Lustre Comes Away With Second Place From State Tournament
The Lustre Lions’ basketball team enjoyed a dreamlike season including earning the Eastern C divisional championship and placing second at the Class C state tournament, the best result in school history.
The Lions couldn’t come up with enough firepower and lost to a talented Scobey team, 56-41, for the title in Missoula on Saturday, March 14.
Lustre trailed by as many as four points in the opening quarter, but a three-pointer by Prestyn Klatt late in the period pulled the Lions even at 16-16.
Scobey accounted for the first five points of the second period on a drive by Kolten Machart and a three-pointer by Cooper Axtman.
Cam Reddig responded with a three-pointer to close the margin to 21-19 with 3:52 remaining in the half.
The Spartans, however, ran off the final 10 points of the half including three-pointers by Axtman and Cam Cromwell for a 31-19 advantage at the half.
Johnslee Pierre had a strong third quarter to keep the Lions close. A three-pointer by Joel Reddig trimmed the margin to 38-29 late in the period. Scobey’s John Carney fired in a three-pointer to end the period at 41-29.
The Lions strung together five straight points early in the fourth quarter on a free throw by C. Reddig, a three-pointer by J. Reddig and a drive by Pierre for a 4335 game.
After baskets by Machart put the margin at 12 points, a pair of free throws by Pierre kept Lustre’s hopes alive at 47-37 with 4:06 remaining. Scobey responded with the game’s next nine points including a three-pointer by Axtman and two hoops by Reese Tande.
Lustre’s top scorers were J. Reddig with 13 and Pierre with 10 points. Klatt and C. Reddig added six points each. Diek Olfert had four points.
Leading Scobey were Axtman with 14, Carney with 11 and Machart with 10 points.
Belt placed third at the state tournament.
Hardware
The Lustre Lions pose with the second-place trophy at the Class C state basketball held in Missoula. The Lions defeated CJI and Manhattan Christian at the tournament.
(Photo by Jennifer Ray Photography)
