Chinook back on top of the 6C East

The Chinook Sugarbeeters didn't lose a single match during the District 6C East regular season. At times, they even made it look easy. Winning the 6C East championship, though, that was hard.

Yet the Beeters did exactly that last week in Gildford. Chinook survived an early close call against Chester-Joplin-Inverness, and beat North Star in two of three epic matches to claim their fifth district title in the last six seasons.

Meanwhile, the Knights, who won the title in 2017, gave Chinook all it could handle in three separate meetings throughout the two-day tournament.

Chinook and North Star met first in the semifinal Thursday night. Chinook prevailed in a grueling five-set win by scores of 25-20, 18-25, 25-20, 19-25 and 15-12. Kourtney Hanson had an incredible 26 kills and six blocks for Chinook, while Olivia King had 16 kills and 17 digs and Paij Peterson tallied 22 assists, five blocks and two aces.

That match, however, was just a prelude of even more excitement Friday.

North Star rebounded to beat Box Elder in the third-place match Friday afternoon, by scores of 25-14, 13-25, 25-16 and 25-11. Box Elder, which advanced out of the 6C East with its finish, got seven kills and three blocks from Tessa Big Knife in the loss. Meanwhile, the win launched North Star into the championship round, where the Beeters were waiting.

And having to win twice to win the 6C East title, the Knights took the first step when they beat the Beeters by scores of 25-17, 23-25, 25-20, 19-25 and 15-12 in another five-set thriller. King was again brilliant with 12 kills and 21 digs for the Knights, while Chinook got a whopping 25 kills from Hanson, as well as six blocks by Delaney Kellam.

North Star's win set up a winner-take-all final Friday night, but the second time around, Chinook stood tall. The Beeters swept the Knights by scores of 25-17, 25-20 and 25-18, behind 17 kills from Hanson and 15 digs by Megan Molyneaux. In the finale, North Star was paced by Saige O'Neil's five kills, while Janae West had two blocks.

The championship was a well-earned for Chinook, especially considering how hard the Beeters had to fight to get there.

Thursday morning, fifth-seeded CJI pushed Chinook to the limit in a five-set winner's bracket match. The Beeters survived by scores of 25-12, 25-15, 20-25, 20-25 and 15-6. Hanson had 23 kills and five blocks in the win, while Khloe Kamerzell had 10 kills and six blocks for CJI.

The Hawks opened the tournament with a win over Big Sandy Thursday morning, then they stayed alive by eliminating Hays-Lodge Pole Thursday night. That win put CJI into the fourth-place match, where the Hawk's season ended at the hands of the Box Elder Bears. In that match, Box Elder won by scores of 25-14, 13-25, 25-16 and 25-11. Lilly Gopher had eight kills for the Bears, while Kim Ghekiere had nine kills and two blocks.

Box Elder, enjoying its best season in a long time, opened the tournament Thursday morning with a sweep of HLP. Then, the Bears met North Star for the first time, and the Knights prevailed 25-18, 25-20 and 25-17 behind five kills, 13 assists and two blocks from Peterson. Box Elder got 10 kills by Gopher. The Bears would bounce back to beat Big Sandy in the loser-out match Thursday, winning by scores of 25-11, 22-25, 25-21 and 25-11. Eve The Boy had 12 assists for the Bears, while the Pioneers, in their final match of the year, got three kills and 14 digs by Amanda Cline.

Big Sandy's tourney started with their loss to CJI, a close-four-set match where Jaylyn Cline had 11 kills. The Pioneers, along with HLP, each ended up going 0-2 in the tournament.

Now, the top teams from the 6C East will join the 6C West and the 7C qualifiers at this weekend's Northern C Divisional in Belt. The top two teams from the tournament will move on to next weekend's Class C state tournament in Bozeman.

6c East

At Gildford

Friday

CHAMPIONSHIP (2nd match)

Chinook defeats North Star

25-17, 25-20, 25-18

Chinook – Assists (37) Ginger Hauer 30 | Kills (37) Kourtney Hanson 17 | Blocks (8) Delaney Kellam 5 | Digs (54) Megan Molyneaux 15 | Aces (5) Rachel Gunderson 3

North Star – Assists (16) Paij Peterson 11 | Kills (18) Saige O'Neil 5 | Blocks (4) Janae West 2 | Digs (38) Olivia King 12 | Aces (6) Olivia King 3

CHAMPIONSHIP (1st Match)

North Star defeats Chinook

25-17, 23-25, 25-20, 19-25, 15-12

North Star – Assists (29) Paij Peterson 21 | Kills (35) Olivia King 12 | Blocks (14) Janae West 7 | Digs (74) King 23 | Aces (4) Kenidee Wolery 2

Chinook – Assists (48) Ginger Hauer 29 | Kills (49) Kourtney Hanson 25 | Blocks (11) Delaney Kellam 6 | Digs (99) Megan Molyneaux 28 | Aces (11) Hanson, Molyneaux 3 each

North Star defeats Box Elder (3rd)

23-25, 27-25, 25-18, 25-15

North Star – Assists (28) Paij Peterson 22 | Kills (34) Olivia King 13 | Blocks (8) Peterson 4 | Digs (45) Saige O'Neil 17 | Aces (12) King 4

Box Elder – Assists (29) Eve The Boy 14 | Kills (28) Lillian Gopher 15 | Blocks (4) Gopher 2 | Digs (45) Zayna Henderson 16 | Aces (1) Gopher 1

Box Elder defeats CJI (4th)

25-14, 13-25, 25-16, 25-11

Box Elder – Assists (20) Lillian Gopher 8 | Kills (26) Tessa Big Knife 7 | Blocks (3) Big Knife 3 | Digs (40) Zayna Henderson 11 | Aces (5) Katarina Parker 2

CJI – Assists (17) Peyton Hawks 12 | Kills (20) Kimberli Ghekiere 9 | Blocks (7) Ghekiere 2 | Digs (42) Tatum Hull 9 | Aces (0)

Thursday

Chinook defeats North Star (sf)

25-20, 18-25, 25-20, 19-25, 15-12

Chinook – Assists (38) Ginger Hauer 30 | Kills (52) Kourtney Hanson 26 | Blocks (8) Hanson 6 | Digs (64) Lincy Johnson 30 | Aces (2) Johnson 2

North Star – Assists (35) Paij Peterson 22 | Kills (48) Olivia King 16 | Blocks (14) Peterson 5 | Digs (73) King 17 | Aces (7) Peteron, King 2 each

Box Elder defeats Big Sandy (lo)

25-11, 22-25, 25-21, 25-11

Box Elder – Assists (26) Eve The Boy 12 | Kills (34) Lillian Gopher 10 | Blocks (1) Katarina Parker 1 | Digs (24) Sarah Parisian 7 | Aces (2) Big Knife & Zayna Henderson 1 each

Big Sandy – Assists (5) Lainey Gregory 2 | Kills (6) Amanda Cline 3 | Blocks (6) Georgia Wortman 2| Digs (45) Cline 14 | Aces (1) Jaylyn Kline 1

CJI defeats HLP (lo)

25-13, 25-15, 25-13

CJI – Assists (17) Peyton Hawks 13 | Kills (23) Samantha May 8 | Blocks (3) Kim Ghekiere 3 | Digs (14) May 7 | Aces (2) Abby Fraser, May 1 each

Hays-Lodge Pole – Assists (4) Tahlia Werk 3 | Kills (4) Four with 1 each | Blocks (5) Sierra Chandler 2 | Digs (25) Kassi Perez 7 | Aces (1) Chandler 1

North Star defeats Box Elder

25-18, 25-20, 25-17

North Star – Assists (22) Paij Peterson 13 | Kills (25) Peterson, Shayla Borlaug, Olivia King 5 each | Blocks (4) Peterson 2 | Digs (41) King, Saige O'Neil 10 each | Aces (12) O'Neil 7

Box Elder – Assists (12) Eve The Boy 10 | Kills (14) Lillian Gopher 10 | Blocks (4) Tessa Big Knife 2 | Digs (19) The Boy, Gopher, Maddie Wolf Chief 3 each | Aces (2) Big Knife & Zayna Henderson 1 each

Chinook defeats CJI

25-12, 25-15, 20-25, 20-25, 15-6

Chinook – Assists (40) Ginger Hauer 30 | Kills (45) Kourtney Hanson 23 | Blocks (8) Hanson 5 | Digs (141) Lincy Johnson 50 | Aces (1) Johnson 1

CJI – Assists (29) Peyton Hawks 18 | Kills (29) Khloe Kammerzell 10 | Blocks (15) Kim Ghekiere, Kammerzell 6 each | Digs (57) Kammerzell, Molly Nelson 13 | Aces (4) Nelson 2

Box Elder defeats HLP

25-10, 25-7, 25-12

Box Elder – Assists (20) Eve The Boy 17 | Kills (26) Lillian Gopher 16 | Blocks (0) | Digs (85) Sarah Parisian 18 | Aces (4) Four with 1

Hays-Lodge Pole – Assists (7) Latasha Kirkaldie 4 | Kills (7) Tahtianna Whitecow-Morgan 4 | Blocks (5) Kirkaldie 3 | Digs (86) Whitecow-Morgan 22 | Aces (1) Kirkaldie 1

CJI defeats Big Sandy

25-17, 25-15, 23-25, 26-24

CJI – Assists (30) Tatum Hull 12 | Kills (32) Khloe Kammerzell 16 | Blocks (5) Kim Ghekiere 4 | Digs (92) Samantha May 28 | Aces (4) May 2

Big Sandy – Assists (20) Lainey Gregory 15 | Kills (20) Jaylyn Kline 11 | Blocks (7) Amanda Cline 3| Digs (105) Cline 29 | Aces (5) Five with 1.