Skylights split at home

Monday, Feb. 29

George Ferguson

Havre Daily News sports editor

gferguson@havredailynews.com

Seniors usually step up big in their last basketball game of their career, or in this case, the last game they’ll ever play on their home floor.

And given the circumstances surrounding Saturday night’s game between the Montana State University Northern Skylights and Montana Tech Orediggers, it was no surprise that MSU-N senior DeLayne Johnston and her Skylights teammates rose to the occasion one last time at the MSU-Northern Fieldhouse.

MSU-N took the floor for the last time this season Saturday night, just 24 hours removed from one of its worst losses in a long, long time. On Friday night, the UM-Western Bulldogs drubbed the Skylights, 56-37.

After an emotion farewell to seniors Jena Heggem, Michele VanDyke, Chelsie Searle, Jayla McPherson and Johnston, the Skylights went out and picked up an emotional 68-57 win over the Orediggers — a team that beat MSU-N on a last-second 3-pointer last month in Butte.

“That is something I am really proud of the kids for tonight,” MSU-N head coach Chris Mouat said. “We knew senior night would be tough. And we were all choked up before the game, and five minutes isn’t very long to gather yourself. So I was pretty concerned about how we would start the game.

“But our kids hung in there the whole way,” he added. “And we worked hard for 40 minutes to get a very important win.”

Despite a season-high 30 points from Johnston, the Skylights didn’t get off to the start they were hoping for as Tech led 7-2 early on.

On senior night, it would be two MSU-N juniors who would bail the Skylights out in the first half.

Trailing Tech 18-14, Mouat inserted juniors Becky Sorenson and Ashley Trulock into the rotation, and the combo combined to score MSU-N’s next 11 points as the Skylights went on an 11-2 run that put them ahead 27-25 at the 3:50 mark. Then in the final seconds of the half, a senior provided the Skylights with a lead they wouldn’t let go of the rest of the way as Heggem scored four straight points to give MSU-N a 35-33 lead at intermission.

“Becky and Ashley were awesome tonight,” Mouat said. “Ashley really got into a rhythm and that was exciting to see. I think she had six rebounds during that stretch in the first half and both of them gave us a big lift. I am really proud of both of them.”

Tech hung tough for most of the second half, despite losing its second-leading scorer, Rebecca Gimeno to a foot injury earlier in the week. But when Northern needed points to stay ahead, the Skylights went to Johnston and the Orediggers had no answer for her in the final 20 minutes. Johnston scored 12 of her 30 points after Tech had cut the MSU-N lead to 51-47 with 11:26 remaining in the game. And her savvy play put Tech away for good.

“This was a great way to finish at home,” Johnston said. “We didn’t play well against Western and we needed to come out and play like this to give us some confidence heading into the tournament. And I think myself and the whole team was pretty motivated because of how we lost to Western and because of how Tech beat us the first time we played them.”

Said Mouat: “Obviously, DeLayne was huge for us, especially in the second half. And she is just a tremendous player and she showed that tonight. But I am also proud of our whole team for getting her the ball. I think our team was very unselfish tonight and I am proud of all of our kids for playing that way.”

Johnston finished the game an astounding 12-of-15 from the floor and she went 6-for-7 from the free-throw line. The senior from Richey also led all rebounders with seven. Meanwhile, Sorenson had one of her best games when her team needed it most. She scored 15 points and dished out six assists. Heggem chipped in with nine points in her last game in Havre.

Defensively, MSU-N did a tremendous job on Tech’s leading scorer Angela Gimeno, who was held to just 10 points. Gimeno poured in 24 points the last time the two teams met.

“This was a pretty special night,” Heggem said. “It doesn’t really feel like its over as far as playing in Havre. It’s been great playing here but we’re not done yet.”

The win over the Orediggers offset a miserable Friday for the Skylights. No. 9 UM-Western came into the MSU-Northern fieldhouse and not only won for the first time in four seasons, but they did it in dominating fashion.

Trailing just 26-23 at halftime and with Frontier Conference Player of the Year Candidate Kathrine Sunwall in foul trouble, the Skylights shot a dismal 22 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes en route to a devastating 56-37 loss to the Bulldogs.

“Defensively, I was really pleased with the way we played,” Mouat said. “You hold Western to 56 points and Kathrine Sunwall to 12 and you feel really good about yourself. And we rallied from a very poor start, too.

“But all I can say is the wheels really came off in the second half,” he added. “No one could step up and make a shot and once they got a double-digit lead on us, we didn’t have an answer the rest of the game.”

As bad as MSU-N played in the second half on Friday night, the Skylights’ start was not pretty either. After just 9:49 of the game, the Skylights were behind 16-2 and things looked very bleak.

But MSU-N recovered from that start, ripping off a 17-2 run that included great shooting from backup guards Kylee Starr and Amanda Hovey. And as the first half went into the books, Northern was well within striking distance, and Sunwall had three fouls.

But in the second half, the wheels did truly fall off for the Skylights. MSU-N went lengthy periods without a field goal and Sunwall did enough in the paint to complement a good second half from guard Megan Schmitz, who hit a pair of 3-pointers. And After Western went on a 13-2 run at the midway point, the game was over.

“I thought both teams played great defensively,” Western head coach Kevin Engellant said. “But a big key for us was getting through Kathrine’s foul trouble. We withstood both times she had to come out and that was big for us.

“I also think getting Megan Schmitz going was another big key,” he added. “We needed her to make shots and fortunately she did that in the second half tonight.”

Northern got 14 points and 10 rebounds from Johnston in the loss. Starr came off the bench to score a career-high 13 points. But Sunwall, despite the foul difficulty, was the difference-maker as expected. She added seven of Western’s game-high 41 rebounds, as well as five blocks and three steals to her 12 points. Schmitz scored 12 points as well, and she hit two of Western’s eight threes.

The weekend split ends MSU-N’s regular season with a 6-8 conference record. The Skylights finished in fifth place in the league standings and will face Westminster College in the opening round of the Frontier Conference Tournament at 6 p.m. on Thursday in Butte.

“The loss to Western was tough,” Mouat said. “But we bounced back under some pretty difficult circumstances, and these kids have always been resilient. So now we just have to get ready to go to Butte and play well. I think anybody can win this tournament and we’re as capable as anybody of getting hot and winning three games in a row.”

Bulldogs 56, Skylights 37

UMW — Laura Shea 1-5 0-0 3, Becky O’Neil 5-7 1-3 11, Katherine Sunwall 6-10 0-3 12, Crystal Kain 2-6 0-0 6, Megan Schmitz 4-15 2-2 12, Kaylee Williams 1-2 0-0 2, Colette Behrent 0-0 1-2 1, Heather Brooks 2-6 0-0 6, Jill Dana 1-5 0-0 3. Totals: 22-56 4-10 56.

MSU-N — Chelsie Searle 1-4 0-0 2, Becky Sorenson 0-6 0-0 0, DeLayne Johnston 6-14 2-3 14, Jena Heggem 2-6 0-0 4, Michele VanDyke 0-6 0-0 0, Kylee Starr 5-9 1-1 13, Amanda Hovey 1-3 0-0 3, Amanda Quartuccio 0-1 0-0 0, Jayla McPherson 0-2 0-0 0, Ashley Trulock 0-3 0-0 0. Totals: 15-54 3-6 37.

Halftime: UMW 26-23. Three-point goals: UMW 8-27 (Shea 1-4, Kain 2-4, Schmitz 2-10, Brooks 2-4, Dana 1-5), MSU-N 4-15 (Searle 0-1, Sorenson 0-3, Heggem 1-3, Starr 2-4, Hovey 1-3, Quartuccio 0-1). Rebounds: UMW 41 (Schmitz 9, Sunwall 7, Kain 7), MSU-N 37 (Johnston 10). Assists: UMW 16 (O’Neil 5, Schmitz 5), MSU-N 10 (VanDyke 3). Turnovers: UMW 10, MSU-N 16. Total fouls: UMW 12, MSU-N 13. Fouled out: None.

Skylights 68, Orediggers 57

Tech — Kesley Devries 2-7 1-2 6, Angela Gimeno 4-13 2-3 10, Adrea Thomas 1-8 0-0 2, Stephanie Langford 3-4 2-2 10, Teresa Merrill 5-6 0-0 12, Jenessa Todd 4-11 1-2 10, Becky Roll 1-3 0-0 2, Jenna Tintzman 1-2 0-0 3, Natalie Shaw 0-1 2-2 2. Totals: 21-55 8-11 57.

MSU-N — Jayla McPherson 1-3 0-0 2, Chelsie Searle 1-9 0-0 2, DeLayne Johnston 12-15 6-7 30, Jena Heggem 3-9 2-2 9, Michele VanDyke 0-2 1-2 1, Amanda Quartuccio 1-2 0-0 2, Becky Sorenson 4-7 6-6 15, Ashley Trulock 3-3 1-2 7. Totals: 25-50 16-19 68.

Halftime: MSU-N 35-33. Three-pointers: Tech 7-23 (DeVries 1-3, Gimeno 0-5, Thomas 0-3, Langford 2-2, Merrill 2-3, Todd 1-4, Roll 0-1, Tintzman 1-2), MSU-N 2-9 (Searle 0-2, Heggem 1-4, Quartuccio 0-1, Sorenson 1-2). Rebounds: Tech 31 (Langford 9), MSU-N 31 (Johnston 7). Fouls: Tech 17, MSU-N 13. Fouled out: Thomas. Assists: Tech 12 (Langford 4), MSU-N 21 (Sorenson, Heggem 6). Turnovers: Tech 11, MSU-N 10.