Sports take center court, f ield at Plains Day

Plains alumni took the field to compete in the first annual flag football game against the current Plains High School players. The game was a 5-on-5 passing game with two, twenty-minute halves. There was a small turnout for alumni at the game with some high school players lending their skills to help them out occasionally. It was a pretty well-matched game with both teams in an eager battle for points. With five minutes left in the second half the score was tied 26-26. The alumni rallied in the last minutes to pull ahead and win the game 46-26.

Another event to kick of Plains Days was a basketball game that also featured alumni vs. high school players. The teams played for three, eight-minute quarters, but had to add a four-minute tie-breaking quarter when the game ended with a score of 37-37. The game was high scoring and had nonstop action between the two teams but in the end the alumni pulled away with an ending score of 53-41, winning the 3rd annual alumni basketball game.

The last alumni event was a golf tournament where teams of 4 took to the Plains golf course to compete. The rules were that each team had to include at least 1 person that was a Plains alum. The top prize was $400 and a first-place plaque The second-place prize was a Plains pull-over jacket and third place received a Plains hat and lanyard. Ben Holland, Mike Holland, Tanner Colombo and Dusty Burgess took first place in the tournament beating the second-place team, Jack Revier, Chad Revier, Gary Revier and Eddie Fultz, by only two trokes. Dan Krier and Mike Dunbar were the third-place finishers.

The 3rd annual Wildhorse Shoot Out had 45 teams come out to compete in the 3-on-3 tournament. The tournament started off at 11 am and had a total of 89 games played on the nine courts that were set up. The teams were made up of players from all over Montana that came to compete, making up 10 different age brackets. Youngest bracket was two teams of first and second grade boys, the Vicious Ninjas and the Fireballs, who decided after two games they were calling it a tie and heading to the turtle races at Rocky Mountain Bank.

Aside from the tournament games they had shooting competitions from the three-point and free-throw lines. There were also two dunk contests with the hoop at 7 and 9 feet where the participants were judged on their skill as well as their style. Michael Hochstetler, of Plains, took the victory at the 7-foot hoop and Sinjin LaDeaux, of Plains, was victorious on the 9-foot hoop. The Flying Squirrel in Missoula provided jump passes as prizes to the winners. The Circle, Uncommon Grounds, Quinns Hot Springs Resort, McGowan Grocery, Simple Simons Pizza of Plains, and Ripples Ice Cream all donated prizes as well.

Thompson River Lumber, Rocky Mountain Bank, First Security Bank and Blackfoot were the bracket sponsors and helped to provide medals for all the first through fourth-place finishers of the tournament. All the court monitors and referees varied in ages and were volunteering their time in the hot sun to keep order and safety first. Nick Lawyer and Tina Dockter manned the First Aid station taking care of all the scrapes, corked fingers and heat related illness that occurred. Clark Fork Valley Hospital and Family Practice Network set up the tent and stocked the kits to make sure they were prepared. It was definitely a successful tournament with constant action throughout the day. The turnout of teams in the previous year was 19, and compared to the 45 this year you can tell that it is gaining popularity.