Bears take back the Northern C

GREAT FALLS - The Box Elder boys basketball team wanted the Belt Huskies. The Bears also wanted redemption for their failure at the 2015 Northern C, and Friday night in Great Falls, they got both.

In a battle of Class C heavyweights, one that featured the past two state champions, it was the Bears that came out on top, knocking off Belt, the defending state champs, 65-53 at the Four Seasons Arena. The Bears are now 23-1 on the season and earned their second Northern C championship in three years. They will begin their quest for a second state title in three years Thursday in Great Falls against Reedpoint-Rapelje.

"Those are two championship ball clubs right there," Box Elder head coach Jeremy MacDonald said. "Both teams have state championships - we won in 2014 and they won in 2015. We both won championships last week. Neither one of us wanted to lose."

The showdown between the two teams was something fans have been anticipating for two years and when the game finally tipped off, the price of admission proved worth it thanks to some first-quarter fireworks. The first team to set off those fireworks was Belt, which got early 3-pointers from Jaren Maki and Koltin Haugrose to take a 10-4 lead. Yet, Box Elder had the answer in the form of Jerrod Four Colors, who knocked down two treys and added another hoop to get the Bears within one at 16-15.

However, the Bears weren't done, and they hit three more times from deep before the end of the first quarter. Brandon The Boy connected on one to tie the game at 18-18 and as the buzzer sounded, Jake Jones knocked down his second to give Box Elder a 21-18 edge.

"They got a quick lead on us and hit some big shots early," MacDonald said. "But, we were able to answer and ended the quarter by getting the lead, which was a big key."

After hitting five times from beyond the arc in the first, the Bears continued their hot-shooting effort in the second quarter. It started when The Boy hit a three and was fouled. He converted the 4-point play and after Shane Ketchum hit from deep, The Boy was again good from downtown, putting the Bears in front 32-25. Belt responded with an 8-2 run that got it within two, but Ketchum scored three points the old-fashioned way and tacked on another free throw to give Box Elder a 39-33 halftime advantage.

"I just try to do whatever my team needs me to do to win," The Boy said of his big second quarter. "Whether that means scoring a bunch of points or not scoring any. I am going to do whatever it takes to win."

After Box Elder pushed its lead to 41-33, Belt ripped off a 6-0 run to get within two, but again, The Boy answered with a trey. Then, Four Colors scored to put the Bears up seven, and after three quarters, the Bears led 50-43. In the fourth quarter, Box Elder, which held Belt to 10 points in the third quarter, continued to frustrate the Huskies, who finished the game with 18 turnovers and, despite shooting 54 percent from the field, scored just 53 points.

"A lot of people think we are just a high-scoring team," MacDonald said. "But really, for us, it all starts with our defense. We want to pressure people and force them to turn the ball over and we were able to do that pretty effectively."

And while Belt certainly did struggle to score in the second half, the Huskies managed to trim the lead to six points with just over three minutes to play. Yet in the end, they simply couldn't stop The Boy, who notched a 3-point play and two three throws, which gave the Bears a 62-51 lead and iced the game.

"When you're a big-time player, you have got to make some big-time plays," The Boy said. "I didn't come ready to play last year and now it's time to step up. It's the postseason and I wanna be that guy for these guys."

The Boy and Four Colors, two seniors, combined to score 45 points, while connecting on 16-of-21 shots from the field. The Boy led all scorers with 25 points, including four 3-pointers, while Four Colors had 20 to go along with five rebounds and four blocks. Haugrose had 18 to pace Belt. Matt Metrione added 14.

"This feels great," Four Colors said. "It's great to win this one because everyone says this is the toughest division in the state. So it feels good to win this one, especially after last year."

When the clock struck double zero, the Bears would tally a 13-point victory and add yet another accomplishment to the growing list over the past four seasons. Yet, the Bears and The Boy in particular, have an eye on one more trophy.

"Last year we came out and we were favored and we didn't get it done," The Boy said. "This year we did. I am happy that we are divisional champions, but I am already looking forward to the first round of the state tournament."

While Box Elder won the Northern C championship and earned a berth in the state tournament, the Chester-Joplin-Inverness Hawks were simply trying to follow suit in extending their season for another weekend.

After staying alive with a win over Hays-Lodge Pole in loser-out action on Thursday at the Northern C, the Hawks looked to do the same against Denton-Geyser-Stanford Friday morning in Great Falls. And thanks to a 22-point effort from Troy Harmon that included a pair of threes, the Hawks advanced to the consolation game with a 54-44 victory.

Then, on Friday night at the Northern C, the Hawks met Sunburst for third and a chance to keep their dream of a state tourney berth alive. Unfortunately for CJI, it wasn't meant to be. The Refiners, who were undefeated coming into the tournament, went back-and-forth with the Hawks for much of the game, but closed with a 15-2 run that gave them a 78-66 victory.

Trailing by seven points in the fourth quarter, the Hawks made one final run to try and extend their season. First, Harmon scored, then after consecutive buckets by Brandon Richter and a hoop by Cory Richter, CJI suddenly had a 64-63 lead with just over three minutes remaining in the game.

But thanks to some turnovers and missed free throws by CJI, Sunburst was able to regain the lead and a clutch trey by Logan Simmes that put the Refiners up 70-64 with 1:39 to play proved to be the final dagger.

Harmon finished the game with 26 points for the Hawks; May had 18 and Cory Richter contributed with 14. Tim Jarvis scored 25 for Sunburst thanks to five 3-pointers. Treyton Pickering also pitched in with 18 points.

"It was unfortunate at the end," CJI head coach Spencer Satori said. "We had some nerves and had some mistakes at the end that ended up costing us. But, I am proud of this team. We have been through alot together this year and we will come away with so many life lessons that are about much more than basketball and that's really what it's all about."

The Class C state tournament runs this Thursday-Saturday back inside the Four Seasons Arena.

Chester-Joplin-Inverness 54, DGS 44, lo

CJI 14 13 10 17 – 54

DGS 7 20 11 6 – 44

Chester-Joplin-Inverness – Cory Richter 3 1-1 7, Brandon Richter 2 1-3 5, Javin Miles 1 2-3 4, Troy Harmon 6 8-8 22, Justin May 5 3-4 14, Bruce Tempel 1 0-0 2. Totals: 18 15-19.

Denton-Geyser-Stanford – Conner Bokma 3 0-0 7, Rhet Woodhall 2 0-2 6, Kade Woodhall 3 1-2 9, Kordell Carpenter 1 0-0 3, Kendall Carpenter 8 1-3 18, Sean Bronec 0 1-4 1. Totals: 17 3-11.

Fouls – CJI 14, DGS 17. Fouled out – C. Richter, Ke. Carpenter. 3-pointers – Harmon 2, May, Bokma, R. Woodhall 2, K. Woodhall 2, Ko. Carpenter, Ke. Carpenter.

Sunburst 78, Chester-Joplin-Inverness 66, 3rd

Sunburst 10 22 23 23 — 78

CJI 13 18 20 15 — 66

Sunburst – Logan Simmes 4 3-4 12; Tim Jarvis 7 6-6 25; Jackson Nagy 6 0-0 16; Treyton Pickering 7 4-6 18; Paul Ehlers 3 0-0 7. Totals: 27 13-16 78.

CJI – Cory Richter 6 2-2 16; Brandon Richter 2 0-0 4; Javin Miles 0 0-2 0; Troy Harmon 11 2-3 26; Justin May 6 4-6 18; Bruce Tempel 1 0-0 2. Totals: 26 8-13 66.

3-Point goals – Simmes 1, Jarvis 5, Nagy 4, Ehler 1, C. Richter 2, Harmon 2, May 2. Fouls –

Sunburst 12, CJI 14.

Box Elder 65, Belt 53, 1st

Belt 18 15 10 10 – 53

Box Elder 21 81 11 15 – 65

Belt – Keagan Stroop 2 0-0 4, Harry Green 3 0-0 8, Koltin Haugrose 7 1-2 18, Joss Bodner 1 1-2 3, Jaren Maki 2 0-0 6, Matt Metrione 5 4-5 14. Totals: 20 6-9.

Box Elder – Jerrod Four Colors 9 0-0 20, Pernell Morsette 1 0-3 2, Brandon The Boy 7 7-8 25, Tristan Bernard 1 0-0 2, Jake Jones 3 0-1 8, Trey Henderson 0 1-2 1, Shane Ketchum 2 2-3 7. Totals: 23 10-17.

Fouls – Belt 19, Box Elder 13. 3-pointers – Green 2, Haugrose 3, Maki 2, Four Colors 2, The Boy 4, Jones 2, Ketchum.