MALTA — In its first Northern B divisional championship appearance, a hard-to-believe fact, the Harlem Wildcats girls basketball team edged District 2B rival Wolf Point 46-43 to earn the program’s first Northern B divisional championship, according to school administrators.
L’Tia Lawrence scored 28 of Harlem’s 46 points on 9-of-20 shooting, while going 10 of 13 from the free throw line. Lawrence added five rebounds in her 29 minutes.
Imani Bighorn countered with 24 points and 16 rebounds for the Wolves, which topped Harlem in the District 2B championship game, while Mya Fourstar had 12 points in the loss.
Wolf Point opened an 11-9 lead after the first quarter, but Harlem took the lead in the second quarter and held off a late Wolves charge in the final minutes for the win. The Wildcats led 43-36 and were outscored 7-3 down the stretch, but hit key free throws to secure the win.
Wolf Point outscored the Wildcats from the floor, a 40-31 advantage on field goals, but Harlem’s 15-for-25 free throw performance, including an 8-of-12 effort in the second half, lifted the program to its historic win. The Wolves were 3 of 11 from the charity stripe in the loss.
Both the Wildcats and Wolves, along with perennial power Fairfield, advance to the State B girls basketball tournament in Belgrade, which begins March 7.
Fairfield 44, Glasgow 30
Kenna Pitcher scored 60 points in two games Saturday to pace the Fairfield girls to a third-place finish at the Northern B divisional, clinching a state tournament berth along the way.
Pitcher, who netted 42 points in Saturday morning’s loser-out game against Cut Bank, scored 18 points and had six rebounds in a 44-30 win over Glasgow in the divisional consolation game. Naemi Wipf added 15 points and nine rebounds for the Eagles.
After Glasgow opened a 7-5 first-quarter lead, Fairfield outscored the Scotties 13-3 in the second quarter, then 17-5 in the third to take a 35-15 advantage into the final eight minutes. The Eagles held Glasgow to only three two-point field goals, though the Scotties made six 3-pointers in the contest.
Keely Fossum and Alexys Mann had two 3s each for Glasgow, which was held to 9-of-44 shooting in the game.
Fairfield extended its lead to 26 points early in the fourth quarter.
