The Pioneers start their weekend on Thursday on the road against the Bearcats of Denton-Geyser-Stanford. The Bearcats would come out in the first quarter of play and set the tone early against the Pioneers, knocking down a couple of threes, giving them the edge early in the first, but the Pioneers would keep it close as at the end of the first DGS would have the 17-13 edge over the Pioneers. In the second, the Pioneer’s offense started to come together as they would try to work the ball inside and would end up winning the quarter but would still trail at the halfway point of the contest with a score of 32-29. In the second half, the defensive intensity of the Pioneers would start to take a toll on the Bearcat’s offense, only allowing 8 in the third as the lead was only 1 for the Bearcats. In the fourth quarter, which has been the Pioneers best quarter all season, the defense tightened up, and a big 14 point quarter for Lane Demontiney, including 7-7 from the charity stripe, the Pioneers would outscore the Bearcats in the fourth 23-9 and would pick up their 10th win of the season. Four Pioneers would tally double figures led by Wylee Snapp with 22 points; Lane Demontiney added 14; Cline would chip in 13, and Strutz would hit 11. Final Score Big Sandy: 62 D-G-S: 49

On Saturday, The Pioneers would look to continue their winning ways at home against the Fort Benton Longhorns. A battle of the two top teams in the 9C in a game where the contest was close throughout the 32 minutes of basketball. A few threes kept Fort Benton close in the first quarter of play. After 8 minutes of the game, the Pioneers would lead 14-12. A few threes would drop for the Pioneers in the second and help push the lead for Big Sandy giving them the 33-24 lead at the break. In a physical game with many fouls and a lot of free throws. After three-quarters of play, the Pioneers would be up 8 with a score of 46-38. In the fourth quarter, in a game where it came down to making free throws down the stretch, the Pioneers could not convert, missing a total of 13 in the contest, would find their lead cut down to 4 after a Fort Benton three-pointer. Another layup from the Longhorns would cut the lead to 2. Fort Benton’s three-point basket would not go with just a few seconds left in the game; Fort Benton’s three-point basket would not go. The ball would go out of bounds of the Pioneers with .6 seconds on the clock. Then again, tipped out of bounds with .2 remaining, the Longhorns could not get a shot off, and the Pioneers would survive in a nail-biter of a contest. Braydon Cline led the Pioneers with 18 points, and Sophomore Lane Demontiney would chip in 17 in the victory. Final Score Big Sandy 54 Fort Benton 52; Next week, the last two home games for the Pioneers as they face Box Elder on Friday and Saturday against the Knights of North Star. In conference play, the Pioneers move to 11-2 and 7-2.