Three for the 9C

GREAT FALLS - Fort Benton was supposed to get to the semifinals so, too, was Chinook. But somebody forgot to tell Ryan Roth and the Big Sandy Pioneers that the third seed from the District 9C wasn't supposed to join them.

After an incredible 16-point comeback though, and a 68-65 overtime victory over District 10C champion Heart Butte in the quarterfinals of the Northern C Divisional tournament Thursday night at the Four Seasons Arena, in the semifinals - and a chance at a Northern C championship, and a berth at state- is exactly where the Pioneers are.

Roth scored an incredible 43 points, his last two coming with :02 left in regulation - a floating shot in the lane that tied the game at 61-61, and ultimately proved to be the difference.

"I'd just been going to the rack all game," the senior who has played since the eighth grade said. "I just knew I had to get that one down.

"This is awesome," he added. "We haven't been to divisionals in a long time, and now, we're not just here, we're in the semifinals, we have a chance to keep going. This squad is just awesome."

A long time indeed. The Pioneers haven't been to the Northern C in eight years, and the same can be said since the last time they were in the semifinals. But that semifinal berth almost didn't happen Thursday night either as Heart Butte went on a 10-0 run in the second quarter to lead 31-22 at halftime, and the Warriors ultimately led by 16 points with 5:20 left in the third.

But, Big Sandy erased a 12-point second-half deficit in the play-in game Wednesday, and when Roth hit a three with 1:06 left in the third against the Warriors, it capped a 15-2 run by the Pioneers, who trailed just 44-41 with eight minutes left.

In the fourth period, Big Sandy finally caught the Warriors at the 4:28 mark and led for much of the rest of the period. But, with 1:33 left, things looked bleak again, as Heart Butte went up by four. However, a bucket by Clint Darlington, and eventually a huge three by Roth, and later the game-tying shot, pushed the Pioneers to overtime, where Roth would foul out, but a monster shot by senior Kade Strutz gave the Pioneers a 66-64 lead with 1:26 left. And thanks to courageous free throws from freshman Braydon Cline and reserve Brock Proulx, it was a lead the Pioneers wouldn't relinquish.

"Maybe from now on we'll start playing better in the first half," Roth joked after the game. "I just think this team is so strong. We're a pretty tough group mentally."

The toughness showed in what was Big Sandy's second straight comeback win. In the win, the Pioneers also got 15 points and 12 rebounds from Darlington, his sixth straight postseason double-double, while Strutz added six. The Pioneers shot 51 percent, out-rebounded the Warriors 32-28 and forced Heart Butte into 22 turnovers, including a pair of costly ones in an overtime that saw Big Sandy outscore the Warriors 7-4.

In the end, though, the win, which advanced Big Sandy to tonight's semifinal against arch rival Chinook, wasn't about stats, it was about heart, it was about an attitude that the Pioneers have been carrying with them since the 9C tourney got underway last week in Havre, and now they've brought that attitude to Great Falls.

"We're just a resilient squad," Roth said. "This is special. We're doing things a Big Sandy team hasn't done in a long time. And I think we're in great shape right now."

Big Sandy (15-9) meets Chinook in a semifinal tonight at 5:30, that guarantees at least one 9C team will play for the Northern C title.

Beeters march on

Roy-Winifred didn't go away. Not for one minute. But the Chinook Sugarbeeters have learned how to close out big games in the postseason.

And that's what they did to the Outlaws in the quarterfinals of the Northern C boys tournament Thursday night in the Four Seasons Arena in Great Falls.

Ethan Bell hit a 3-pointer with :38 left to put the Beeters up two scores, and they went on to beat the Outlaws 50-45, and advance to tonight's Northern C semifinal, against 9C rival Big Sandy.

The win also pushed defending champion Chinook to within one win of reaching the Class C state tournament for the second year in a row.

"First, hats off to Roy (Winifred)," Bell said. "They're a great team. Really tough. We knew this would be tough. It's the Northern C, anybody can be beaten. But I just think, after winning this last year, and winning back-to-back 9C championships, we're not going to fold. And we didn't tonight. We banded together, and we were able to come back and pull out the win."

The Beeters (17-5) have plenty of reasons to be excited. They started the game with a Toby Niederegger 3-pointer to end a 15-8 first quarter. Reese Elliot had a big second quarter, as Chinook went ahead 27-20, but from there, the Outlaws chipped away. They closed to within one late in the third, before Niederegger buried his second, buzzer-beating three, but when Justin Stulc nailed a baseline jumper with 3:22 left, the Outlaws had moved all the way in front, 42-40.

From there, though, Chinook showed its toughness. Elliot scored inside to tie the game, then Ethan MacLeod scored on a layup off a steal, and Hunter Neibauer hit a runner to put the Beeters up six. Carter Pendergrass answered briefly with a trey to make the score 46-45 with 1:09 to go, but that's when Bell came right back with the biggest shot of the night, a dagger to seal the win.

"It felt really good," Bell said of his clutch trey. "Gotta give it to Reese Elliot. He had the ball inside and he found me. He's a beast, he had a huge game for us. But the shot felt good. It's one of those you always dream about when you're a kid shooting in your backyard."

Bell and Niederegger each scored 12 points, which complimented the inside dominance of Elliot, who scored 17 points to go with 12 boards and four blocked shots. The trio also helped Chinook stay on course to defend its Northern C title, something that's been a goal all season long.

"We want to keep this going," Bell said. "We knew this first game would be tough. Now we just have to come back and be ready to go again tomorrow."

Longhorns pull away

Fort Benton head boys basketball coach Tyler Pasha didn't think his undefeated Longhorns had first-game jitters in their Northern C opening game. But he did say it definitely took the 9C champion Longhorns some time to get going.

Trailing the Simms Tigers, of head coach Chris Daniel (Havre High graduate and former Chinook head coach), 14-13 after the first quarter, the Longhorns went on a 14-0 run, and that was that in a 61-44 Northern C quarterfinal win Thursday morning at the Four Seasons Arena in Great Falls.

"I don't think it was nerves necessarily," Pasha said. "More it was just the big floor, a different basket, a different environment. We haven't been here since last year, so it took us a while to get going.

"I don't think we shot the ball very well today, either," he continued. "But we did use our size and our depth to our advantage, We were able to rebound, get some offensive rebounds and dump it down to the post when we needed a bucket. So our size was a big advantage and so was our depth. We had fresh legs in the fourth quarter."

Fort Benton, which is trying to get to its first state tournament since 1992, improved to 22-0 with the win over the Tigers. The 14-0 run in the second, sparked by the dominant play of brothers Hayden and Garrett Diekhans, led the Longhorns to a 30-20 halftime lead. Simms would cut that lead down to six after three quarters, but Logan Giles scored eight points in the final frame to help the Longhorns pull away for good.

Garrett Diekhans scored a game-high 22 points, while Hayden Diekhans had 15 points and 12 boards. Giles also chipped in with nine as Fort Benton shot 47 percent and dominated the glass with a 37-23 edge, as they advanced to tonight's semifinal against 8C champion Belt.

"It's going to be a battle," Pasha said. "Belt does a great job offensively, so we're going to have to buckle down and really execute on defense. And hopefully we can shoot the ball better."

Fort Benton 61, Simms 44

Fort Benton 13 17 11 20 - 61

Simms 14 6 15 9 - 44

Fort Benton - Devin Bird 2, Jace Thompson 6, Nick Marias 1, Hayden Diekhans 15, Max Lane 6, Logan Giles 9, Garrett Diekhans 22.

Simms - Caden Smerker 16, Brennyn Rushton 10, Dallin Nelson 12, Kaiden Thiebert 6.

3-pointers (Smerker 3, Rushton 2), Fouls: FB 15, Simms 15, Fouled out: Thiebert.

Chinook 50, Roy-Winifred 45

Chinook 15 12 11 12 - 50

Roy-Winifred 8 12 14 11 - 45

Chinook - Ethan Bell 12, Hunter Neibauer 7, Toby Niederegger 12, Reese Elliot 17, Ethan MacLeod 2.

R-W - Shad Boyce 3, Bordy Greer 7, Justin Stulc 9, Carter Pendergrass 11, Tyler Fordyce 15.

3-pointers (Bell 1, Niederegger 2, Boyce 1, Geer 1, Stulc 1, Pendergrass 3). Fouls: Chinook 11, R-W 15; Fouled out: None.

Big Sandy 68, Heart Butte 65 OT

Heart Butte 15 16 13 17 4 - 65

Big Sandy 14 8 19 20 7 - 68

Heart Butte - Blaise Arrow Top Knot 6, Cameron Falcon 13, Thomas Young Running Crane 10, Dillon Kipp 8, Jaden Comes at Night 6, Leo Kipp 6, Marcus Rutherford 16.

Big Sandy - Brock Proulx 1, Ryan Roth 43, Kody Strutz 1, Braydon Cline 1, Clint Darlington 15, Jeremiah Genereaux 1, Kade Strutz 6.

3-pointers: (Young Running Crane 1, Rutherford 4, Roth 2). Fouls: Heart Butte 23, Big Sandy 21; Fouled out: D. Kipp. L. Kipp, Roth, P. Proulx.