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Basketball

Montana Boys’ Single-game Scoring Record Set Twice in a Week

Journey Emerson of Lame Deer now holds the record after scoring 82 points Saturday in his team's 111-27 win over Forsyth

By Associated Press

BILLINGS – The Montana boys’ basketball single-game scoring record was broken twice within five days over the past week.

Journey Emerson of Lame Deer now holds the record after scoring 82 points Saturday in his team’s 111-27 win over Forsyth.

Emerson told The Billings Gazette that his teammates told him to go after the scoring record. When Emerson had 51 points at halftime, coach Tiger Scalpane said he wasn’t going to take the opportunity away by pulling him out of the game.

“He had one of those nights. He was on fire,” Scalpane said.

“I wanted to let everyone enjoy the moment and enjoy that something positive was happening,” Scalpane said. “It was tough for Forsyth, but he couldn’t miss.”

Just five nights earlier, it was Damon Gros Ventre of top-ranked Lodge Grass who had one of those nights. He scored 71 points in a 108-70 win over Huntley Project on Feb. 1 while surpassing his late uncle Elvis Old Bull’s career scoring record at Lodge Grass High School.

Then the next night, Gros Ventre surpassed 2,000 career points by scoring 20 in a 74-70 win over Lame Deer. Emerson had 35 points in the Feb. 2 clash between the two top-five teams in Class B.

Emerson and Gros Ventre will go head-to-head again when Lame Deer and Lodge Grass play on Tuesday in Billings.

Before the recent scoring sprees, Brad Cichoz of Harlem held the single-game scoring record with 68 points in a game against Poplar in February 2020.