Longhorns trample the Bears on their way to the chipper

The District 9C Girls Basketball Tournament began play at the Havre High School Gymnasium with a matchup between Fort Benton and Box Elder. And thanks to a strong defensive effort that forced Box Elder to shoot 28.6 percent from the field, Fort Benton came out with the 58-33 win to advance to the championship game.

"All year, we've said if our offense isn't rolling, we got to lock down and play defense," said Fort Benton head coach Cassie Pimperton. "The girls just locked it down and played great defense."

With the win, Fort Benton advanced to the championship game Saturday. The Longhorns hope to continue their success there as they have won it three years in a row and four of the past five seasons. As the tournament's No. 1 seed with an undefeated conference record, the Longhorns are in position to continue their winning ways. However, the Longhorns are more focused on the task at hand instead of adding to the program's legacy.

"They're excited to come up here," Pimperton said. "They've had a lot of success here in Havre and played good games. It's our goal to hopefully take care of business and be playing our best basketball in districts."

Fort Benton came into the game after defeating Big Sandy, 68-5, Tuesday night. Box Elder was the tournament's No. 4 seed and defeated Hays-Lodge Pole, 92-52, Tuesday night to open tournament play.

The Longhorns shot 34.5 percent from the field and 30.8 percent from the 3-point line. Fort Benton's leading scorers were Ashlee Wang and Aspen Giese with 12 points each.

"Our team really moves well so they can help me create open shots for myself and they set good screens to get me to the hole," Giese said.

The Longhorns' claim to fame came on the defensive end was limiting the Bears' offense. The Box Elder players that Fort Benton focused on defensively were Kyla Momberg and Angela Gopher, who had given the Longhorns trouble in the past.

"Momberg and Gopher had a fantastic game against us last time," Pimperton said. "They're both great players. We were doing all we could to make sure they didn't go off on us again."

However, Momberg still scored 15 points and Gopher chipped in nine of her own. The Longhorns' greatest defensive success came against the other Bears, as they limited the rest of the team to a combined nine points.

Both teams came out of the gate slow as they combined for three made field goals in the game's first six minutes. The Longhorns went on a 9-2 run to finish out the quarter and take momentum. The Bears were more competitive in the second quarter but the Longhorns still built themselves an 11-point lead by halftime. The Bears failed to cut their deficit into single digits as Fort Benton cruised to victory.

After the loss, Box Elder played No. 6 seed Chinook this morning in a loser-out game. The winner of the game will play for the consolation trophy while the loser will be eliminated from the tournament. Box Elder head coach Jerome Gopher hoped for that his team to be more ready for Chinook then they were against Fort Benton.

"Our defense wasn't what we thought it would be (against Fort Benton)," Gopher said.

Fort Benton's opponent in the championship game will be North Star, who is coming off a close victory against Turner.

"North Star is a little bit more scrappy, plays good defense," Pimperton said. "We look forward to it, we look forward to another challenge."

Fort Benton and North Star will play for the District 9C championship at the Havre High Gymnasium at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.

Fort Benton 58, Box Elder 33, SF

Box Elder 5 12 5 11 - 33

Fort Benton 13 15 13 17 - 58

Box Elder - Annalise Johnson 1, Angela Gopher 9, Neferti Standing Rock 0, Kendra Gopher 0, Mariah Arkinson 3, Makaela Kelly 2, Tayleigh Sutherland 0, Abria Small Boy 0, Brielle Sun Child 0, Tayleigha Sun Child 0, Kyla Momberg 15, Breanna Bacon 3.

Fort Benton - Casha Corder 1, Hailee Wang 4, Ashlee Wang 12, Aspen Giese 12, Abby Clark 2, Samantha Vielleux 2, Maci Molinario 8, Kylynn Nack 0, Cloe Kalanick 6, Emerson Giese 11.