The Big Sandy Mountaineer -

Coach Rhett said, "We actually played pretty well and hung around a very talented team, and in my opinion, was a good game against Box Elder, to build off of going into tournaments, and hopefully we can make a run to win a game or two in the district tournament."

The Pioneer boys had two challenging games this past weekend. In both games, they were very close and had a few times to come back to get within distance of winning, but unfortunately, they fell short in both games. They lost to Fort Benton by 21 with a final score of 44-65 and by 15 to Box Elder with a score of 62-77.

Eyon Sherburn started the Pioneers with a steal and pass to Lane Demontiney for a fast break layup to set the pace for the Pioneers. Karter Jurneka once again dominated the boards from the beginning, getting after it under the hoop to give his team second chance opportunities and scoring on putbacks. Aidan Morsettte also had a couple of big steals, and the Pioneers battled back and forth with the Longhorns, going down by one point after the 1st quarter with a score of 11-12.

The second quarter was back and forth, with 7 lead changes, and then it was tied after a big 3-pointer from Karter Jurenka. Unfortunately, the Longhorns went on a 9-0 run to end the quarter and went ahead by 9 points to finish the quarter, even after some great plays and rebounds from Ryder Galbavy, Karter, and Eyon.

The 2nd half of the game started with a Lane jumper and a Karter board to Eyon’s 3-pointer. Jaeyson Yirsa also had a big hustle play and rebound he chased down. But even with Lane hitting a couple more shots and getting a couple of steals and rebounds, the Pioneers went down by 19 points, with Fort Benton hustling down the floor and pushing the ball against the Pioneers. The score was 33-52 going into the last stanza.

Aidan and Eyon had a big quarter for the Pioneers, but Fort Benton was too tough to stop. Neither team scored in the last 3 minutes on the clock. The Pioneers lost by 21 points with a final score of 44-65.

The Pioneers then turned around and played against Box Elder at home on senior night. Ryder Galbavy and Karter Jurenka both were crashing the glass from the beginning and battling the boards with Box Elder to set a presence down low. After both teams had a couple of turnovers, the Bears started to knock down some big shots and run the floor. Lane Demontiney had 7 of the Pioneer’s 9 first-quarter points. The Pioneers went into the 2nd quarter down 8 points with a score of 9-17.

Aidan Morsette hit two big pointers to start the 2nd quarter. The Pioneers came back from being down 18 points to come within 3 points, thanks to a Ryder 3-pointer, Lane steal and take, Karter take, and great ball pressure from the Pioneers. Box Elder hit a couple of big shots to put the Bears up 6 points going into the half with a score of 31-37.

Lane scored 10 of the Pioneer’s 12 points in the 3rd quarter, but the Bear’s tempo pushing the ball up and down the floor was difficult for the Pioneers to stop, and they outscored the Pioneers by 10 points in the 3rd quarter while adding 23 points to their score. The Pioneers went into the last stanza down by 15 points with a score of 45-60.

Lane hit another three 3-pointers in the last quarter, Ryder got a 3-pointer, Eyon had a nice rebound and putback, and Karter consistently made his free throws. But the Bears were just too far ahead for the Pioneers to come back, and the Bears ended up winning by 15 points with a final score of 62-77.

The Pioneers play Turner in the first game of District on Wednesday at 4 pm.