9C teams come up short in Great Falls

GREAT FALLS - The Fort Benton Longhorns and Hays-Lodge Pole Thunderbirds had similar paths to the Northern C girls consolation game Saturday night in Great Falls. But, once there, the only thing familiar to either team was the way the Longhorns dominated.

After falling to Belt in Friday night's Northern C semifinals, which was their first loss of the season, the Longhorns were going to have to win twice Saturday, and get some help from the Huskies in order to achieve their goal of reaching the Class C state tournament.

And Fort Benton did its part, by winning back-to-back games against their 9C rivals. Saturday morning, Fort Benton handled Turner, 52-37 to advance to the consolation game. Meanwhile HLP, which has certainly been this postseason's 9C Cinderella story, bounced back from Friday's semifinal loss to the Outlaws with a 59-26 win over DGS Saturday afternoon.

The win meant that HLP stood in the way of Fort Benton's mission to give itself a chance at a challenge game, but Saturday night in the Four Seasons Arena, the Thunderbirds didn't stand in Fort Benton's way for long, as the Longhorns thrashed the T-Birds 77-27 in the third-place game.

"The girls bounced back," Fort Benton head coach Cassie Pimperton said. "It helped knowing both our opponents so well today. But the girls also played so well. They did an awesome job."

The Longhorns certainly played well against the T-Birds. Fort Benton went on a 9-0 run to lead 15-6 after the first quarter. Then the Horns galloped to a 14-0 run by 3-pointers from Aspen Giese and a deluge of layups from McKenzie and Megan Clark. That run came after the Horns started the second on a 13-0 run, and the result was a 26-9 run overall in the quarter, a 41-15 halftime lead, and a win that gave the Longhorns at least the third-place trophy and a 24-1 record.

"Gotta hand it to both Turner and Hays(-Lodge Pole)," Pimperton said. "They both had a great tournament. They made it a great season for the 9C."

Indeed. HLP had a spectacular run the last two weeks, but with losses to Roy-Winifred and Fort Benton, it ended on a tough note. Ella Messerly, Tahtianna Whitecow-Morgan and Jaedyn Chandler each scored seven points.

In the win, Fort Benton got 17 points from McKenzie Clark, 12 from Giese and 11 from Megan Clark, as the Longhorns shot 51 percent from the floor, made four threes, out-rebounded HLP 43-22 and forced the T-Birds into 22 turnovers.

In the semifinals Friday night, Fort Benton led Belt at the half, but the Huskies went on a 19-9 run in the third quarter to pull away. McKenzie Clark had 16 points in that win, while she and Emerson Giese each scored 12 in Saturday's victory over Turner. In what was the Tornado's last game of the season, Sarah Billmayer and Shyan Krass combined for 29 points. Turner had reached Saturday morning by way of a 50-31 win over 10C champion Augusta Friday. Krass led the way in that win with 19 points.

Meanwhile, HLP's semifinal experience at the Northern C was a rough one. Against Roy-Winifred Friday night, the Thunderbirds fell behind 21-4 at the start and never recovered. The T-Birds did rebound, however, as they smacked DGS for the second time in the tourney, winning 59-26 Saturday afternoon. Ella Messerly poured in 16 points in the win for HLP.

After beating HLP Saturday night, Longhorns had hoped to get a chance at a challenge game tonight, but Roy-Winifred edged Belt 47-46 in the championship game, so Fort Benton's season came to an end. It was the second straight year in which the Outlaws won the Northern C title.

Roy-Winifred and Belt will now represent the Northern C at the Class C state tournament March 11-14 in Missoula.

Northern C Girls

Fort Benton 77, Hays-Lodge Pole 27, 3rd

Hays-Lodge Pole 6 6 9 9 3 - 27

Fort Benton 15 26 16 20 - 77

HLP: Jaedyn Chandler 7; Tahtianna Whitecow 7; Ella Messerly 7; Mulleeuh Stiffam 4; Kassi Perez 2.

FORT BENTON: McKenzie Clark 17; Aspen Giese 12; Megan Clark 11; Emerson Giese 6; Abby Clark 6; Ashlee Wang 6; Cassie Nack 6; Maci Molinario 4; Samantha Vielleux 4; McKenna Hanford 3; Hailee Wang 2.

Fort Benton 52, Turner 37, LO

Fort Benton 11 16 12 13 - 52

Turner 9 8 12 8 - 37

FORT BENTON: McKenzie Clark 12; Emerson Giese 12; Megan Clark 9; Aspen Giese 6; McKenna Hanford 6; Abby Clark 5; Cassie Nack 2.

TURNER: Sarah Billmayer 16; Shyan Krass 13; Brandy Calvert 3; Emma Billmayer 2; Dakota Krass 2; Brooke Reed 1.

Hays-Lodge Pole 59, DGS 26, LO

Denton-Geyser-Stanford 0 7 11 8 - 26

Hays-Lodge Pole 19 12 17 11 - 59

DGS: Adie Woodhall 6; Kara Reed 5; Mariah Schott 4; Allie Skelton 4; Reese Von Bergen 3; Mese Econom 2; Fayelee Dugan 2.

HLP: Ella Messerly 16; Kassi Perez 9; Mulleeuh Stiffam 8; Nashone Shambo 5; Tahtianna Whitecow 5; Sierra Chandler 5; Judemia Gray 4; Justice Werk 4; Jaedyn Chandler 3.

Belt 52, Fort Benton 40, SF

Fort Benton 12 12 9 7 - 40

Belt 13 7 19 13 - 52

FORT BENTON: McKenzie Clark 16; Maci Molinario 7; Cassie Nack 7; Aspen Giese 4; Emerson Giese 3; McKenna Hanford 2; Megan Clark 1.

BELT: Kolby Pimperton 19; Brooke Schraner 17; Shelby Paulson 8; Adelle Meissner 2; Abby Gliko 2; Kyelie Marquis 2; Lindsey Paulson 1.

Roy-Winifred 59, Hays-Lodge Pole 22, SF

Roy-Winifred 21 16 9 13 - 59

Hays-Lodge Pole 4 10 2 6 - 22

ROY-WINIFRED: Dyauni Boyce 16; Isabelle Heggem 9; Olivia Geer 9; Laynee Elness 6; Cassie Smith 6; Jayda Southworth 4; Madeline Heggem 3; Cadence Tillman 2; Trinity Edwards 2.

HLP: Tahtianna Whitecow 9; Nashone Shambo 4; Jaedyn Chandler 2; Mulleeuh Stiffam 2; Kassi Perez 2; Ella Messerly 2; Judemia Gray 1.

Turner 50, Augusta 31, LO

Turner 12 14 15 9 - 50

Augusta 0 9 7 15 - 31

TURNER: Shyan Krass 19; Sarah Billmayer 14; Brooke Reed 7; Emma Billmayer 4; Laci Maloney 2; Brandy Calvert 2; Gracie Honey 2.

AUGUSTA: Olivia Isakson 7; Bradi Hill 7; Payton Levine 4; Dayna Mills 3; Rylee Shalz 3; Abigail Barrett 3; Jae Allen 2; Kodee Schalz 2.