Defense: Fort Benton stops Turner

The Turner girls basketball team has had one of its best regular seasons in school history, including finishing sixth in the District 9C regular season standings. However, in the first round of the District 9C girls tournament, the Tornadoes saw a familiar theme.

Turner opened the tournament by drawing third-seeded and defending 9C champion Fort Benton Thursday afternoon, and in the end, the Longhorns shot the lights out and turned away the Tornadoes, 40-22.

The win pushed Fort Benton (13-6) into today’s semifinal against Chinook, and while head coach Cassie Scheffelmaier was pleased to be in the semis for the second straight season, this Fort Benton team is much different than the one that co-oped with Geraldine a year ago.

“We lost three all-conference players from that team,” she said. “We basically only have two players returning with experience in this tournament. So we had to play some young girls that probably weren’t ready yet this season. But they had to be ready, and for them to come out and get a win in the first round of this tournament, that’s a big confidence booster for them.”

Fort Benton certainly shot the ball confidently Thursday. After leading 7-4 in the first quarter, Fort Benton ran off an 8-0 run, capped by a deuce from Leah Gannon. Turner answered with a quick eight points, including back-to-back baskets from sisters Ella and Sarah Billmayer, and the score was 14-10 Longhorns early in the second stanza.

From there though, the Longhorns took control. They finished the first half on a 10-0 run, capped by a Bailey Willson 3-pointer, and they got even better in the second half.

Offensively, the Longhorns put 11 more points on the board in the third stanza, while their defense held Turner without a field goal for nearly 10 minutes of the second half. And by the time Kaitlyn Bird hit a shot with 4:15 to go, the Longhorns were in front 35-18 and the game was all but over.

"We came in knowing we needed to play good defense," Scheffelmaier said. "Turner has a lot of athletic players and they play extremely hard. So we knew we had to be on our toes tonight, and I thought we were. I thought Turner still played tough, but they were certainly affected being down one starter."

Turner was affected by the loss of an injured starter and offensively, the Tornadoes (9-10) just couldn't get going. They shot just 14 percent from the field and made only two field goals in the second half. Ella Billmayer led the way with eight points, while Sarah Billmayer and Rennay Watkins each had four.

Conversely, Fort Benton, which has a huge matchup with Chinook today, began its 9C title defense by getting 14 from Willson and another 10 from Gannon. Fort Benton did only shoot 30 percent from the floor, and made just three treys, which is a testament to the Turner defense. But in the end, the Longhorns are back in the semifinals, and find themselves with a chance to win their second straight 9C crown, though today's game with the Beeters will be tough. Chinook swept Fort Benton during the regular season.

"They (Beeters) have our number right now," Scheffelmaier said. "They beat us pretty good both times. It's going to be a tough game. We need to come out and play hard, we need to play with a purpose. And we need to be relaxed and just have fun. This tournament is so fun, and we need to come out and have fun playing."

Turner played in a loser-out game against Hays-Lodge Pole this morning. Tonight's game between Fort Benton and Chinook tips at 5:30 in the HHS gymnasium. The winner will face either Box Elder or North Star in Saturday's 9C championship game.

Fort Benton 40, Turner 22

Fort Benton 7 13 11 9 – 40

Turner 4 8 4 6 – 22

Fort Benton – Kate Bird 2, Emma Arnst 3, Hannah Pimperton 4, Jaelyn Vielleux 2, Alia Evans 4, Leah Gannon 10, Madison Thompson 1, Bailey Willson 14. Totals: 16 5-8 40.

Turner – Raegan Conlan 1, Ella Billmayer 8, Sarah Billmayer 4, Rylee Conlan 3, Jaye Marie Anderson 2, Rennay Watkins 4. Totals: 6 10-19 22.

3-pointers: Arnst 1, Willson 2. Fouls: Fort Benton 20, Turner 11.