson 3-7 4-4 12; Jeff Hays 8-11 1-1 21; Sinan
Guler 3-9 0-0 8; Andy Brown 8-8 4-4 20; Ross
Gustafson 0-0 2-2 2; Travis Williams 2-3 6-7 10; Gage Brumwell
1-2 0-0 2; Derek Johnson 0-3 4-4 4; Dallas Leslie 7-9 0-0 19. Totals 32-52 21-22 98.
Three-point shots - MSU-N 6 (Matthews, Carter, Brothers, Gillespie, Lowe, Hutchins). CC 13 (Paulson 2, Hays 4, Guler
2, Leslie 5). Rebounds: MSU-N 20 (