Tons of talent on display at the 9C boys tourney

Another grueling regular season has come and gone, with the eight teams in the District 9C ready to compete in the first leg of the postseason inside the Havre High Gymnasium for the District 9C Tournament, where three teams will earn berths and be sent to the Northern C Divisional in Great Falls next week.

Last season, the boys tournament saw a powerhouse Chinook Sugarbeeter squad take the championship for the second year in a row. But this year, the Fort Benton Longhorns have taken up the role of the top seed, ready to spoil the Beeters' race for a third consecutive district title. Fort Benton will start its quest for a 9C title as the first game of the tournament against the Turner Tornadoes Wednesday at 1 p.m. in the Havre High Gymnasium.

The Longhorns, who claimed an undefeated record this year with a win over Chinook last week, will aim to claim a spot to the Northern C Divisional and are a favored candidate to do so. As the No. 1 seed in the 9C, Fort Benton will have a lot going for it this year.

And Longhorns head coach Tyler Pasha is looking forward to the tough tournament, especially against the Sugarbeeters, another big favorite in this year's tournament.

"The 9C tournament is gonna be tough," Pasha said. "As soon as tournament starts, you got to show up and play every single night. You got to give it to Chinook, as they've won two in a row. We beat them in Chinook, but that doesn't mean anything. They're battle tested and they made it to state last year, so I think you got to give it them right now."

Fort Benton (18-0 14-0) and Turner (0-18 0-14) will face off in game one to kick things off. The Tornadoes, led by Shane Kimmel and Austin Welsh, did not pick up a single win overall and in conference, putting them in a tough spot, especially since they will have to face the dynamic brother duo of Garrett and Hayden Diekhans to start off the postseason. But underdog stories have happened before in the 9C and can happen once again this season.

The winner of Fort Benton and Turner will move forward to play the winner game two, which is between the No. 4 Box Elder Bears (8-10 8-6) and the No. 5 North Star Knights (9-8 6-8), in the semifinals.

When it comes to the matchup pitting the Bears against the Knights, there is a lot to look forward to. North Star, led by Caden Rettig, Garrett Spicher and Hayden Massar, have been playing tough all season. Box Elder, led by Kadyn Duran and Tyrus LaMere, have proven that they can battle with the best of the 9C. At the end of the day, the game between these two will be a battle at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Then comes game three in the evening, which has the No. 3 Big Sandy Pioneers (10-8 8-6) facing off against the No. 6 Chester-Joplin-Inverness Hawks (8-10 5-9) at 6 p.m. on Wednesday. Led by head coach Thomas Dilworth and top players Ryan Roth and Clint Darlington, Big Sandy has been the surprise team of the 9C this season, and now they look to earn a berth in the Northern C for the first time in years.

For CJI, led by Andrew Woods, Spencer Richter and Kealy Haaland, the game against Big Sandy will not be an easy one, but a little adversity can motivate a team to pull off a big upset to open the tournament, especially when it comes to the 9C. Hawks head coach Joe Horel knows all too well what can happen in the 9C and is looking for his team to do give it their all.

"We have to take care of the ball," Horel said. "It's an uphill battle for us. All the teams provide problems for everybody. We will have to show up every night to do well in the 9C tournament. It'll be interesting to see how the matchups unfold."

The victor between CJI and Big Sandy, will then face the winner of game four, which is at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, consisting of the No. 2 Beeters (14-4 12-2) and the No. 7 Hays-Lodge Pole Thunderbirds (3-15 3-11), in the second semifinal match of the tournament.

That game will be another match that pits another favorite versus an underdog. Chinook has worked hard to claim the second seed in the district, while HLP has been doing their best to make the most of an unfortunate year. The Beeters, led by Reese Elliot, Ethan Bell and Hunter Neibauer, have fought it out with top teams like Fort Benton and Big Sandy to stay in the top three this season, once again being another favorite to punch a ticket to the Northern C Divisional this year.

Led by Wyman Bringinggood and Lane Kirkaldie, the Thunderbirds have had a rough year, but have toppled higher seeds every now and then, proving they can compete at an admirable level. Under head coach Derrick Shambo, HLP are embracing the idea of the underdog, ready to bring some noise to the District 9C Tournament.

"I still think we have a chance, even if people are already considering counting us out," Shambo said. "I hope that we get things together. We got to be aggressive. We have a hard time with bringing it game in and game out. If we can be aggressive, I see things turning in our favor. We can't have any fear."

The four winners Wednesday will play in the semifinals Thursday at 7 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. The consolation game will be ready to kick off Friday night at 7, followed by the championship game at 8:30 p.m. Friday.