Box Elder beats C/J-I for 9C four-peat

Sometimes big games don't live up to the hype, but in the case of the District 9C boys championship, it did.

Throughout the season, it was clear that the Box Elder Bears and the Chester/J-I Hawks were the top two teams in the district and Friday night at the HHS gymnasium, their talent was on full display.

The two teams shot the ball at a blistering pace in the first half, combining to make 13 3-pointers and shoot 65 percent from beyond the arc. But as both teams cooled off from downtown, the Bears suffocated the Hawks with their pressure defense and wore them down on their way to an 88-71 win.

The victory gave the Bears their fourth-consecutive district championship and sends them to the Northern C Divisional in Great Falls as the top seed. C/J-I will also advance to the divisional tournament next week at the Four Seasons Arena.

While the Bears won their fourth-straight title, the win over C/J-I was the first without Jeremy MacDonald on the sideline. MacDonald, the long-time Bears' head coach, imposed a one-game suspension on himself for using what he termed, "inappropriate language" while acting as principal for the Box Elder School.

"We won this for Coach Mac," Senior point guard Brandon The Boy said referring to his head coach. "He has got us through a lot of tough times and tonight we played for him and we won this for him."

The Boy was one of the big reasons why the Bears stormed back from nine points down in the first half to win by 17. The All-State guard scored 31 points. He was 11-of-13 from inside the arc and 3-of-6 from 3-point range. Pernell Morsette finished with 17 points and Jake Jones also had a stellar night, as he connected on four treys and finished with 14.

Troy Harmon led the way for the Hawks in a valiant effort with 21 points. Justin May also added 17 points, while Cory Richter was 4-of-4 from three and also finished with 14 points.

Coming into the night, both the Bears and Hawks knew they were going to Great Falls, but before they took the floor, the Hays-Lodge Pole Thunderbirds and Chinook Sugarbeeters battled it out for the third and final spot available at the Northern C.

And thanks to a stellar 27-point performance from Frank Runs Above, it was the T-Birds that punched their ticket with an 85-69 win over Chinook. The T-Birds are headed to the Northern C for the second straight season.