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Chinook senior Ian McIntish plays his final 9C tournament with a heavy heart
Chinook senior Ian McIntosh, right, dribbles through traffic during the Sugarbeeters first-round win over North Star at the District 9C boys tournament Wednesday afternoon at the Havre High gymnasium. McIntosh is one of the few veterans on a young Sugarbeeter team, that will play as hard as they can this week for their beloved friend Jesse Dannels. McIntosh and the Beeters play Box Elder tonight.
It has been an emotional time to be a Chinook Sugarbeeter recently, and Wednesday the Chinook boys basketball team took center stage at the District 9C tournament.
With the loss of Jesse Dannels still weighing on their minds, the Beeters started sluggishly in the 9C tournament, trailing North Star by 14 points at the half. Yet, with their season possibly on the line, the Beeters roared back and pulled of a dramatic, come-from-behind victory.
It may be a coincidence, but on the other hand, it might not be. Dannels was an inspiring person and therefore it really isn’t a surprise to see the Beeters playing inspired basketball.
As much as the Beeters are keeping Jesse in their hearts and minds, though, they are also trying to move forward. Led by senior point guard Ian McIntosh, they hope to do that by advancing beyond the 9C tournament this week to the Northern C Divisional in Great Falls.
In past years, the Beeters have been favored to get to Great Falls and with talented players like Lane Seymour and Cody McCracken, they did. Now many of those players are gone and a large leadership role has fallen on the shoulders of McIntosh, who is used to it as quarterback and captain of the football team.
“We started out a little slowly,” McIntosh said of his team’s first-round game against North Star. “But I think nerves played a part in it. I am really the only guy with any experience playing in the 9C tournament. We just needed to get some shots to start falling and they finally did in the second half.”
McIntosh, who is an All-Conference point guard, has had a tougher job than most lead guards in the district. The Beeters have just one other returning starter and that means that McIntosh has had to help an entirely new team become comfortable with itself and each other.
And at times, the Beeters have struggled. But, they played well enough to finish 8-6 in district play, which earned them the fourth-seed. After their win over North Star, the Beeters will get a chance to dethrone Box Elder as three-time 9C tournament champs in the semifinals tonight at 7 p.m.
This Chinook team may not be capable of winning a state championship for Jesse, as the wrestling team did a week ago, but if the Beeters were able to play their best basketball and live to play for another week in Great Falls, it would be a special ending to a trying couple of weeks.
McIntosh and the Beeters can take a big step in that direction tonight with an upset win over the Bears, but before they take the floor, the Havre Daily News caught up with McIntosh for five questions.
HDN: What is it like playing in the 9C tournament?
McIntosh: It's exciting. The gym in Havre has a really exciting atmosphere, you get a lot of people in there and it's really loud. It's great atmosphere to be a part of it. It's really fun to play in."
HDN: What is going to be the key to your guys getting back to divisionals this year?
McIntosh: "It's just going to be about execution, honestly. We have a lot of freshmen and young players, but they have been getting built up all season. We just need to go out there and execute the plays coach calls for us and play good, hard-nosed defense."
HDN: Were you guys inspired by what the wrestling team did last week and are you guys hoping to honor Jesse in a similar fashion?
McIntosh: "What those guys did, after a slow start was a heck of an achievement. And we are going to go out and play as hard as we can. It's hard. You know that Jesse would want you to keep playing and keep doing your best and that's what we are going to do."
HDN: Are you guys doing anything to honor Jesse this week on your jersey's or anything like that?
McIntosh: "No. We got together as a team and we talked about it. We did that for Jesse last week and we kind of felt like we honored him last week and put that to bed and now it was time for us to move forward."
HDN: What are you going to miss the most about playing hoops for the Beeters?
McIntosh: "I am going to miss a lot of things and a lot of people, but I think I will miss Coach Seymour the most. He has taught me so much and I have learned so much from him over the years, that I am going to miss that the most."
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