Plentywood, Circle Earn Final Eastern C Divisional Tourney Berths

In “play-in” games to determine the final two berths to the Eastern C divisional basketball tournament, the two District 2C squads posted strong victories in Wolf Point on Friday, Feb. 25.

Plentywood’s boys defeated Dodson by a 62-43 final. Circle’s girls downed Dodson by a 49-31 margin.

Plentywood held leads of only 14-10 at the end of the first quarter and 27-23 at the half.

A fast-break drive by Cameron Brusven and a pull-up jumper by Noah Murray got the Wildcats off to a good start in the third quarter.

Five straight points by Reese Wirtz and a 15-footer by Caydon Trupe increased Plentywood’s lead to 38-25 midway into the quarter.

Baskets by Dodson’s Mikey Jaynes and Kadin Racine closed the margin to 40-29 at the end of the period.

The Coyotes then opened the fourth quarter with a three-pointer by Jaynes and a free throw by Alex Werk.

Plentywood responded with seven straight points on five points by Wirtz and two free throws by Trupe for a 47-33 advantage with 4:24 remaining.

After a three-pointer by Werk kept Dodson close at 53-42 with 2:07 left, the Wildcats pulled away with the next nine points on free throws by Trupe, Brusven and Wirtz.

Plentywood’s top scorers were Wirtz with 24 and Trupe with 17 points.

Leading Dodson were Werk with 15, Racine with 12 and Jaynes with 11 points.

Circle’s girls started to pull away in the second quarter in their 49-31 victory over Dodson.

Ahead 13-9 at the end of the opening quarter, the Wildcats struck for the first eight points of the second period on an inside basket by Tina Hogan, two free tosses by Sierra Nagle, a three-pointer by Nagle and a free throw by Hogan. The Wildcats held a 22-13 half-time advantage.

A three-point play by Hogan, a free throw by Nagle and a drive by Alexis Moline increased Circle’s cushion to 32-17 during the third quarter. The Wildcats led 37-17 at the end of the third quarter.

Five straight points by Kataya KillEagle pulled Dodson to 45-29 with 1:33 remaining in the contest.

Leading Circle to the victory were Nagle with 18, Moline with 16 and Hogan with eight points.

Top scorers for Dodson were KillEagle with 18 and Imagin Fox with 11 points.

The Eastern C divisional tournament begins in Sidney on Wednesday, March 2.