Two more to go: Bears crush Trojans

If fans were wondering if the red-hot Box Elder Bears were going to be tested once they reached the Class C state basketball tournament in Butte, those fans will have to wait at least one more day to find out.

Thursday afternoon at the Butte Civic Center, the top-ranked Bears defeated Drummond 88-60 in the first round of their first state tourney in 24 years..

It appears that the Bears have picked up right where they left off at the Northern C last weekend in Great Falls. The Bears won the title with ease and are now on their way to the state semifinals. After the landslide win over Drummond the Bears are now 24-0 and will face Fairview tonight at 6:30 p.m.

The Butte Civic Center is the third gym for the Bears in three weeks, but the change of scenery doesn’t seem to slow Box Elder down.

“Not too many teams press full court the way we do,” said Box Elder head coach Jeremy MacDonald. “We got them playing our tempo, I think, and that’s what one of our goals was. … Even though our pressure didn’t create a lot of turnovers, it did create a lot of quick shots. They were playing a little faster than they are used to, I think.”

In the first quarter the Bears slapped 29 points on Drummond, followed by 15 more in the second quarter. In the opening 16 minutes the Bears shot 55 percent from the field while Drummond shot an abysmal 17 percent from the field in the same 16 minutes of action. Drummond did get going in the second half, but a 25-point fourth quarter was the exclamation mark the Bears needed to finalize the dominating win in the first round.

Box Elder drained 12-of-25 from behind the 3-point line, and Clayton Morsette hit four and finished the game with 17 points. Lonnie Plain Bull Jr. and Randall Gardippee combined for five more treys, with Plain Bull finishing with 13 points and Gardipee finishing with 20. Jarron Four Colors also finished with 16 points.

“We expect to give Fairview our best game,” said MacDonald. “That’s what we are focused on. We are not talking about winning a title yet. We want to be 2-0 tomorrow night.”

The Bears also out-rebounded Drummond 45-35, earned four blocks and four steals, and turned the ball over 14 times. The Box Elder defense also forced 12 turnovers while shooting the lights out.

The Bears will look to keep rolling when they face Fairview tonight at 6:30. In other first-round action, Fairview defeated Wibaux 66-53, Westby-Grenora beat Denton-Geyser-Stanford 49-46 and Superior stayed undefeated by dumping Broadus 53-39.

Box Elder 88, Drummond 60

Box Elder 29 15 19 25 – 88

Drummond 9 13 20 18 – 60

Box Elder – Brandon The Boy 2-2 0-0 5, Clayton Morsette 6-10 1-2 17, Randall Gardipee 8-14 2-3 20, Jarrod Four Colors 7-8 1-1 16, Thomas Parisian 1-4 0-2 2, Lonnie Plain Bull Jr. 5-15 0-0 13, Quinn Baker 2-3 2-2 6, Slayte Duran 0-4 0-0 0, Ryan Gardipee 1-2 0-0 2, Jake Jones 1-2 0-0 3, Tristan Bernard 2-4 0-0 4, Will Ketchum 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 35-69 6-10 88.

Drummond – Kevin Oberweiser 5-13 9-10 21, Joseph Parke 2-9 4-6 9, Johnathan Brown 2-9 1-3 5, Danny Mannix 4-17 4-6 13, Gregory Schindler 0-6 2-4 2, Cade Estes 2-4 0-0 6, Alex Allen 1-2 0-0 2, Ricky Ballinger 1-1 0-0 2, Wyatt Spencer 0-0 0-0 0, Kyle Ballinger 0-0 0-0 0, Riley Spencer 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-61 20-30 60.

3-point goals – Box Elder 12-25 (Morsett 4-7, Plain Bull 3-7, Gardipee 2-4, The Boy 1-1, Jones 1-2, Four Colors 1-2, Bernard 0-1, Duran 0-1), Drummond 6-19 (Estes 2-3, Oberweiser 2-5, Parke 1-4, Mannix 1-5, Schindler 10-2). Total fouls – Box Elder 20, Drummond 10. Fouled out – none. Rebounds – Box Elder 45 (Four Colors 9, Morsette 8), Drummond 35 (Oberweiser 10, Brown 9). Blocks – Box Elder 4 (Plain Bull 2, Ra. Gardipee 2), Drummond 6 (Parke 3, Oberweiser, Mannix, Schindler). Steals – Box Elder 4 (Ra. Gardipee 3), Drummond 6 (Estes 2). Turnovers – Box Elder 14, Drummond 12.

Friday

12:30 p.m. - Wibaux (23-2) vs. Drummond (21-5), loser-out

2 p.m. - Denton-Geyser-Stanford (20-4) vs. Broadus (18-7), loser-out

6:30 p.m. - Fairview (23-3) vs. Box Elder (24-0), semifinal

8 p.m. - Westby-Grenora (21-4) vs. Superior (24-0), semifinal

Saturday

9:30 a.m. -- Denton-Broadus winner vs. Fairview-Box Elder loser, loser-out

11 a.m. -- Wibaux-Drummond winner vs. Westby-Superior loser, loser-out

6:30 p.m. -- Saturday early winners, consolation

8 p.m. -- Fairview-Box Elder winner vs. Westby-Superior winner, championship