Chinook beats North Star for 9C championship

The District 9C championship is something that has eluded the Chinook Sugarbeeters for years, but Friday night, in front of a packed house at the HHS gymnasium, the Beeters finally climbed to the top of the 9C mountain.

Thanks to an incredible 33 points from junior Isaac Bell, as well as 14 points and one emphatic slam dunk by Cord Schneider, Chinook held off hard-charging North Star 62-56 to win the 9C championship game. The Beeters (20-1) finished the regular season 14-0 in district play and with wins over North Star, Fort Benton and Big Sandy, they will head to the Northern C Divisional next week in Great Falls as the top seed from the 9C.

"It feels amazing," Chinook head coach Mike Seymour said. "I am just so proud of these kids. They have worked so hard and preserved. It's an incredible moment and I am incredibly proud of all of them."

Bell was dominant throughout the game for the Beeters, but he was especially good in the fourth quarter. On three different occasions, as North Star attempted to comeback from down as many as 18 points, Bell hit from 3-point range. In all, he knocked down four shots from the perimeter, but the one he made with 4:29 left put Chinook ahead 56-40.

"I have to thank my teammates for that," Bell said. "They have a lot of faith in me."

If Bell's triple was the dagger, then Schneider's dunk was the exclamation point.

After a 9-2 run by the Knights cut the lead down to nine points, Bell found a streaking Cord Schneider at the other end of the floor, who threw down a thunderous dunk, which put Chinook ahead by 11 with 1:16. The game was over at that point, but the celebration, was just beginning.

"I have had a few dunks this year," Schneider said with a smile. "It's fun because it really gets everybody going. That felt pretty good."

While Bell and Schneider combined for 47 points, Dylan and Devon Miller of North Star weren't far behind. Dylan Miller scored 31 points in the loss, while Devon Miller added 14 points and 10 rebounds. The Knights will head to divisionals for the first time in more than a decade after finishing second in the 9C tournament.

"I am just so proud of these kids," North Star head coach Walynn Burgess said. "They just never stop fighting and never stop believing. That's why we carry around a hard hat, because that is what we are all about. The important thing is that we have another week of basketball. But it means so much for these kids. They are a special, special group. They know what it's like to lose and be at the bottom and I think that's why they have worked so hard to make this happen."

Prior to the championship game, the Fort Benton Longhorns and the Hays-Lodge Pole Thunderbirds played in the consolation for a berth in the Northern C Divisional Tournament. The Thunderbirds were hoping for a fourth consecutive trip to divisionals, but the Longhorns had other ideas and put an end to the streak after a 68-52 win.

While the Longhorns rolled in the second half, the key to the win was a stingy defense and timely 3-point shooting. Damon Bird knocked down an early trey, and then, as the first quarter was ending, he stole the ball and scored to give Fort Benton an 18-11 lead after one.

In the second quarter, the hot shooting continued. Bird hit another triple, then Fort Benton got two treys from Andy Giles, before eventually taking a 35-20 lead into the break.

The T-Birds tried to creep back into the game in the third quarter and were within 12 points after a trey by Damien Bradley. But the Longhorns closed the stanza on a 12-4 run, giving them a 20-point advantage heading into the fourth. And in the final eight minutes, Fort Benton kept the T-Birds at bay as it wrapped up its first divisional berth in years.

"We had a really good gameplan and these kids just came out and executed it perfectly," Fort Benton head coach Tyler Pasha said. "I couldn't believe how well we executed it, but it was awesome. We took our time and got good shots in the early going. I am just really proud of this team. Anytime you can keep playing basketball for another week, that's a good thing."

Chinook, North Star and Fort Benton will all travel to Great Falls to take part in the Northern C Divisional Tournament, which gets underway Wednesday at the Four Seasons Arena.