Trophy Time: Bears finish second

GREAT FALLS - Throughout the 2015-16 girls basketball season, the Box Elder Bears seemed pretty much invincible. But even Superman had his kryptonite and for the Bears, their kryptonite turned out to be the Belt Huskies.

For the second time in three weeks at the Four Seasons Arena in Great Falls, the Huskies outplayed the Bears and this time, in the Class C state championship game, Belt cruised to a 63-40 victory.

The win gave Belt its fourth Class C state title in the past five years, while the second-place finish was the best finish Box Elder has managed since 1998.

"We want to be where they're at," Box Elder head coach Joel Rosette said. "We want to be on that level. But, after not getting a trophy at state in 18 years, getting second place, we will take that this year."

After losing to the Huskies by double digits in the Northern C Divisional championship game, the Bears knew what to expect in the rematch and early on, they hung right with the Huskies and despite falling behind 5-0, the score was tied midway through the first quarter at 9-9 after a bucket by Alyssa Lamere.

Belt scored the next three points, but then Tyrah Gopher scored her first basket of the game and it was 12-11 with barely over a minute left in the opening stanza. Yet, that's when it all started going wrong for the Bears.

Before the quarter ended, the Huskies got a 3-pointer from Johanna Stinson and a driving layup from Dani Urick to grab an 18-11 lead. However, the Belt run was far from over and as foul trouble left a number of Box Elder players inactive on the bench, Urick and Kerstyn Pimperton relentlessly attacked the basket, extending the lead to double digits. Then, after a trey by Pimperton and a jumper by Urick, the lead had ballooned to 21, at 33-12, following a 21-1 run by the Huskies.

"They did a great job of attacking the basket," Rosette said. "Then, we got some of our girls in foul trouble and that really hurt us."

Lillian Gopher knocked down a 3-pointer to get the Lady Bears out of their funk. She also got a steal and score in the closing seconds of the first half, but still, Box Elder trailed Belt 40-22 at the intermission.

In the third quarter, Belt put the game away. The Huskies outscored the Lady Bears 15-6 in the quarter, with nine points coming from Urick, including a 3-point play near the end of the quarter that gave Belt a 53-27 lead.

Early in the fourth quarter, Pimperton drilled a dagger three that put the Huskies up 58-28 and from there, the celebration was on.

Urick was a force all night for the Huskies, as she finished the game with 21 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the field. She also had a game-high six rebounds. Addy Martin pitched in with 12 points for the Huskies, while Pimperton finished with 11, a number that included two treys.

Both Lily and Tyrah Gopher had 10 points to lead the way for the Bears. Tia Russell added eight as well in the loss.

The Bears, who defeated Broadview-Lavina 71-53 Thursday, then Arlee, 65-60 in the semifinals Friday, finished the season 25-2, with both of their losses coming to Belt.

"I am really proud of this team," Rosette said. "I am proud of these seniors, they were the foundation of this program and everything that we achieved was a testament to them. Hopefully this means that we are heading in the right direction."

With three key seniors graduating in Tyrah Gopher, LaMere and Jude The Boy, the Bears will have some losses to overcome next season, but with Russell, Lily Gopher, Minnie The Boy and others returning, the future of Box Elder girls basketball looks bright.

"Lady Bear basketball looks good," Rosette said. "All the way down the ranks, we have some good kids. I am really proud of these kids and hopefully this is the start of something. We want to be like Belt. They have a great program and we want to be like them and get back here every year. So now, we have to get to the off-season and get to work so we can get back next season."

TROPHY!

Box Elder 65, Arlee 60, sf

Arlee 9 13 17 21 – 60

Box Elder 19 20 13 13 – 65

Arlee – Becca Whitesell 3-10 3-3 9, Ella Lindbergh 0-1 0-0 0, Carly Hergett 4-6 4-10 12, Abby Yocum 1-1 0-0 2, Morgan Malatare 0-3 1-3 1, Megan Shick 0-1 0-0 0, Alyssia Vanderburg 11-15 4-6 26, Bryndle Goyins 2-5 6-9 10. Totals: 21-42 18-31.

Box Elder – Jaynee Parisian 0-2 0-0 0, Nikayla Anderson 1-1 0-0 2, Minnie The Boy 0-2 3-7 3, Jude The Boy 5-7 6-9 16, Lillian Gopher 2-5 0-4 5, Alyssa Lamere 4-7 3-5 12, Tia Russell 5-8 2-5 14, Tyrah Gopher 5-6 3-4 13. Totals: 22-38 18-34.

3-pointers – Arlee 0-4 (Whitesell 0-2, Lindbergh 0-1, Vanderberg 0-1), Box Elder 3-9 (Parisian 0-1, M. The Boy 0-1, J. The Boy 0-1, L. Gopher 1-2, Lamere 1-1, Russell 1-3). Fouls – Arlee 25, BE 23. Fouled out – Whitesell, Hergett, Malatare, T. Gopher. Rebounds – Arlee 32 (Vanderberg 11), BE 21 (Lamere 4, Russell 4, T. Gopher 4). Turnovers – Arlee 23, BE 19.

Belt 63, Box Elder 40, 1st

Belt 18 22 15 8 – 63

Box Elder 11 11 6 12 – 40

Belt – Bailey Cooper 2-5 1-4 5, Johanna Stinson 1-1 1-2 4, Sara Anderson 1-3 0-1 2, Addy Martin 5-7 2-2 12, Olivia McCafferty 0-1 4-4 4, Dani Urick 9-12 3-4 21, Kerstyn Pimperton 3-7 3-7 11, Kassie Hoyer 2-4 0-0 4. Totals: 23-40 14-24.

Box Elder – Jaynee Parisian 0-6 1-3 1, Eve The Boy 1-1 0-0 2, Minnie The Boy 2-5 0-0 4, Kiya Morsette 0-1 0-0 0, Jude The Boy 0-9 3-6 3, Maddie Wolf Chief 0-1 0-0 0, Lillian Gopher 2-4 5-7 10, Alyssa Lamere 1-3 0-0 2, Tia Russell 2-6 4-6 8, Tyrah Gopher 5-5 0-0 10. Totals: 13-41 13-22.