9C Girls: North Star, HLP girls battle back

Friday afternoon was a big day for the Chinook girls basketball team. The Sugarbeeters had a chance to advance to their first 9C girls championship, and they took full advantage, beating the Big Sandy Pioneers 38-35 in a wild semifinal game.

Chinook led 8-6 after the first quarter and the game was nip and tuck throughout. Big Sandy regained the lead early in the second behind two quick buckets from Mackenzie Jenkins, but late in the half, the Beeters again forged ahead and led 16-13 at the end of a low-scoring 16 minutes.

Chinook seemed to start to pull away late in the third quarter when Taryn Norby hit a 3-pointer to put the Beeters up six, but the Pioneers weren't going away, and they pulled to within one point at 30-29 heading into the fourth quarter.

And Big Sandy continued its run in the final stanza. The Pioneers pulled ahead 31-30 with just over two minutes to play, but this time, it was the Beeters who showed resolve. Chinook made critical free throws in the final minute to go back in front by three points, and while Big Sandy had several good looks at game-tying shots in the final 30 seconds, it wasn't meant to be, and the Beeters had their first semifinal win.

Box Elder 68, HLP 47 (SF)

In the Friday night semifinal girls game, the Box Elder Bears maintained the lead from almost start to finish as they grabbed the 68-47 win over the Hays Lodge-Pole Thunderbirds.

The Bears jumped out to a 10-5 lead, and never looked back. Box Elder held the 14-9 lead after the first quarter and the 38-23 lead at the half as they outscored the Thunderbirds 24-14 in the second quarter. In the second half the trend continued as the Bears continued to pull away. Box Elder outscored the Thunderbirds 13-7 in the third quarter to take a 51-30 lead. And in the fourth quarter Anita Denny posted seven points to lead the Thunderbirds to a 17 point quarter, but the Bears also posted 17 as they kept the Thunderbirds at bay and grabbed the 21 point win.

Rosette led the Bears with 17 points and Aricka Wolf Chief added 13. P

The win put the Bears in the championship game where they were defeated by the Chinook Sugarbeeters,.

North Star 64, Big Sandy 59 (LO)

On Saturday the Big Sandy Pioneers and North Star Knights battled for a place in the consolation game to face the Thunderbirds for a shot at a third place finish. And coming away with the narrow five point victory was the Knights as they defeated the Pioneers 64-59, ending Big Sandy's season.

Both squads were really neck and neck in many different categories. The Knights were 3-of-9 from 3-point range while the Pioneers were 6-of-19. And the Knights were 13-of-25 from the free throw line while the Pioneers were 11-of-23.r led 14-10 after the first quarter and 30-25 at the half. And the Knights biggest quarter came in the third when they posted 20 points; critical points that help keep the lead in the fourth quarter when the Pioneers racked up 19.

Shelby Lipp scored 24 points to lead the Knights while Kali Twedt finished with 13. Jordan Spicher also had nine points. And for the Pioneers, Matelia Cline led with 21 points, while Mackenzie Jenkins finished with 11.

Chinook 38, Big Sandy 35 (sf)

Big Sandy 6 7 16 6 — 35

Chinook 8 8 14 8 — 36

Big Sandy — Mariha Gullickson 2-6 0-0 4, Molly Herron 3-16 2-4 8, Leela Engle 0-1 0-0 0, Brook Leeder 0-1 0-1 0, Shayna Gilead 1-7 1-2 4, Mackenzie Jenkins 4-15 2-6 16, Matella Cline 1-9 1-4 3. Totals: 11-55 10-18.

Chinook — Ashley Bower 0-1 0-0 0, Alana Smith 1-6 3-6 5, Haley Swank 1-7 0-1 2, Taryn Norby 3-5 2-4 10, Emily Dennis 1-4 0-0 2, Mahkayla Farmer 5-15 5-7 15, Kayla Hanson 2-6 0-4 4. Totals: 13-44 10-22.

Box Elder 68, Hays-Lodge Pole 47 (sf)

Box Elder 14 24 13 17 — 68

Hays-Lodgepole 9 14 7 17 — 47

Box Elder — Brandi Buffalo 2-7 2-4 6, Megan Parker 3-7 3-4 9, Crystal Stamper 1-7 5-6 7, Aricka Wolf Chief 3-10 7-7 13, Tristan Parisian 4-13 2-2 12, Frankie Raining Bird 0-2 0-2 0, Rebecca Rosette 5-11 7-8 17, Jaylin Parker 0-3 0-0 0, Shelbi Eagleman 2-2 0-0 4. Totals: 20-62 26-31.

Hays-Lodgepole — Anita Denny 3-8 1-3 7, Kayla Shambo 1-3 3-5 5, CoCo Moore 0-3 0-0 0, Saundra ChiefStick 1-1 0-0 3, Kallie Martin 2-7 2-2 8, Chasanna Doney 0-2 0-0 0, Shaney ChiefStick 0-1 0-0 0, Shakayla WhiteCow 4-10 1-3 12, Kristie RunsAbove 5-11 2-2 12. Totals: 16-46 9-15.

North Star 64, Big Sandy 59 (lo)

Big Sandy 10 15 15 19 — 59

North Star 14 16 20 14 — 64

Big Sandy — Martha Gullickson 4-7 0-1 8, Molly Herron 3-12 0-1 8, Leela Engle 0-2 0-0 0, Brooke Leader 3-5 2-5 9, Shayne Gilead 0-3 1-2 1, Mackenzie Jenkins 3-15 3-6 11, Matolia Cline 8-14 4-6 21, Kylie Cline 0-1 1-2 1. Totals: 21-58 11-23.

North Star — Jordan Spicher 4-9 1-1 9, Haylee Anderson 0-0 0-0 0, Lisa Carlon 2-7 0-0 4, Kali Twedt 5-14 1-5 13, Taylor Warren 3-9 0-0 6, Bridjour Han 3-6 1-4 8, Tande Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Shelby Lipp 7-13 10-15 24, Kassidy Jansen 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 24-58 13-25.