Spartans Are State C Champs, This Time All By Themselves
That's A Wrap!
It was midway through the first quarter Saturday night when everything seemed to change for the Scobey Spartans. The Twin Bridges Falcons were leading 5-4, fresh off a Charlie Kruer 3-point field goal, in the State C Tournament’s championship game at Lockwood High School in Billings. Scobey had to do something to swing the momentum. Enter its potent 1-2-2 full-court zone press, which gave Scobey opponents fits all season long. Immediately it caused a turnover leading to a senior Parker Cromwell jumper and 6-5 lead, the last time the Falcons would enjoy being ahead. Then it caused another turnover near half court and Cromwell tallied again. Then senior Jayce Tande knocked down a trio of 3-point field goals, the second from the left baseline and the third from the right baseline.
Then it was 17-7 through one period. Then, not long after, the Scobey Spartans were outright Class C state champions!
Saturday night’s 64-27 grounding of the Falcons meant the Scobey High School boys’ basketball program was the proud owner of its fifth state hoop title, joining 1979, 1996, 2011 and the 2020 co-state championship.
The victory also means Scobey has an active 54game winning streak heading into the 2021-22 campaign. When this season began the Spartans were at 28 straight, dating back to their final three games at the 2019 State C Tournament.
They lost to the Arlee War- riors 63-57 in the first round then won their next three games to earn the thirdplace trophy. Last season they went 25-0 and shared the co-state championship with the Fairview Warriors due to the coronavirus crossing the state’s border and shutting down all eight girls’ and boys’ state tourneys late Friday night.
Two games into this season the Spartans passed the Seeley-Swan Blackhawks (29, 1967-68), then the Laurel Locomotives (30, 197880), then the Malta Mustangs (31, 1969-70). The Gardiner Bruins (36, 200405), Beaverhead County (Dillon) Beavers (37, 201517), Fairview Warriors (40, 2011-13) and Gardiner again (43, 1988-90) were next.
During the East C Divisional Tournament in Sidney the Cut Bank Wolves (49, 200204) and Malta (50, 1970-72) were overtaken. Remaining is the Missoula Sentinel Spartans and their 56-game winning streak compiled from 1962-65.
The 2021-22 Scobey boys’ basketball schedule will be the most anticipated in the history of the program (and all Scobey sports)!
There wasn’t much to anticipate in the remaining three quarters of Saturday’s chipper against Twin Bridges (20-3, 1261-942, 54.840.9), because anybody who has followed the Spartans this season had an inkling this one was already over!
Tande's final 3-pointer of three in the first quarter with 7 seconds left was the beginning of a knockoutpunch 21-0 scoring run and 35-7 lead with two minutes left until halftime. It looked like this: Aidan Fishell layup, 7:24; Caden Handran down low; Tande another trey from the left base, 6:38; Reagan Machart down low, 5:41; Tande with his fifth and final 3-ball from the right baseline, 5:05; Machart layup, 3:31; Handran layup, 2:42; Machart scores again...
