24 years worth the wait for Box Elder and loyal fans

BUTTE — Basketball means different things to different people, but one thing is for certain, basketball sure does mean a lot to the Box Elder players and coaches, the Box Elder high school, the community of Box Elder, and the entire community of the Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation.

That is what makes the first Class C state title in 24 years by the Bears such a landmark win in so many people’s lives.

Saturday night in Butte, the Bears pummeled the Westby-Grenora Thunder 74-54 in the Class C state title game at the Butte Civic Center. But in rare fashion, the Bears also capped off a run for the ages, finishing the season 26-0, and defeating each of the three state opponents by an unheard of 20 points or more. Box Elder also ran through the regular season, District 9C, and Northern C Divisional competition, taking down every Class C team in their way by double-digits.

And while the Bears were playing more than 240 miles away from their home court in Box Elder, Saturday’s title game gave the Bears home field advantage at the packed Civic Center.

“Basketball is huge up there,” Box Elder head coach Jeremy MacDonald said after the win. “And to run the table, and to win in the fashion that we did was big. We didn’t have a single digit game against any Class C team this year, only Rocky Boy and Harlem at the Native American Classic at the beginning of the season. Every Class C game was a double-digit win for us. And recently we talked about the best Class C teams that we have ever seen, and there have been some powerhouse teams come through over the years, but we have to be considered too. We went 26-0, our closest game at the Northern C was a 15-point game against Belt, but then we come to state and win three games by 20 points or more. This is a great ball club and great thing to be a part of.”

And a monster crowd saw the historic win.

The 7,500-capacity Civic Center wasn’t full, but it was bursting with fans. And with the exception of a small cheering section for the Thunder, the majority of the fans were out in full force for the Bears. But that shouldn’t be a surprise to anybody as the Box Elder fans have traveled well all season long in support of the Bears.

Lonnie Plain Bull Jr., as well as the rest of the Bears, spent more than an hour hanging out with fans after the win. The fans emptied the stands and spilled onto the floor, asking players for photographs, autographs, and hugs after the emotional season came to an end.

“This is great, it is the most amazing feeling in the world right now,” Plain Bull Jr. said surrounded by friends and family. “This really is the greatest feeling in the world right now. This is all my family, and it is great to have them here supporting me right now because I don’t get to see a lot of them very much. But it was almost a home game for us because of the support and family in the stands.”

But MacDonald also got word that it wasn’t just Box Elder in the stands getting in on the cheers and chants.

“The atmosphere was great,” Coach MacDonald said. “And pretty much one whole side of the arena was Box Elder. We could hear it and there were some pretty big eruptions during the game tonight.

“But for Box Elder, this generation hasn’t seen a state championship,” MacDonald added. “I was 11 when Box Elder ... won it, and it is a lot different being older now and being a part of this win. This community loves basketball, but not just Box Elder, the entire Rocky Boys reservation loves basketball. And we had a lot of support from other reservations, we have some Crow boys and some Blackfeet here, and actually we were told that we have people from all seven reservations here supporting us. But it didn’t stop there, we had other 9C teams here supporting us, and we cheered for Denton-Geyser-Stanford, and they cheered for us. We also picked up some fans along the way. We play an exciting brand of basketball and people like to be a part of that.”

It was 24 years ago that the Bears earned a state title, and the last players were well aware of that. Hard work and dedication propelled the Bears since a run into the post season last year, but knowing they had what it took to bring hardware back to the community this year pushed the Bears even harder.

The entire roster has been dreaming of a state title since they could remember, and while none of the current players have seen a title travel to Box Elder, they understood the importance.

“This is all of our dreams,” Jacob Jones said. “We have been working for this since we were little kids, just knee high.”

“This is hard to explain,” Clayton Morsette Jr. said. “This is almost one of those once and a lifetime opportunities. And even though this is great to be a state champ, knowing it hasn’t been done in 24 years makes it even better to bring a trophy back. Without our community support we wouldn’t have been able to do this.”

And the Bears couldn’t praise the community support enough Saturday night, even amongst the excitement and thrill of coming off of a dominating win.

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

“This is a huge win for our community,” Thomas Parisian said. “But not just our community, I think we have almost every reservation here supporting us so this is great.”

Community support and hard work, coach MacDonald, assistant coach White, and the Bears’ players found the recipe to bring the Class C state title back to Box Elder.