Two for the Bears: Box Elder blasts Arlee for the title

GREAT FALLS — The Box Elder boys basketball team went to Great Falls this week on a mission, a mission that was more than a year in the making. And by the time the Bears were finished Saturday night, they had achieved their goal, in dominating fashion.

For the third straight night, and this time in the championship game of the Class C state tournament, the Bears overwhelmed their opponent, a valiant Arlee squad, and defeated the Warriors 95-73 in front of a sold-out crowd at the Four Seasons Arena in Great Falls.

The championship is Box Elder’s second state C title in the past three seasons and gives them a final record of 26-1 and a total mark over the last three years of an incredible 76-3.

“Every team in Class C wants to get this state championship,” Box Elder head coach Jeremy MacDonald said. “And to be able to get that two of the last three years, that’s just a testament to the kind of kids that we have in this program. I am really happy for our fans. I am really happy for our kids, they worked hard and they deserve it.”

Box Elder, which won the state championship in 2014, was upset by Highwood at the Northern C Divisional in 2015 and denied a chance to defend its title, which motivated the team to get back to the mountain top.

“We have been hungry ever since we didn’t get a challenge game,” MacDonald said. “We took that as motivation. It kept us hungry and we used that as fire during the offseason. C-J-I woke us up at the start of the season, but since then we got rolling and we won every game by double digits. This is a great, great Class C basketball team.”

The matchup between Box Elder and Arlee was only the second between Native American schools in the history of Class C basketball and it was one of the most anticipated title games in recent memory. With all the hype, both teams started slowly, but it didn’t take long for Brandon The Boy to get things going for the Bears as he drilled a 3-pointer and connected on a long two, which gave Box Elder a 9-5 lead. The Boy made another jumper right before the first quarter ended and after one, the Bears led 13-12.

In the second quarter, the Warriors came out firing and scored six straight points to grab the lead, but a 3-point play by Jerrod Four Colors quickly tied the score at 16-16. Later in the stanza, with the score tied at 20-20, Jake Jones would make his presence felt with a trey that put the Bears up three. Box Elder went up by as many as six, following a corner three by Four Colors and a bucket by The Boy. Yet, Alree refused to quit and reeled off another 6-0 run to make the score 34-33 with under a minute left in the half.

Cue Jones again.

Jones, who was injured during the high school football season and never reached 100 percent, hit from deep again, sparking a 7-0 run that gave Box Elder a 40-33 lead going into intermission.

“I felt good. I was knocking down shots in warm ups, and when I knock ’em down in warmups, I usually do in games,” Jones said. “I just knew that they were putting a lot of pressure on Brandon, and we had to try to take some pressure off of him.”

In the third quarter, the Bears wasted little time extending their lead as treys by Tristan Bernard and The Boy pushed the Box Elder advantage to 47-35 two minutes into the second half. Soon after, the 3-point barrage continued, as Jones was good again from deep. Then, after another hoop by The Boy, the Bears led by 15.

Down by 15, the Warriors went to work and after a couple of buckets by Philip Malatare, including a spectacular score on a spin move, the Box Elder lead was down to seven at 56-49. Yet, the Bears responded, leading 61-52, Bodis Duran hit a turnaround jumper, then after two free throws by Jones, Duran knocked down a three, putting Box Elder up 68-52 after three.

“They made a little run there in the third quarter,” MacDonald said. “I thought about taking a timeout, but I like to let my boys play. And they made a couple of big buckets right there for us.”

“When you are in the state championship game, teams are going to make a run at you,” The Boy said. “But you have to step up and be able to knock down some shots.”

In the final eight minutes, the Warriors trimmed the lead down to 12 points on two occasions, but never closer. And after old-fashioned 3-point plays by Four Colors and The Boy, the Bears led by 21 and the celebration was on at the Four Seasons.

“It feels really good,” The Boy said. “Emotions are running high right now. We deserved this. People didn’t see all the extra stuff. All the mornings, all the late nights when you couldn’t sleep because you had to get a workout in. This is the greatest feeling in the world right now. The dream came true for me. It came true for all of us.”

With around a minute left in the game, The Boy exited the floor to an enormous ovation. In his final game as a Bear, he scored 25 points, on 9-of-11 shooting, to go along with three assists.

“We are lucky to have a guy like Brandon,” MacDonald said. “Big-time players step up in big-time games and that’s what he did.”

As good as The Boy was, nobody contributed more to the winning effort than Four Colors, who was an absolute force down low for the Bears, finishing with 26 points and 15 rebounds.

“Jerrod is a matchup nightmare,” MacDonald said. “He attacks the offensive glass, he cleans off the defensive boards, he can finish at the rim and he can shoot the three. He is a fantastic basketball player.”

“It feels great,” Four Colors said of winning the state title. “Not many teams have won two state championships, so it feels good to have done something not many others have been able to do.”

Jones, another Box Elder senior, added 13 points in the win for the Bears, while Pernell Morsette added 12. Malatare led all scorers in the contest with 33 points. Tyler Tanner and Patrick Big Sam each scored 16 points in the loss for the Warriors, who suffered just their second loss all year, but also felt the sting of losing both a basketball and football state championship in the same school year.

“We thought Jake was going to be an All-State player,” MacDonald said. “But, he just never got 100 percent from his injury. But, he is still a great shooter and a good basketball player and he made some big shots for us.”

The 22-point win by the Bears capped off one of the most dominating state-tournament runs in recent memory. Box Elder won its three games by an average 36 points a game and finished its postseason run with a perfect 9-0 record, with each win coming by double-digits.

“In the history of Class C basketball, I think we rank right up there with any team,” MacDonald said. “The stretch that we have had over the last three years has been amazing. We lost a tough game to Highwood last year, but two years, winning state titles and both of those state championship runs, we won all of our games by more than 20 points. That just says something about the dominance that these boys have put out on the basketball floor.”

“That’s for you guys to decide,” The Boy said of where Box Elder ranks all-time in Class C. “I am just happy to have this trophy and have this net around my neck. Deep down, I know where I put us, but right now, I am just glad that we are going out on top.”

STATE CHAMPS!

Box Elder 95, Arlee 73, 1st

Box Elder 13 28 27 27 - 95

Arlee 12 21 19 21 - 73

Box Elder: Jerrod Four Colors 26, Pernell Morsette 12, Brandon The Boy 25, Bodis Duran 5, Tristan Bernard 6, Jake Jones 13, Elias Robertson 2, Trey Henderson 2, Shane Ketchum 4.

Arlee: Isaac Desjarlais 1, Philip Malatare 33, Tyler Tanner 16, Justis Haynes 2, Patrick Big Sam 16, Aaron Perry 2, Brad Brazill 3.

Fouls – BE 22, Arlee 23. Fouled out – Malatare. 3-pointers – BE 8-15 (Four Colors 1-3, P. Morsette 0-2, The Boy 2-2, B. Duran 1-1, Bernard 1-1, Jones 3-4, Henderson 0-1, Ketchum 0-1), Arlee 1-17 (Desjarlais 0-2, Tanner 1-5, Whitesell 0-1, Haynes 0-3, Big Sam 0-6). Rebounds – BE 43 (Four Colors 15), Arlee 34 (Big Sam 11). Assists – BE 12 (Four Colors 3, P. Morsette 3, The Boy 3), Arlee 7 (Big Sam 2). Turnovers – BE 28, Arlee 23. Blocks – BE 4 (Four Colors 2), Arlee 3 (Malatare, Big Sam, Brazill). Steals – BE 13 (The Boy 7), Arlee 19 (Big Sam 5).

Box Elder 87, Westby-Grenora 59, sf

Westby-Grenora 21 7 20 11 - 59

Box Elder 26 21 18 22 - 87

Westby-Grenora: Kevin Rust 4, Cleve Garman 11, Allan Ekness 11, Daulton Holecek 8, Kade Guenther 25.

Box Elder: Jerrod Four Colors 21, Pernell Morsette 20, Brandon The Boy 22, Bodis Duran 2, Tristan Bernard 9, Jake Jones 9, Trey Henderson 2, Shane Ketchum 2.