BILLINGS – While one streak was broken this weekend in the Montana-Wyoming All-Star Basketball Series, another lives on.
The Montana girls raised head coach Wes Keller’s record in the annual series to 17-1 with their 15th straight victory, a 76-35 victory Saturday in the Lockwood High School gym.
The Wyoming boys, one night after snapping a 22-game losing streak to their Treasure State counterparts, were able to pull off their first series sweep in 13 years with a 94-85 victory in the second half of the doubleheader.
Girls from Montana 76, Wyoming 35
One night after pulling out a 22-point victory, the Treasure State girls posted another big win Saturday to extend their winning streak in the annual Midland Roundtable Montana-Wyoming Basketball All-Star Series.
Roberts’ Taylee Chirrick and Saco-Whitewater-Hinsdale’s Paige Wasson each scored 14 points and Montana cruised to a 76-35 victory over Wyoming at Lockwood High School Gym, extending its winning streak to 15 in a row in the annual border battle.
Wasson, who with fellow star Teagan Erickson won back-to-back Class C state titles at Saco-Whitewater-Hinsdale, said the Treasure State team gave a more well-rounded effort compared to Friday night in Gillette, Wyo., a 90 -68. victory.
“I think we came out stronger today,” said Wasson, who hit a pair of 3-pointers. “Yesterday we came out a little slow, but today we came out pretty strong. We got a quick lead and kept building on it.”
Montana led 24-9 after the first quarter and never relented. The lead grew to 38-19 at halftime.
Billings West teammates Kourtney Grossman and Halle Haber scored 10 and nine points, respectively, for the Montana All-Stars, though they all hit the scoring column as they completed the weekend sweep and kept their winning streak intact .
“It was great to keep the streak going, but we weren’t really thinking about it,” Wasson said. “Every time we went out on the field we thought that the game was 0-0 and that we had to play our best throughout the game.”
The Wyoming All-Stars made just 11 total field goals. Cheyenne East’s Bradie Schlabs led the team with 16 points.
Erickson, Chinook’s Hallie Neibauer and Missoula Hellgate’s Chloe Larson each scored six points for Montana. Roy-Winifred Isabelle Heggem added five and Frenchtown’s Sadie Smith had four. Missoula Sentinel’s Emily McElmurry contributed two points.
Rocky Mountain College head coach Wes Keller is now 17-1 in the series as coach of the Montana All-Stars.
Montana now leads the all-time series 41-13. Wyoming’s last win was on June 10, 2016, a 71-64 victory.
Children of Wyoming 94, Montana 85
Wyoming used a huge second-quarter surge to pull away from Montana for its first sweep of the annual series since 2011.
Wyoming trailed 23-19 after the first quarter, but went on an 18-1 run in the second quarter to take a commanding 53-36 halftime lead.
“It’s a little difficult to get together with guys you’ve never played with before and make things happen, but when you have a group of guys that we have where all 10 are players, you know at some point it’s going to happen. click. When it happens, it’s dangerous,” said Wyoming guard Sammy Shumway of Cheyenne Central.
Montana slowly began to weaken, and a 3-pointer by Bozeman’s Kellen Harrison cut the deficit to six early in the fourth quarter. But Wyoming’s back-to-back 3-pointers extended the lead to double figures.
Montana didn’t go away, however, as the lead was cut to five with five minutes left, but Wyoming quickly increased the lead to 16 at the three-minute mark.
Sheridan High’s Garrett Spielman, Green River’s Tharan Archibald and Wyoming Gatorade Player of the Year Joe Sawyer of Cheyenne Central each had 16 points to lead Wyoming. Frenchtown’s Eli Quinn scored 25 to lead Montana.
Montana’s lead in the all-time series is now 67-29.
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