State Champions: Box Elder wins Class C title

BUTTE - Dreams really do come true. For Box Elder fans, coaches and players, 24 years of dreaming of a Class C state championship finally came true Saturday night at the Butte Civic Center.

The top-ranked Bears capped off a perfect season with a 74-54 win over Westby-Grenora in the 2014 Class C state championship game. The championship was the first for a Box Elder boys team since the Bears won the 1990 state championship.

"Tonight all of the hard work that paid off for these guys," said third-year head coach Jeremy MacDonald. "State was our goal, we didn't talk about it much, but in the back of our minds this was always our goal. We had a lot of goals on our way, but we did it, we became state champions.

"This feels so good," sophomore point guard Brandon The Boy said, "to be this young and to win it all. I have been dreaming about this since I watched my first state tournament as a kid, and I have always wanted to hold that trophy."

Not only did the Bears raise the ultimate trophy Saturday night, they did it in amazing fashion. Box Elder beat every Class C team it faced this season but one by 20 or more points, and, remarkably, captured both the Northern C championship and State C championship in the same fashion in back-to-back weeks. The Northern C and Class C state tournaments are arguably two of the most difficult at any level of Montana high school basketball, but the Bears made it look easy.

"This team will be talked about for years down the road," The Boy said. "I think we can compete with Class B, Class A and Class AA teams, that is my opinion."

But it wasn't just the Bears and their coaches who felt elated at such a historic night and a historic season. There to celebrate with them was literally the entire town of Box Elder, a large portion of the Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation and fans from far and wide. Box Elder had easily the loudest and largest cheering section of any team at the state tournament, and that meant a lot to the coaches and players as they cut the nets down inside the grand old Butte Civic Center.

"I was 11 when Box Elder first won it, and it is a lot different being older now and being a part of this win," MacDonald said "This community loves basketball, but not just Box Elder, the entire Rocky Boy's reservation loves basketball. And we had a lot of support from other reservations, too."

Indeed, now Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation has two state championships in five years. The Rocky Boy Stars won the Class B championship in 2010 in Great Falls. The Bears also gave the District 9C its third state championship since 2007. Hays-Lodge Pole won the state title in 2007, while Big Sandy captured the 2010 state championship. Rocky Boy also played in state C championship games in 2008 and 2009.

But Saturday night was all about the Bears, and it was truly history in the making. It was an emotional and special time for a program which loves to play basketball and a community and fan base that is as passionate about hoops as it is about anything else.

"This is a huge win for our community," senior Thomas Parisian said.

"But not just our community, I think we have almost every reservation here supporting us so this is great."