BELGRADE — The Belgrade Special Events Center was packed Saturday night for two big-time championship games in the District 5B basketball tournaments.
Three Forks boys 55, Manhattan 51
The boys championship came down to the wire, and, despite trailing for the entire fourth quarter, Manhattan stuck around until the very end. But behind Micaiah Hauser's game-high 34 points, top-seeded Three Forks hung on in the final seconds to clinch the district title with a 55-51 win. What made Hauser's incredible performance even more astounding is the fact he did all that with a dislocated finger. It was all about the next man up and the Wolves embodied that philosophy to perfection Saturday night.
“Dustin went down a couple weeks ago and I knew I had to step up," said Three Forks senior Micaiah Hauser. "The whole team stepped up all the way down to the bench players and it wasn’t just me.”
“He’s been in the gym with me and my brother since we were in the second grade. He’s just in love with the game," said Three Forks head coach Terry Hauser. "He's a gym rat, he’s a competitor, he’s tough. Obviously, like you said, he dislocates his finger he goes and gets it taped up, come back and drops 32, I think.”
Big Timber girls 45, Three Forks 34
The Wolves were shooting for a 5B sweep in the girls game, but first they'd have to get through top-seeded Big Timber. At the end of the first the Sheepherders led by a narrow three points with Three Forks starting to pick up its offense. But credit to Big Timber, as it would close out the half on a 15-10 run. Both teams would go back and forth, and late in the fourth Three Forks managed to take a two-point lead. But the Herders rattled off seven straight, which was good enough for the 45-34 win to claim the 5B district title.
