Two Eagle seals No. 2 seed at District
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RONAN — The packed Ronan gymnasium served as the perfect backdrop for the Charlo/Two Eagle River showdown for the top seed from District 14-C. North of Ronan is Pablo, the home of the Eagles, and to the south is Charlo, Viking territory. The stands were full of supporters wearing purple and red, some cheering on both teams, as several of the best players in the area battled for the top spot.
Charlo’s Stephen Delaney scored the first points for the Vikings, but the Eagles’ returned the favor sinking a couple of 3-pointers courtesy of Clayton Malatare and Skyler Rossbach.
The Eagles edged the Vikings in the first quarter by a single digit. In the second quarter, Two Eagle led by as much as five points before Charlo’s Dillon Delaney swished a 3-pointer to put his team up 24-20. In the next possession, an Eagle player bounced the ball off his foot, and it became the Viking’s ball. Charlo took advantage of the momentum, converting on a 3-pointer from Kolten Andrews and another two from Stephen Delaney to bring the score to 29-22. From there, the Vikings built distance, ending the half up 32-25 and the third quarter 53-33. Two Eagle outscored Charlo in the fourth quarter 21-17, but both teams pulled their starting squads with 2:25 left in the fourth with the score 68-48. The final score was 70-54.
Cole Noble paced the Eagles with 14 points, and Webb O’Neill’s 29 points led Charlo.
“We played a little tired and a little wore out,” said coach Clayton Malatare. “Charlo played really well.”
Malatare said his team was drained from their win over No. 1 seed Superior Feb. 17 in the semifinals. In that game, Marcus Brown was unstoppable, scoring 21 points and shooting eight of nine from the floor, as the Eagles held off a talented Bobcat squad. Rossbach added 12 points and seven rebounds for the Eagles.
The Eagles (14-7) will be the No. 2 seed from the district and will play Shields Valley on Thursday at 8 p.m.
“The regular season was fantastic. It took us all season to play as one and it came together at the right time,” said Malatare. “(Shields Valley) is going to be bigger than us, but every team has been bigger than us. If they were smaller we probably wouldn’t know what to do.”
SUMMARY
Championship
Charlo 70, Two Eagle 54
Two Eagle 14 11 8 21 - 54
Charlo 13 19 21 17 - 70
TWO EAGLE RIVER - Cole Noble 6-11 1-2 14, Marcus Brown 5-8 0-0 10, Clayton Malatare 3-10 0-2 9, Artie Mendoza 4-7 0-2 8, Skyler Rossbach 3-7 0-0 7, Brooks MadPlume 1-1 0-0 3, Blaine Leonard 1-1 3, Jaylen Ducharme 0-3 0-0 0, Justice Nicolai 0-5 0-0 0, Robbie Couture 0-0 0-1 0. Total 23-53 1-7 54.
CHARLO - Webb O’Neill 9-16 8-9 29, Dillon Delaney 5-12 1-2 13, Stephen Delaney 5-10 1-2 11, Kolten Andrews 3-10 1-2 9, Tra Ludeman 0-2 3-4 3, Kail Pope 1-2 0-0 3, Maverick Nelson 1-4 0-0 2, Tristan Santee 0-0 0-0 0, Justin Krahn 0-2 0-0 0, Jesse Long 0-1 0-2 0. Totals 24-59 14-21 70.
3-point goals - Two Eagle 7-23 (Malatare 3-9, Noble 1-5, Rossbach 1-3, MadPlume 1-1, Leonard 1-1), Charlo 8-21 (O’Neill 3-6, D. Delaney 2-6, Andrews 2-5, Pope 1-2). Total fouls - Two Eagle 15, Charlo 11. Fouled out - none. Rebounds - Two Eagle 19 (Brown 9), Charlo 39 (D. Delaney 12).
Two Eagle River 49, Superior 44
Two Eagle 6 13 11 19 - 49
Superior 5 9 5 25 - 44
TWO EAGLE RIVER - Marcus Brown 9-9 4-8 21, Skyler Rossbach 4-14 4-6 12, Cole Noble 3-4 2-3 8, Artie Mendoza 4-5 0-0 8, Clay Malatare 0-4 0-3 0, Justin Nicolai 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-36 10-20 49.
SUPERIOR - Billy Smith 5-8 0-0 13, Aaron Lowman 6-9 0-0 13, Adam Kay 2-7 1-2 5, Clint Voll 2-3 0-0 4, Zach Benda 0-5 0-0 0, Jan Srna 2-12 0-0 6, Tucker Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Daylon Kuhl 0-1 0-2 0, Jarrod Tippens 1-6 0-0 3. Totals 18-51 1-4 44.
3-point goals - Two Eagle 1-5 (Brown 1-1, Rossbach 0-3, Malatare 0-1), Superior 7-21 (Smith 3-3, Srna 2-8, Lowman 1-2, Tippens 1-3, Kay 0-2, Benda 0-3). Total fouls - Two Eagle 12, Superior 20. Fouled out - Kay. Turnovers - Two Eagle 14, Superior 9.
