CJI, Chinook and Fort Benton sweep 9C games

Rankings are tightening up in District 9C and in Class B, with the teams across the Hi-Line looking to keep rising. Last weekend saw a lot of great games, but one game Thursday kicked off the three-day series of games with a bang.

The Chester-Joplin-Inverness Hawks faced off against the Box Elder Bears in Box Elder for an exciting 9C showdown. The Bears and Hawks have been climbing the ranks in 9C and this game had potential to make or break a higher spot. The matchup opened neck-and-neck, with CJI and Box Elder tying at the end of the first quarter 15-15. The second stanza continued to stay close, but the Hawks edged out the Bears and led 29-25 at halftime. The third period continued to stay tight, with CJI up by 50-45, but Box Elder surged into the lead in the final seconds of the fourth quarter. Then, Spencer Richter sank a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Hawks a huge win on the road over the Bears 68-66. Kealy Haaland led CJI with 27 points, followed by Richter's 25-point game.

CJI grabbed another win Saturday over the Turner Tornadoes 71-41. The Hawks fought a close bout to start off the game, leading 15-11 at the end of the first stanza, followed by a nice lead at the intermission 34-22. CJI then exploded on a 21-point third period and a 16-point fourth quarter, the Hawks defense holding Turner to one point, to take the win and sweep the weekend. Haaland led the Hawks once again with a 20-point game.

The Tornadoes had another unfortunate loss the day before against the Fort Benton Longhorns, 66-30. The undefeated Longhorns opened the first stanza with a 35-5 lead, followed by a 15-point second period to lead big 50-14 at halftime. Fort Benton put up 16 points in the second half, while Turner put up 13 points in the fourth quarter, still falling in the end. Hayden Diekhans led the Longhorns with 14 points, while Shane Kimmel led the Tornadoes with 17 points.

Fort Benton grabbed another win Saturday over the North Star Knights, 70-57. The Longhorns and Knights opened the game close with a 15-13 Fort Benton lead at the end of the first quarter, followed by the Longhorns on top a bit further at the intermission 31-23. North Star tried to respond in the third period with 16 points, but Fort Benton put up 20 points and then 19 points in the fourth stanza to stay ahead over the Knights and take the victory. Jace Thompson led the charge for the Longhorns with 19 points, while Caden Rettig, Garrett Spicher and Gavin Spicher all put up 11 points for North Star.

The Knights did earn a win Friday against the Hays-Lodge Pole Thunderbirds, 70-48, though. As many of the games over the weekend started close, so did that one at 14-14 going into the second quarter. The Thunderbirds continued to push, but North Star pushed back to take the lead at the break 27-22. The battle between the teams lasted into the third quarter, as well, with HLP dropping 14 points and the Knights adding 12, but the quarterly numbers reversed in the fourth period to give North Star the boost to claim the win. Garrett Spicher led the Knights with 14 points, while Wyman Bringinggood dropped 15 for the Thunderbirds.

HLP lost another close one to the Big Sandy Pioneers Saturday, 51-43. Like the North Star game, the Thunderbirds and Pioneers ended the first stanza with a 14-14 tie, followed by a close bout with Big Sandy leading by one at halftime 20-19. The second half saw the Pioneers break out and lead by four, followed by a nice 18-point fourth quarter to put some distance between them and HLP to take the win. Ryan Roth dominated on the court with 23 points to lead Big Sandy, while Daniel Henry led the Thunderbirds with a 13-point game.

But, the Pioneers suffered a loss against the Chinook Sugarbeeters Thursday, 75-43. The Beeters dropped 17 points compared to Big Sandy's six to lead after the first period, followed by a 14-point second quarter to the Pioneers' nine to stay on top at the break 31-15. Big Sandy had a big third stanza, though, putting up 23 points, but Chinook extended its lead with a 24-point third quarter. In the end, the Beeters rolled over the Pioneers with 20 points in the final eight minutes, while the defense held Big Sandy to just five points, to take the 9C win. Ethan Bell scored 26 points and Reese Elliot put up 24 points for Chinook, while Ryan Roth led the Pioneers once more with 13 points.

Chinook beat Box Elder Saturday 63-40, with two quarters in the game totaling 20 points. The Beeters led throughout the entire game, while the Bears tried to play from behind. Reese Elliot led Chinook once more with 19 points, followed by Ethan Bell's 18, while Kadyn Duran put up 10 points for Box Elder.

In Class B, the Harlem Wildcats and the Rocky Boy Stars both split their series over the weekend. Rocky Boy won big over the Great Falls Central Catholic Mustangs Thursday, 62-37, but the Stars fell to the Shelby Coyotes 72-61 Saturday, fighting a tough game throughout and putting up 25 points before the end of the first half. Blake Cantrell led Rocky Boy against the Coyotes with 21 points. Meanwhile, the Wildcats beat the Malta Mustangs 70-43 Friday with a big game, including a 26-point second period. Brad Cichosz and R.J. Ramone both dropped 18 points to lead Harlem against the Mustangs. But, the Wolf Point Wolves edged out the Wildcats Saturday in a close one. Harlem was down throughout the game, but looked to come back in the fourth quarter, but could not down the Wolves to get the win. Brad Cichosz put up 29 points against Wolf Point to lead the team once more.

THURSDAY

Chinook 75, Big Sandy 43

Chinook 17 14 24 20 – 75

Big Sandy 6 9 23 5 – 43

Chinook – Ethan Bell 26, Benton Elliot 4, Toby Niederegger 10, Reese Elliot 24, Ethan MacLeod 1, Oskar Pula 8, Braxton Inman 2.

Big Sandy – Ryan Roth 13, Elijah Wagoner 2, Kody Strutz 4, Clint Darlington 11, Jeremiah Genetrix 4, Kade Strutz 9.

Chester-Joplin-Inverness 68, Box Elder 66

CJI 15 14 21 18 – 68

Box Elder 15 10 20 21 – 66

CJI – Lane Fischer 4, Andrew Woods 2, Kyle Harmon 8, Spencer Richter 25, Bryce Kammerzell 2, Kealy Haaland 27.

Box Elder – no stats were reported.

FRIDAY

Fort Benton 66, Turner 30

Fort Benton 35 15 6 10 – 66

Turner 5 9 3 13 – 30

Fort Benton – Devin Bird 13, Jace Thompson 10, Stephen Gannon 2, L. Arganbright 2, Nick Marias 4, Hayden Diekhans 14, Max Lane 2, D. Byze 2, Billy Ullery 9, T. Lane 6, T. Gibson 2.

Turner – Shane Kimmel 17, Charlie Calvert 7, Ryan Doyle 3, Trever Kimmel 3.

Harlem 70, Malta 43

Harlem 19 26 7 18 – 70

Malta 14 13 8 8 – 43

Harlem – Brad Cichosz 18, RJ Ramone 18, Daniel Lawrence 13, Jehton Longfox 8, Trent Main 8, Cassius Johnson 2, Amari Stanley 3.

Malta – Kanyon Stiles 2, Kooper Oxarart 12, Ben Costin 8, Tanner Smith 4, Conner Tuss 8, Jared Ecgebrecht 2, Pierce Mortenson 8.

North Star 70, Hays Lodge-Pole 48

North Star 14 13 12 14 – 70

HLP 14 8 14 12 – 48

North Star – Austin Hansen 6, Caden Rettig 7, Porter Ditmar 3, Garrett Spicher 14, Payne Ditmar 2, Hayden Massar 7, Frank Nerat 1, Gavin Spicher 6, Jaden Sargent 13, Rhett Wolery 11.

HLP – Estevan Granados 9, Siris Grandchamp 8, Isaiha Denny 7, Daniel Henry 6, Hays Boys 3, Wyman Bringinggood 15.

SATURDAY

Wolf Point 58, Harlem 51

Wolf Point 19 9 12 18 – 58

Harlem 10 11 10 20 – 51

Wolf Point – T. Wauette 2, A. Manning 12, N. Page 10, L. St. Germaine 26, J. Lein 2, T. Lilley 6.

Harlem – Brad Cichosz 29, RJ Ramone 10, Daniel Lawrence 7, Trent Main 3, Truth Brockie 2.

Shelby 72, Rocky Boy 61

Shelby 21 22 17 12 – 72

Rocky Boy 11 25 9 16 – 61

Shelby – Taylor Parsons 9, Tanner Parsons 17, Tanner Tustian 2, Rhett Reynolds 18, Tanner Watson 9, Logan Leck 17.

Rocky Boy – Joe Demontiney 8, Blake Cantrell 21, JoJo Standing Rock 5, Sean Gibson 11, Sarinas Mithlo 2, Cedric Belcourt 2, Sage Bradley 14.

Fort Benton 70, North Star 57

Fort Benton 15 16 20 19 – 70

North Star 13 10 16 18 – 57

Fort Benton – Devin Bird 9, Jace Thompson 19, Stephen Gannon 9, Hayden Diekhans 8, Max Lane 15, Billy Ullery 9.

North Star – Austin Hansen 3, Caden Rettig 11, Porter Ditmar 3, Garrett Spicher 11, Payne Ditmar 3, Gavin Spicher 11, Jaden Sargent 6, Rhett Wolery 7.

Big Sandy 51, Hays Lodge-Pole 43

Big Sandy 14 6 13 18 – 51

HLP 14 5 10 14 – 43

Big Sandy – Ryan Roth 23, Kody Strutz 9, Clint Darlington 6, Jeremiah Genereux 4, Kade Strutz 9.

HLP – Estevan Granados 2, Siris Grandchamp 8, Lane Kirkadle 11, Daniel Henry 13, Wyman Bringinggood 9.

Chinook 63, Box Elder 40

Chinook 20 13 20 10 – 63

Box Elder 8 12 11 9 – 40

Chinook – Oskar Pula 13, Ethan MacLeod 4, Toby Niederegger 7, Benton Elliot 2, Reese Elliot 19, Ethan Bell 18.

Box Elder – Zander Parisian 5, Tayce St. Pierre 4, Jaden Jilot 5, Malique Rosette 8, Kadyn Doran 10, Tyrus LaMere 8.

Chester-Joplin-Inverness 71, Turner 41

CJI 15 19 21 16 – 71

Turner 11 11 12 1 – 41

CJI – Lane Fischer 2, Andrew Woods 7, Kyle Harmon 14, Spencer Richter 13, Blake Harmon 7, Trevin Grammar 4, Kealy Haaland 20, Caden Woods 4.

Turner – no stats were reported.