Tourney Time: Area teams part of a loaded Northern C boys field

Year in and year out, there are few divisional basketball tournaments in Montana high school basketball as competitive as the Northern C. And, as nine teams get set to tip off the boys tournament today in Great Falls, the field looks as tough as ever.

"The Northern C is always tough," Box Elder head coach Jeremy MacDonald said. "There are a lot of good basketball teams and you know that every game is going to be a battle."

Box Elder is the defending champion at the Northern C, as the Bears defeated Belt in the championship game a year ago. That was their springboard to a second Class C state championship in three years.

Now, after winning a fifth consecutive District 9C championship last Saturday in Havre, the Bears will head back to the Four Seasons Arena in Great Falls to defend their title. Their journey to a third divisional title in four years starts tonight against Heart Butte. Tip-off time is set for 8:30 p.m.

Joining Box Elder in Great Falls are fellow 9C squads Hays-Lodge Pole and Chinook. The Thunderbirds are 19-2 on the season, with their only losses coming to Box Elder and Arlee, the two participants in last season's state championship game. HLP will play Centerville Thursday at 11 a.m. Chinook, on the other hand, is making its first trip to the Northern C since 2015. The Sugarbeeters will open their tournament tonight at 5:30 against Denton-Geyser-Stanford.

Chinook finished third at the 9C tournament last week, losing to Box Elder in the semifinals, before rebounding to beat North Star in the consolation game. Led by All-Conference standouts Cord Schneider and Isaac Bell, as well as senior big man Wade Schneider, the Beeters go to Great Falls with positive momentum.

DGS finished third in the 8C, but still boasts a record of 18-3. The Bearcats own a win over Belt from earlier in the season, but were tripped up by Centerville in the district semis. Like Chinook, DGS also features a talented trio in Sean Bronec, Rhet Woodhall and Kordell Carpenter, which should lead to an interesting matchup. The winner advances to the quarterfinals against Sunburst, the top-seeded team from the 10C. That quarterfinal game is set for Thursday at 11 a.m. The Beeters and Bearcats play tonight at 5:30.

While Chinook needs a win to get into the quarterfinals, Box Elder is already there and will try to earn its way into the semifinals with a win over Heart Butte, the second-seeded team from the 10C.

The Bears may be one of the tournament favorites, especially after knocking off HLP in the 9C championship game. Yet beating the Warriors will be far from easy, especially with Chasen Kipp leading leading the way for Heart Butte (18-3). Box Elder, which is also 18-3, has plenty of talent in its own right, highlighted by All-State forward Pernell Morsette. Trey Henderson is another key player for the Bears, along with Tanner Parisian, Pete Azure Jr. and Dusty Weiss.

"We just have to play our style of basketball," MacDonald said. "For us, it starts with defense - defense and rebounding. If we defend and rebound, the offense will just take care of itself. If we can do those things, we like our chances against anybody."

The T-Birds (19-2), who lost their first game since December last Saturday, will have to wait until Thursday to start their divisional tournament and they will do so against Centerville (12-9), the two seed from the 8C.

"The feeling that we have after putting in all that hard work and losing the district championship," HLP head coach Derek Shambo said, "that's going to be our biggest motivation."

If the T-Birds win they will face Sunburst, Chinook or DGS Friday at 4 p.m. Sunburst (17-3) is the favorite to get through to the semis and that's due in large part to Treyton Pickering, a dominant force down low.

On the other side of the bracket, the winner of Box Elder and Heart Butte will take on either 8C champion Belt or Power, the third-place team from the 10C, in the other semifinal. Belt has finished first and third at the last two state tournaments and has played in the last two Northern C championship games.

The Huskies graduated a number of key players from last year's team but still produced a typical Belt season, losing just once in district play, with an overall record of 14-4. Belt, which tends to dominant with its pressure defense and up-tempo attack, is led by the likes of Keegan Stroop, Harry Green, Jaren Maki and Jess Bodner.

If Box Elder and Belt win, it would set up an intriguing rematch of last year's title game Friday night in the second semifinal at 5:30. The consolation game will take place Saturday night at 6:30, with the championship game to follow at 8. If a challenge game is necessary, it would be held Monday. All games will be played inside the Four Seasons Arena.

Northern C

At Great Falls Four Seasons Arena

(2 teams advance)

Wednesday

Game 1: Denton-Geyser-Stanford vs. Chinook, 5:30 p.m.

Game 2: Belt vs. Power, 7 p.m.

Game 3: Box Elder vs. Heart Butte, 8:30 p.m.

Thursday

Game 4: Hays-Lodge Pole vs. Centerville, 9:30 a.m.

Game 5: Game 1 winner vs. Sunburst, 11 a.m.

Game 6: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 4 p.m.

Friday

Game 7: Game 5 loser vs. Game 4 loser, 8 a.m.

Game 8: Game 3 loser vs. Game 6 winner, 9:30 a.m.

Game 9: Game 2 winner vs. Game 3 winner, 4 p.m.

Game 10: Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 5:30 p.m.

Saturday

Game 11: Game 7 winner vs. Game 9 loser, 9:30 a.m.

Game 12: Game 8 winner vs. Game 10 loser, 11 a.m.

Game 13: Game 11 winner vs. Game 12 winner, 6:30 p.m., third place

Game 14: Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner, 8 p.m., championship