Hi-Line Boys: Hays-Lodge Pole keeping pace in the District 9C

As we creep closer to the postseason, contenders are starting to emerge and in the District 9C, three teams have separated themselves from the pack.

One of those teams is the Chinook Sugarbeeters, who came into the week having won 27 straight games within the district dating back to the 2017 9C tournament. And Thursday night in Chester, the Beeters tacked on another win with a 66-36 rout of Chester-Joplin-Inverness. Ethan Bell led all scorers with 16 points and his brother Isaac Bell also contributed with 10. Evan Dahinden scored 10 for CJI in the loss.

Chinook was also in action Saturday at home against Box Elder and by the time the Beeters rolled to an 84-40 win over the Bears, they are now just one win away from 30 in a row in the 9C as they sit at 14-0 overall and 11-0 within the league. In the game, Cord Schneider had a big night, pouring in 20. Reese Elliot added 13 as the Beeters scored 56 points in the first half, including 31 in the opening quarter. In the loss, Chris Burns had a solid night for Box Elder with 19.

Another team that is starting to separate itself is Hays-Lodge Pole and this past weekend, the T-Birds scored a couple of key wins within the district, the first coming Thursday night at North Star. While HLP escaped with a 70-66 win — it was anything but easy. The Knights trailed by one at halftime and made a push in the fourth quarter before going down by four. Kyle Black Crow Jr. had a stellar night for the T-Birds with 20. Kyle Young Jr. added 16 and Gilbert Snow finished with 15. North Star also had three guys in double figures led by Hayden Massar, who matched Black Crow Jr. with a game-high 20. Caden Rettig and Garrett Spicher each contributed with 11.

After taking on the T-Birds Thursday, North Star traveled to Fort Benton to take on the once-defeated Longhorns. The game was competitive throughout, yet Fort Benton pulled away at the end to win 58-45. Garrett Diekhans finished with 14 points in the win, while Hayden Diekhans managed 13. Fort Benton also got 10 from Logan Giles. However, the game-high went to Bailey Spicher, who went off for 27 points in the loss for North Star (5-9, 3-8).

Fort Benton also played Saturday but that was a non-conference game against Class B opponent Conrad and, at home, the Longhorns cruised to a 69-44 victory thanks to a 29-point effort from Garrett Diekhans. Hayden Diekhans also backed up his performance with another strong night that concluded with 16 points. Fort Benton (13-1, 9-1) trails Chinook by one game and sits 1.5 games ahead of HLP.

Joining Fort Benton in non-conference action Friday night was Turner, Big Sandy and Box Elder. Turner played host to Dodson, who knocked off the Tornadoes 60-41. Cody Welsh scored 14 in the loss for the Tornadoes. Big Sandy also dropped a non-conference home game Friday night, falling to Denton-Geyser-Standford 60-45, despite getting 21 points from Brock Proulx and 20 from Ryan Roth. Lastly, Box Elder (5-9, 4-6) traveled to Geraldine-Highwood and took a two-point lead into the fourth quarter but couldn’t hang on and dropped the game 57-56.

On Saturday night, Big Sandy turned around and paid a visit to Hays-Lodge Pole, which improved its record to 10-4 overall, as well as 8-3 in the 9C with an 84-57 trampling of the Pioneers. Black Crow Jr. had 21 points for the T-Birds, who also got 13 from Snow and 11 from Jeremy Pretty Paint. Roth led the Pioneers (7-7, 4-6) with 12. Proulx also reached double figures with 14 and Crawford Terry pitched in with 12.

CJI and Turner also met Saturday as both teams look to rebound from a loss earlier in the week and, this time, it was the Tornadoes (3-11, 2-8) that came out on top 44-34 after getting 16 points from Charlie Calvert, as well as 11 points each from Shane Kimmel and Welsh. CJI (1-13, 1-10) got a team-high eight points from Tyler Wanken in the loss.

Rocky Boy (10-4) was also in action last weekend and knocked off Conrad 69-59 on the road Friday night. It was the second win of the week for the Stars who also blew out Harlem last Tuesday in Rocky Boy 88-40.

Thursday

Chinook 66, Chester-Joplin-Inverness 36

Chinook 17 16 17 16 - 66

CJI 6 5 8 17 - 36

Chester-Joplin-Inverness: Andrew Woods 6, Noah Bender 4, Tyler Wanken 8, Evan Dahinden 13, Spencer Richter 5.

Chinook: Isaac Bell 10, Ethan Bell 16, Hunter Neibauer 8, James Christensen 7, Cord Schneider 2, Reese Elliot 8, Riley Kellam 2, Brendon Edwards 8, Trajan Hannum 5.

Hays-Lodge Pole 70, North Star 66

HLP 15 22 18 14 - 70

North Star 15 21 13 17 - 66

North Star: Austin Hansen 8, Bailey Spicher 12, Garrett Spicher 11, Caden Rettig 11, Payne Ditmer 4, Hayden Massar 20.

Hays-Lodge Pole: Gilbert Snow 15, Jeffrey Pretty Paint 8, Jeffrey Stifarm 3, W. Bringingwood 6, Tyshawn Shambo 6, Kyle Black Crow Jr. 20, Kyle Young Jr. 16.

Friday

Dodson 60, Turner 41

Dodson 14 15 13 18 - 60

Turner 15 7 8 11 - 41

Turner: Austin Welsh 5, Kurt Calvert 2, Charlie Calvert 3, Tracer Heilig 6, Shane Kimmel 9, Spencer See 2, Cody Welsh 14.

Dodson: Michael Jaynes 1, Caleb Ditmar 3, Tyrese Messerly 3, Zarek Jones 10, Corbin Lone Bear 19, Sam Main 5, Shaun Ball 13, Alex Werk 2, Jeremiah Benson 4.

DGS 60, Big Sandy 45

DGS 12 12 18 18

Big Sandy 14 8 8 15 - 45

DGS - D. Taylor 22, A. Ayers 2, K. Carpenter 9, K. Lee 2, P. Donaldson 8, G. Solomon 15.

Big Sandy - Brock Proulx 21, Ryan Roth 20, Parker Proulx 2, Kade Strutz 2.

Fort Benton 58, North Star 45

North Star 12 6 8 19 45

Fort Benton 13 18 9 18 - 58

Fort Benton: Damon Bird 4, Jace Thompson 6, Ethan Pfile 2, Hayden Diekhans 13, Jace Pimperton 2, Logan Giles 10, Daven Cook 2, Garrett Diekhans 14, Max Lane 5.

North Star: Austin Hansen 2, Bailey Spicher 27, Rhett Wolery 4, Gavin Spicher 4, Payne Ditmer 4, Garrett Spicher 2, Caden Rettig 2.

Geraldine-Highwood 57, Box Elder 56

Box Elder 11 17 16 12

Geraldine-Highwood 17 8 17 15 - 67

Geraldine-Highwood: Zeke Davison 14, Bryce Birgenheier 7, Liam Laws 4, Caleb Meeks 2, Maverick McKinlay 6, Brady Duvall 24.

Box Elder: J. Jilot 16, K. Duran 7, K. Sutherland 13, M. Rosette 7, C. Burns 12.

Saturday

Turner 44, Chester-Joplin-Inverness 34

CJI 8 11 7 8 - 34

Turner 8 13 11 12 - 44

Turner: Austin Welsh 8, Jack Harmon 2, Charlie Calvert 16, Shane Kimmel 11, Tracer Heilig 7, Cody Welsh 11.

Chester-Joplin-Inverness: Andrew Woods 4, Kyle Harmon 6, Noah Bender 3, Spencer Richter 6, Evan Dahinden 5, Jarret Green 2, K. Harmon 6, A. Woods 4, N. Bender 3, S. Richter 6, E. Dahinden 5, J. Green 2, T. Wanken 8, Tyler Wanken 8.

Hays-Lodge Pole 84, Big Sandy 57

Big Sandy 11 6 15 25 - 57

Hays-Lodge Pole 6 20 27 31 - 84

Hays-Lodge Pole: Gilbert Snow 13, Jeffrey Stifarm 4, Ken Black Crow Jr. 21, Kyle Young Jr. 8, Moke Cliff 3, E. Granados 1, Jeremy Pretty Paint 11, W. Bringing Good 4, Deshon Shambo 2, Siris Grandchamp 9, Tyshawn Shambo 7.

Big Sandy: Brock Proulx 14, Ryan Roth 19, Brayden Cline 1, Kade Strutz 6, Crawford Terry 12, Parker Proulx 1.

Chinook 84, Box Elder 40

Box Elder 18 10 5 7 - 40

Chinook 31 25 16 12 - 84

Chinook: Isaac Bell 11, Ethan Bell 4, Hunter Neibauer 9, James Christensen 2, Toby Hannum 4, Cord Schneider 20, Trajan Hannum 2, Reese Elliot 13, Ethan MacLeod 1, Riley Kellam 9, Brendon Edwards 9.

Box Elder: Kaydyn Duran 5, Jayden Jilot 4, Hunter R 5, Chris Burns 19, Elkin B 3, Tayce S 2, M. Rosette 2.

Fort Benton 69, Conrad 44

Conrad 13 9 5 17 - 44

Fort Benton 9 15 26 19 - 69

Fort Benton: Damon Bird 5, Jace Thompson 2, Ethan Pfile 3, Hayden Diekhans 16, Max Lane 2, Billy Ullery 2, Daven Cook 2, Garrett Diekhans 29, Jace Pimperton 1, Nick Marias 2, Logan Giles 2.