Same Story: Northern C is loaded

The dust has barely settled on the 2019 District 9C girls basketball tournament and, yet, three Hi-Line teams are ready to get right back at it.

Wednesday morning, the Northern C Divisional Tournament will get underway in Great Falls, with two coveted spots in next week's Class C state tournament on the line. And all three teams from the 9C in this week's Northern C field have a good shot at advancing.

Still, like the 9C, the Northern C girls tournament is annually one of the toughest in all of Montana high school basketball, and this week's extravaganza inside the Four Seasons Arena will be no different.

Four of the top five teams in the last Class C powerful are in the field this week in Great Falls, including 9C champion Fort Benton and defending state champion Box Elder. Add to that always-powerful Belt, Tri-City, Great Falls Central, Simms and Turner, and what you get this week in Great Falls is as hard a divisional tournament as there is in Montana.

"It's one of the deepest fields we have ever had at the Northern C," lamented Box Elder head coach Joel Rosette. "I think it's as competitive as it has been in a while and there a lot of teams capable of walking out of there with a state tournament berth."

And Rosette will find that out right away because his Bears (20-1), led by All-Staters Joelnell Momeberg and Lilly Gopher, as well as veteran senior Maddie Wolf Chief and star freshman Kyla Momberg, will open divisional play against Jeff Graham's Belt Huskies (18-1), the 8C champion.

Box Elder and Belt have had a storied rivalry over the last several years, and the fact that they're playing in the opening round of the Northern C speaks to just how tough the division is.

The Huskies are led by Kolby Pimperton and Brooke Schraner, and the winner of Wednesday's game, which tips at 11 a.m., will certainly have a much less difficult road to the state tournament.

The Belt game is also a tough turnaround for the Bears, who were upset by Fort Benton in last Friday's 9C championship game.

"A loss is a loss," Rosette said. "We try and teach the kids life lessons and move on and learn from our mistakes. Hopefully we do that. We are excited to play Belt, and we have to play better."

While a lot of eyes will be on the game between the Bears and Huskies, Wednesday is full of intriguing matchups. The first round opens with a play-in game between GFCC and Tri-City, two teams that were upset at their respective district tournaments. Following that game, the Turner Tornadoes (16-6) take the floor against 10-C champion Simms (19-2) at 9:30 a.m.

Turner is making its second straight appearance at the Northern C, and with its entire starting five returning from last year's magical run, led by Sarah Billmayer, Shyan Krass, the Conlan twins and Melanie Watkins, the Tornadoes won't be an upstart this week in Great Falls. Instead, they expect to win and to compete for a shot at the state tournament. That road starts against a much-improved Simms squad led by Kelcy Wilcox, Janessa Willekes and Madi Cicon.

"When we get to divisional, all of these girls have been there," Turner head coach Julie Welsh said. "They have experience and that will help get some of the jitters out. But we have to bring our A-game."

Everyone has to bring their A-game at the Northern C.

On the other side of the bracket sits Fort Benton (19-2), which will try to avoid what happened last year when the Longhorns won the 9C but didn't make it out of the Northern C. Fort Benton's deep squad is led by senior Leah Gannon, as well as a balanced group of scorers that includes McKenzie Clark, Cassi Nack and Megan Clark among others. The Longhorns will start tourney play at 4 p.m. Wednesday against either GFCC (18-4) or Tri-City (17-4).

"I think we are more veteran this year," Fort Benton head coach Cassie Pimperton said. "Last year, we were more freshmen and sophomores, but now, we aren't rookies anymore. So we just want to compete and move on. We are looking to play another day every single game."

If Fort Benton advances to the semifinal, the Longhorns will face either 8C runner-up Roy-Winifred (15-5) or 10C second-place Power (13-8). The Outlaws are led by Olivia Geer, while Power is paced by senior Hope Smelser. The semifinals of the Northern C are set for Thursday at 7 and 8:30 p.m. The consolation game will be played Friday at 7 p.m. and the championship game will take place Friday at 8:30 p.m. If a challenge game is necessary, it will be played Saturday at 5 p.m. The top two teams from the Northern C will advance to next week's Class C state tournament, which also will be held inside the Four Seasons Arena in Great Falls.

"Like everyone else, we just want to keep playing," Rosette said. So we are excited that we get to play basketball for another week, and it's going to be a very exciting tournament."