9C Boys: Box Elder fights back

Coming off a rousing first-round win over Hays-Lodge Pole, the Box Elder Bears seemed to have momentum on their side heading into Friday afternoon's semifinal game with the top-seeded Chinook Sugarbeeters. But the Beeters eventually had other ideas and wound up with a dominating 67-48 win and second straight berth in the 9C boys title game.

The Beeters opened the game with five quick points by Chris Haider, but the Bears' Lance Young scored six points and pulled them to within one at 9-8 after the first quarter.

However, the second and fourth quarters were Box Elder's undoing. Chinook ripped off a quick 8-0 run in the second quarter to lead 29-20 at halftime, but the Bears pulled back within five points at 43-38 in the third, behind the play of 6-3 Jacob Parker on both ends of the floor. Still, Chinook had too much firepower, and a 24-10 fourth stanza, including big shots from Taylor Erskine and Layne Schmitt helped seal the Bears' fate.

Schmitt led four Beeters in double figures with 22 points. Erskine added 13 points and Haider and Tyler Molyneaux each chipped in with 10. Box Elder, which dropped into loser-out play, got 17 points, 13 rebounds and seven blocks from Parker, as well as 16 points from Young.

Big Sandy 58, N. Star 51 (SF)

The North Star Knights were also coming off of an impressive win over Turner as they entered semifinal action against the reining Class C state champion Big Sandy Pioneers. But even after finding themselves up 12-10 after the first quarter, the Knights couldn't fend off the Pioneers for the entire 32 minutes.

Trevor Lackner turned things around for the Pioneers in the second frame three three-pointers and 11 total points. He helped lead Big Sandy to a 22-16 outscoring of the Knights and a 32-28 halftime lead.

In the third quarter the 3-point shootout continued as the Pioneers knocked down two more, making them 6-of-14 through three quarters. The Knights also got involved by knocking down three in the quarter, making them 5-of-14 through the first three quarters, three of which were Karston Donovens. But despite outscoring the Pioneers 16-14 in the third, the Knights still trialed by three heading into the fourth.

But in the fourth quarter, led by Kaden Beck and JJ Allery, the Pioneers were able to pull away for the seven point victory.

In the win, Lackner led the Pioneers with 16 points and three treys. Both Zac Leader and Allery finished with 11 points each and Justin Stevens added 10. North Star was led by Connor Kline and Donoven with 17 each. Jordy Donoven added nine to the mix.

Box Elder 81, Turner 40 (LO)

On Saturday play resumed with the Bears and Turner Tornadoes meeting in loser out play.

And grabbing the win and keeping their season alive was the Bears with an 81-40 thrashing of the Tornadoes. With the loss the Tornadoes were knocked out of the tournament, but with the win the Bears advanced to the consolation game where they faced the Hays-Lodge Pole Thunderbirds.

In both of their games the Tornadoes came out strong. But after holding teams close through the first quarter, they were unable to match their weapons and keep up. Against the Bears the Tornadoes trailed by six after the opening frame before suffering the dominating loss.

Box Elder held the 19-13 lead after the first quarter and kept rolling, adding 20 in the second, 22 in the third and 20 more in the fourth. The Tornadoes were held to 13 more in the second, six in the third and eight in the fourth.

Both teams put up around 50 shots on the game, but the Bears converted almost 55 percent while the Tornadoes were closer to 25 percent. And leading the bears was Jacob Parker with 28 points and seven rebounds. Warren Parisian added 16 points and Lance Young added 15 more. The Bears were also 17-of-31 from the free throw line.

Travis Daniels led the Tornadoes once again, this time with 20 points, five rebounds, three steals and three assists. Levi Humphreys added 13 points while four other Tornadoes combined for seven points.

HLP 58, North Star 52 (LO)

In the boys other loser out game on Saturday, the North Star Knights and Hays-Lodge Pole Thunderbirds faced off in hopes of reaching the consolation game. But in a much tighter matchup it was the Thunderbird coming away with the win and ending the Knights season. The Thunderbirds defeated the Knights 58-52.

Jordy Donoven led the Knights with 21 points and Connor Kline added 14 in their best efforts to get past the Thunderbirds. But Hays-Lodge Pole's four players in double digit scoring proved to be enough to get the win instead. Ty Racine led with 12 points while Scotty Bradley added 11. And both Derek Doney and Clifford Blackelk finished with 10 each.

The Thunderbirds led 14-11 after the first quarter and grabbed the 26-21 lead at the half. Both teams scored 15 a piece in the third, but H-LP outscored the Knights 17-16 in the fourth to put the finishing touches on the win.

Chinook 67, Box Elder 48 (sf)

Box Elder 8 12 18 10 — 48

Chinook 9 20 14 24 — 67

Box Elder — Lance Young 5-8 6-7 16, Jesse Ramos 3-9 0-0 6, Dakota Standing Rock 0-2 0-0 0, Chris LaMere 1-1 0-0 3, Jacob Burns 0-1 2-3 2, Jacob Parker 7-13 3-4 17, Irvin Big Knife 0-1 0-0 0, Warrin Parisian 1-3 2-5 4. Totals: 17-38 13-19.

Chinook — Lane Schmitt 6-13 9-9 22, Tyler Molyneaux 5-13 0-2 10, Taylor Erskine 5-21 3-6 13, Zach Molyneaux 1-2 0-0 2, Chris Haider 4-10 0-0 10, Brandon Riphenburg 2-4 1-2 5, Grant Tilleman 2-5 1-2 5. Totals: 25-69 14-21.

Big Sandy 58, North Star 51 (sf)

Big Sandy 10 22 14 12 — 58

North Star 11 16 16 6 — 51

Big Sandy — Dallas Briese 0-2 0-0 0, Justin Stevens 4-11 2-4 10, Trever Lackner 6-12 1-2 16, Kaden Beck 3-6 1-4 7, Zac Leader 5-15 0-0 11, J. J. Allery 3-6 3-4 11, Jessey Bailey 1-5 0-0 3. Totals: 22-58 7-14.

North Star — Jordy Donovan 3-15 1-1 9, Connor Kline 6-15 5-10 17, Zach Anderson 2-8 0-0 4, Dylan Crittenden 2-6 0-0 4, Karston Donoven 7-13 0-1 17, Donovan Ulmen 0-3 0-0 0. Totals: 20-60 6-12.

Box Elder 81, Turner 40 (lo)

Box Elder 19 20 22 20 — 81

Turner 13 13 6 8 — 40

Box Elder — Brandon Belgarde 0-1 0-0 0, Lance Young 7-9 0-0 15, Randell Gardipee 1-2 1-1 3, Jessa Ramos 2-7 0-6 6, Dakota Standing Rock 1-4 2-4 5, John Wolf Chief 0-1 0-0 0, Jacob Burns 2-4 2-7 6, Jacob Parker 10-16 8-8 28, Irvin Big Knife 1-1 0-0 2, Warren Parisian 6-8 4-5 16. Totals: 30-56 17-31.

Turner — Travis Daniels 7-17 3-8 20, Rylan Edwards 0-1 0-0 0, Alto Mathews 1-9 0-0 2, Levi Humphreys 5-13 0-0 13, Dylan Welsh 0-5 2-4 2, Aaron Van Valkenburg 0-1 1-2 1, Li Xu 0-0 0-0 0, Dusty Mohar 1-6 0-2 2. Totals: 14-52 6-16.

Hays-Lodgepole 58, North Star 52 (lo)

Hays-Lodgepole 14 12 15 17 — 58

North Star 11 10 15 16 — 52

Hays-Lodgepole — Ty Racine 4-7 0-0 12, Scotty Bradley 3-10 4-7 11, Derek Doney 5-9 0-0 10, Clifford Black Elk 4-6 2-8 10, Nolan Werk 1-3 0-0 2, Tyler Roberts 4-6 1-3 9, Trenton Kirkaldie 2-7 0-2 4. Totals: 23-62 7-20.

North Star — Cooper Spicher 0-0 0-0 0, Jordy Donoven 8-23 2-2 21, Connor Kline 3-13 8-10 14, Zach Anderson 2-4 1-2 5, Dylan Criitenden 4-7 0-0 8, Karston Donoven 1-10 1-2 4. Totals: 18-57 12-16.