Hi-Line Thrillers: BUZZER-BEATING BEARS

Box Elder has a lot of stars up and down its lineup. But in the first round of the Class C state tournament the Bears turned to a player who's name may not get as much publicity as some of her more well-known teammates.

Nikayla Anderson's name is now etched in Box Elder lore.

With just two seconds remaining in overtime of Thursday's game between the Bears and Twin Bridges inside the Butte Civic Center, Anderson had the ball in her hands, and promptly sank a shot that go will be forever remembered in the annals of Box Elder hoops history, as her buzzer-beating 3-pointer lifted the Bears to a 62-59 win over the Falcons, and pushed them into tonight's Class C semifinal.

"I looked at the clock and saw there was one second and was like, 'Oh my God, you got to shoot it,'" Anderson said. "I just had confidence in my shot and was just glad it went in."

The shot was one of two big ones which essentially saved Box Elder's season. The Bears, who led 39-18 at halftime, found themselves trailing by two points with just seconds left in the fourth quarter. But star junior Lilly Gopher grabbed a loose ball and raced the other way to tie the game at 57-57 with six seconds left, eventually forcing overtime.

"The girls were resilient," Box Elder head coach Joel Rosette said. "Everybody was upbeat and they were like: 'We're going to finish this. We're going to finish this.'"

For much of the contest, it didn't look like finishing the job was going to a problem for the Bears. Early threes from Joelnell Momberg lifted Box Elder to a quick 15-8 lead, and the Bears scorched the Falcons for 24 more points in the second half, taking a huge 21-point advantage into halftime.

But slowly, and surely, Twin Bridges started to fight its way back in the third quarter. Behind the inside-out efforts of star senior Kailee Oliverson, the Falcons cut the lead down to 10 by the end of the third, and went on a 13-1 run in the fourth. They took their first lead on an Oliverson triple with under two minutes to play, and led by as many as four points in the final 1:20. But a key layup by Maddie Wolf Chief, and Gopher's heroics were enough to get the Bears to the extra frame, and They quickly took a 2-point lead. But Oliverson tied the game again in the final minute, before Anderson came though in the clutch, with her second buzzer beater of the season.

"Pretty grateful after they came all the way back after the huge lead," Rosette said. "Just going through that, we battled and finished the game."

Gopher paced the Bears with 14 points, while Momberg added 14 and Anderson and Cecilia Vielle combined for 18 more. That effort offset the massive 32 points poured in by Oliverson, who will play college basketball at NCAA Division I Nevada.

Now the Bears (23-2) are just one win away from reaching their second Class C championship game in the last three seasons. The next step comes tonight when Box Elder takes on Froid-Lake at 6:30 in the semifinals. The Redhawks crushed Harlowtown 60-39 in the first quarterfinal of the day.

Box Elder 62, Twin Bridges 59, OT

Twin Bridges 8 10 21 18 2 - 59

Box Elder 15 24 10 8 5 - 62

Twin Bridges: Clancy Phillips 4, Michaela Madden 2, Kailee Oliverson 32, RaeAnne Bendon 19, Ashleigh Guinnane 2. 

Box Elder: Eve The Boy 7, Maddie Wolf Chief 7, Lillian Gopher 14, Joelnell Momberg 12, Cecilia Vielle 9, Sarah Parisian 4, Nikayla Anderon 9. 

3-pointers - Phillips, Oliverson, Bendon; The Boy, Gopher 2, Momberg 2, Vielle, Anderson. Fouls - Twin Bridges 16, Box Elder 21.