MALTA — Fairview jumped out to an eight-point lead after the first quarter and then held on to beat Poplar 54-52 to win the Northern B boys divisional basketball championship Saturday night.
Jeff Tjelde and Landon Thompson each scored 18 points to lead the Warriors to the crown. Deacon Gackle and Tyler Loan each added eight points.
Fairview's lead fluctuated between five and seven points in the fourth quarter before Poplar made things interesting late. The Indians got 17 points from Geordy Medicine Cloud while Delray Lilley had 15 points,
Poplar made 12 3-pointers in their semifinal victory over Glasgow on Friday night but managed just three 3s in Saturday's championship game.
Earlier Saturday, Malta battled back from a 16-point deficit in the fourth quarter to tie the score, but Glasgow rallied in the final moments to take a 70-68 win over the Mustangs in the third-place game.
It’s the first divisional trophy for the Scotties since 2014.
Malta, last year’s Class B state runner-up, came all the way back to tie the score on a 3-pointer from Bohdi Brenden with about a minute left in the game. But the Scotties regained the upper hand, 69-67, before Malta was awarded two foul shots with two seconds to play.
The Mustangs made one of two to get within 69-68 before Glasgow sank a free throw with .5 seconds showing on the clock to make the final score.
Saturday's loser-out scores
Glasgow 61, Chinook 59
Malta 64, Fairfield 61
