The Hardin Bulldogs defeated the Billings Central High Rams 79-67 in a playoff-like atmosphere Tuesday night at RimRock Auto Arena at MetraPark.

Hardin's Darnell Lefthand led all scorers with 33 points, including scoring 12 of his team's first 18 points. David Evans added 14 points, 12 of which came in the second half for the Bulldogs (3-0) who overcame a seven-point halftime deficit to earn the tough Eastern A victory.

"It feels pretty good. Just have to thank my teammates," Lefthand said. "You have to have a good mindset when you play a team like Central. Tough team.

 

Photos: Billings Central vs. Hardin boys varsity

Images from Billings Central vs. Hardin boys varsity game at Rimrock Auto Arena at MetraPark on Tuesday. 

 

Lefthand scored mainly inside the paint in the first half, but scored three 3-pointers in the second. 

"It was good because I've been working on my threes and when I come to the Metra it feels like home," he laughed. "Pretty good place to shoot."

With just over three minutes left in the game, Lefthand got a technical foul after Central's Chrishon Dixon fouled Hardin's Virgil McCormick. Lefthand said his teammates helped reset his focus.

"I got the T, and I thought we were going to go back down but they helped me back up," he said. "Got me in the right mindset, and we finished up the game strong."

 

After scoring only 29 points in the first half, 17 of which were Lefthand's, the Bulldogs exploded for 50 second half points including 24 in the third quarter to give the Bulldogs a 53-49 lead heading into the final stretch. 

"(Darnell's) a fun player to watch, but we struggled in the first half. I had to sit some of our starters and I was really proud of our bench," Hardin coach Andrew Round Face said. "We were down seven at half but you can't ask much more than that for your bench playing."

Round Face said some of his players were suspended for the first half due to a violation of team rules. Players like freshman Famous Lefthand, Darnell's younger brother, and senior Holman Real Bird, stepped up into starting roles due to the suspensions.

"(Famous) did great. If you didn't know him, you wouldn't know he's a freshman out there playing," Round Face said. "He really helped us out there tonight.

Famous finished the game with 10 points. 

Shay Dantic led the Rams (2-1) with 30 points, including knocking down six 3-pointers. Dantic scored on a four-point play with 54 seconds remaining to bring the Rams within five, but that's as close as they got.

"We learned a lot about our team tonight. We said the before the game and I'm saying it after, whether we win or lose this game they aren't handing out a trophy before Christmas," Central coach Jim Stergar said. "Lot of things we need to work on and I didn't have them completely prepared right now but that's our job and apparently we didn't do that tonight.