BUTTE — The Melstone boys basketball team embarked on a revenge tour on Saturday at the Civic Center.
The Broncs suffered two losses all season — one to Park City in the Southern C semifinals and one to Scobey in the first round of the State C tournament — and beat both teams on their way to the third-place trophy at the State C tournament.
Melstone defeated Park City, 53-51, in a Saturday morning loser-out game before topping Scobey 46-39 in the consolation. Beni Jankovits scored a game-high 17 points in the consolation final for the Broncs, who also got 14 points from Brody Grebe. Jankovits and Grebe are two of six juniors on Melstone’s roster. The Broncs don’t have a single senior listed.
The teams, who played to a controversial finish in Thursday’s first round, played a close game from the tip. Melstone led by as many as seven points in the first quarter, but that would be the largest lead for either team. Scobey battled back to tie the game at 9-9 after the first period and earned its largest lead of four points in the second quarter.
Melstone’s Shayden Cook hit a 3-pointer just before the first-half buzzer to give Melstone a 21-20 lead going into the break.
The second half brought more of the same, as neither team gained separation. They were tied at 39 late in the fourth quarter before Melstone closed the game on a 7-0 run. The Spartans’ last field goal came at the 2:43 mark of the game.
Scobey senior CJ Nelson capped his sensational career with 15 points in the loss. The Spartans defeated Fairview, 64-59, in a Saturday morning loser-out game.
