The one that got away...
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After eight minutes of play in the Class C state title game Saturday evening, it looked as if the Warriors would waltz to a state title. Cold shooting by the Spartans and a quick start by Arlee helped the Warriors build a 19-2 lead after one quarter of play.
It was not to be for the Warriors, though, as Scobey cut the lead to three at the half and went on to take the lead for good in the third quarter on the way to a 55-47 win.
Arlee took advantage of unusually cold-shooting by Scobey in the opening quarter as the Spartans missed their first 11 shots of the contest, 10 of which came from beyond the 3-point line.
The Warriors had little trouble finding the basket in the opening minutes, building a 14-0 lead before the Spartans picked up their first basket of the contest. Senior Kasey Bridgewater nailed a 25-footer at the buzzer and Arlee held what it thought was a comfortable 19-2 lead heading into the second quarter.
The Spartans came alive in the second quarter, using pressure defense to harass Arlee’s ball handlers and steadily adding points to cut into the Warrior lead.
Kale Love put in a jumper at the end of the first half to cap a 9-0 Spartan run that cut the Arlee lead to just three at the break, 27-24.
Arlee struck first with a quick basket to open the second half but the Spartans continued to chip away at the lead until a 3-point play by Drew Baldry gave Scobey its first lead of the game, 32-31, with 5:39 to play in the third quarter.
The Spartans continued to pour on the points, going up by as many as 11 before the Warriors made a surge midway through the fourth quarter.
Down by 10, Arlee used an 8-0 run to cut the Spartan lead to 44-42 with 3:33 to play. The Warriors trailed 47-44 after a 3-point play by Bridgewater with 2:07 to play but Scobey began to pull away from there as the Spartans held on to win the state title.
Bridgewater led the Warriors with 13 points in the loss while guard Jesse Pfau added 11. Thomas McClure finished with seven points and a team-high nine rebounds.
The Spartans were led by Baldry with 19 points while Logan Hansen finished with 18 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
Arlee finishes the season 22-4.
Summary
State Final
Scobey 55, Arlee 47
Scobey2221615 –55
Arlee198416–47
SCOBEY/OPHEIM – Kale Love 8, Drew Baldry 19, Kray Buer 2, Logan Hansen 18, TJ Snare 3, Ethan Aldrich 5.
ARLEE – Kasey Bridgewater 13, Thomas McClure 7, Jesse Pfau 11, Junior Sansavere 7, Trae Burland 4, Dakota Desjarlais 3, Eneas Inmee 2.