by Michael J. Marino
It was a basketball game that kept everyone on the edge of their seats Saturday afternoon, Jan. 7, at Great Falls High School when the Skyview Falcons beat the Great Falls Bison with a score of 48-41.
The Bison took an early lead of 4-2 in the first quarter over Skyview. They came with a good offense at first; Skyview senior Lane Love stole possession of the ball, only to have it stolen back seconds later by Evan “Downtown” Brown of Great Falls. Brown then scored, giving the Bison a healthy 7-2 lead.
The Falcons quickly gained traction, however, ending the first quarter in the lead by 4 points, 11-7. In the second quarter, both teams fouled a couple of times for various reasons including out of bounds and technical or moving violations. Skyview took a foul on senior player Ryan Haskell for holding, but it was worth the violation as Skyview maintained their lead and scored another free throw midway through quarter two. With under a minute to go before halftime, both teams gained and lost possession of the ball several times as Skyview fiercely protected their 4-point lead. Despite the effort, the Bison took the lead, 23-17.
Both teams managed to keep the score tightly locked, but in the end, the Skyview Falcons were able to outdo Great Falls with a final score of 48 to the Bisons’ 41.