Chinook boys fall at Northern C

GREAT FALLS — The District 9C Chinook Sugarbeeters and Box Elder Bears had a nice run at the 2011 Northern C boys basketball tournament over the weekend. But even with the high points, both of their seasons have come to an end.

Both the Beeters and Bears spent the weekend competing at the Four Seasons Arena in Great Falls. The Beeters entered the tournament as a No. 1 seed and the Bears entered the tournament as a No. 2 seed.

Both teams competed on Friday in the hopes of keeping their seasons alive.

In a morning game, the Bears first defeated the Highwood Mountaineers 39-35 in loser-out action. The Bears found themselves facing Highwood after their first-round loss to Roy/Winifred on Thursday.

The Bears jumped out to a 10-4 first quarter lead, but had to fend off the Mountaineers the three following quarters. In the second frame the Bears were outscored 8-4, and in the third 12-10. Both teams were tangled in a 24-24 tie, but the Bears excelled once again in the fourth as they outscored the Mountaineers 15-11 for the four-point win.

Box Elder was led by Jacob Parker with 13 points and Warren Parisian with 12. Jesse Ramos added six points and Dakota Standing Rock finished with five.

The Beeters also saw Friday action, but in the semifinals against the Dutton-Brady Diamondbacks. But after a very strong and impressive first quarter, the Beeters fell to the Diamondbacks 58-34 and were sent to the consolation bracket.

To open the game the Beeters looked to be unstoppable. They opened up the first quarter outscoring the Diamondbacks 21-11 and shot lights out. To start, the Beeters went 6-of-6 shooting and held a 15-7 lead. They went on to finish the quarter shooting 8-of-10, including 5-of-5 from behind the three point line. The Beeters didn't miss a shot until after the one minute mark.

In the opening frame the Sugarbeeters got standout shooting from Taylor Erskine with 11 points. But Lane Schmitt also had seven first quarter points while Chris Haider had three.

"I don't think they were ready for us right off the bat," Chinook head coach Chris Daniel said. "Their defense was sagging pretty good and we hit some shots from outside. We didn't even have to go inside, but I think that actually hurt us in the long run because I don't think we got ourselves in a position to play defense or to go inside.

The Beeters missed their last two shots of the first quarter and they struggled from then on. They didn't even attempt to go inside in the second quarter, and they shot just 2-of-7 and scored just four points. They also had five turnovers. The Diamondbacks on the other hand shot 8-of-12 in the frame and matched the Beeters with 21 points of their own.

It was a similar story for the remainder of the game as the Beeters were outscored 11-3 in the third and 15-6 in the fourth.

And a big reason why the Beeters failed to get their inside game going was because the Diamondbacks' 6-4 Bridger Timmerman and 6-5 Clint Williams.

"We did want to go inside against them," Daniel said. "But it was a little intimidating. When your guards see a kid who stands three or four inches above our own post player they don't want to throw the ball in there. And when they do get the ball inside, the post guys don't want to go over them, even though Tyler Molyneaux can probably go up and over anybody he wants. But we didn't face talented height like that during the regular season and we just didn't adjust like we normally do."

Schmitt finished the contest with 13 points and Erskine finished with 11. Haider also finished with five.

With the Box Elder win and the Chinook loss, both the local 9C teams faced off in the consolation semifinals on Saturday morning.

And the Beeters kept their season alive with a 51-47 win, while the Bears run came to an end.

The Beeters utilized another big first quarter to get out in front of the Bears. The Beeters put up 16 first quarter points and 18 second quarter points to take a 34-27 lead at halftime. Box Elder attempted to fight their way back in the second half, but couldn't muster enough offense or defense. The Bears put up nine points in the third and outscored the Beeters 11-4 in the fourth, but still came up just short.

Parisian led Box Elder with 20 points and Ramos with 13. Parker also added 10 points in the loss.

Schmitt led Chinook with 17 points and Erskine with 13. Grant Tilleman also added seven and Haider six.

The loss to the conference rival ended the Bears season. But the win moved the Beeters into the consolation finals Saturday night.

Once in the consolation game, the Beeters found themselves matchup against a very tough Roy-Winifred Outlaws team, the same that sent the Bears into the consolation bracket in the first place. The Outlaws defeated the Beeters 53-38, giving the Beeters a fourth place finish and ending their hopes of earning a challenge game and birth in the state tournament.

A tough first quarter put Chinook in hole early. They were outscored 10-5. And though the second quarter was better for the Beeters, they weren't able to gain much ground as they were outscored 16-12 and went into the lockerroom at half down 26-17.

The solid offense continued for the Beeters in the second half, but they couldn't get the crucial defensive stops they needed to cut the deficit. Chinook posted 10 points in the third quarter and 11 in the fourth, but the Outlaws were able to add nine in the third and 18 in the fourth to keep the Beeters at bay.

Chinook got another big game by Erskine who finished with 16 points and Schmitt who finished with 11.

Friday

Box Elder 39, Highwood 35 (lo)

Highwood 4 8 12 11 – 35

Box Elder 10 4 10 15 – 39

Highwood— Nick Willis 6, Damon Alm 8, Sam Davison 4, Chad Bullchild 7, Austin Malek 4, Derek Alm 1, Wyatt Hatch 5.

Box Elder — Warren Parisian 12, Jacob Burns 3, Jesse Ramos 6, Jacob Parker 13, Dakota Standing Rock 5.

Dutton-Brady 58, Chinook 34 (SF)

Dutton-Brady 11 21 11 15 – 58

Chinook 12 14 3 6 – 34

Dutton-Brady — Clinton Hable 11, Clint Williams 10, Kyler Johnson 7, Logan Rossmiller 10, Bridger Timmerman 12, Tiegan Johnson 8.

Chinook — Chris Haider 5, Tyler Molyneaux 1, Lane Schmitt 13, Barry Murnion 4, Taylor Erksine 11.

Saturday

Chinook 51, Box Elder 47 (lo)

Chinook 16 18 13 4 — 51

Box Elder 13 14 9 11 — 47

Chinook — Lane Schmitt 6-12 2-2 17, Tyler Molyneaux 2-5 1-2 5, Taylor Erskine 4-10 1-2 13, Grant Tilleman 3-4 1-2 7, Chris Haider 2-12 0-0 6, Zach Molyneaux 1-1 0-0 3. Totals: 18-44 7-10.

Box Elder — Dakota Standing Rock 0-2 0-0 0, Jesse Ramos 5-12 0-0 13, Lance Young 2-5 0-0 4, Chris LaMere 0-1 0-0 0, Jacob Parker 5-10 0-0 10, Irvine Big Knife 0-1 0-0 0, Warren Parisian 10-14 0-0 20. Totals: 22-45 0-0.

Fouls: Chinook 3, Box Elder 11. Fouled out: None. 3-pointers: Schmitt 3, Erskine 2, Haider 2, Z. Molyneaux 1, Ramos 3.

Roy-Winifred 53, Chinook 38 (3rd)

Chinook 5 12 10 11 — 38

Roy-Winifred 10 16 9 18 — 53

Chinook — Dylan Surber 0-1 0-0 0, Lane Schmitt 4-7 2-4 11, Grant Tilleman 1-3 0-0 2, Tyler Molyneaux 2-6 0-0 4, Kaylan Johnson 0-1 0-0 0, Zach Molyneaux 0-4 0-0 0, Taylor Erskine 5-16 5-6 16, Chris Haider 1-9 0-0 3. Totals: 13-47 7-10.

Roy-Winifred — Luke Stule 0-1 1-2 1, Chad Kananen 3-13 0-1 6, Justin Harrell 2-3 0-0 4, Jory Chrest 3-4 6-6 12, Daris Wichman 0-1 0-0 0, Chaz Kananen 7-10 2-2 17, Porter Sturm 5-13 3-5 13. Totals: 20-45 12-16.

Fouls: Chinook 18, Roy-Winifred 10. Fouled out: Schmitt (C). 3-pointers: Schmitt 1, Erskine 1, Haider 1, Chaz Kananan.