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Box Elder and North Star dominate at girls Northern C, Fort Benton still to play
North Star's Laynie Sattoriva, left, drives by a Geraldine-Highwood defender during Tuesday night's Northern C girls first-round game in Great Falls. The Knights won handily.
Box Elder's Brielle Sunchild, left, goes in for a shot during Tuesday's Northern C win over Cascade.
GREAT FALLS - District 9C girls champion North Star showed no signs of slowing down as they began play in the Northern C Divisional Basketball Tournament. After upsetting Fort Benton for their first 9C tournament title, North Star dispatched Geraldine-Highwood, 61-32, on Tuesday at the Great Falls Four Seasons Arena.
"I don't know if anyone expected us to be here even if we expected ourselves to be here but here we are and we're just ready to play," said North Star head coach Jennifer Wendland.
The game started competitively as North Star held a 15-8 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Knights quickly took control thanks to a dominant second quarter where they outscored the Rivals 27-6, giving them a 42-14 lead at halftime. In the first half, the Knights' offense was led by Jade Wendland with 14 points and Shayla Borlaug with 12 points. On the defensive end, the Knights pressured the Rivals into 18 turnovers and 35.3 percent shooting from the field in the first half.
"When we press, we're ready to roll and they want this win, they want to be here, they're hungry," Jennifer Wendland said.
While the Knights' offense slowed down in the second half, the Rivals could not make a run to make a dent in the lead. The Rivals finished the game shooting 30.8 percent from the field and turned the ball over 34 times. The Knights shot 44.2 percent from the field and 41.7 percent from the 3-point line. They also stole the ball from the Rivals 22 times. Borlaug led the Knights with 21 points on 8-for-14 shooting from the field and 5-for-5 shooting from the free throw line. Jade Wendland scored 16 points and Laynie Sattoriva recorded 12 points and a team-leading nine rebounds.
With the win, the Knights advance to the semifinals on Thursday night. They will play the winner of Augusta and Belt, who played this morning. Coach Wendland believes that regardless of who they play, her team will be ready.
"We're just going to scout both sides. We'll watch Augusta, we'll watch Belt. We did our homework over the weekend and either way they're both good teams," Jennifer Wendland said. "Either way, we've got a day to prepare so that's good."
North Star will play in the Northern C semifinal on Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Great Falls Four Seasons Arena.
Box Elder dominates Cascade to open Northern C
After placing third in the District 9C Girls Basketball Tournament, Box Elder hoped to continue their postseason success heading into the Northern C Divisional Girls Basketball Tournament at the Great Falls Four Seasons Arena. And they got off to a great start on Tuesday as they defeated Cascade, 74-43, to open the tournament.
The Bears' strong offensive performance was aided by their defensive pressure on the Badgers that forced them into 38.1 percent shooting from the field and 31 turnovers.
"The more steals we get, the more shots we're going to take," said Box Elder head coach Jerome Gopher.
After a slow start, the Bears took momentum when they went on 16-2 run to take a 28-11 lead halfway through the second quarter. However, Cascade did not let the game get away from them as they cut their deficit to 37-26 at halftime. The Bears and Badgers exchanged runs in the third quarter that left the Bears with a 12-point lead with around two minutes left in the quarter. The Bears finally put the nail in the coffin as they went on a 26-7 run to finish the game.
Cascade came into the tournament after finishing third in the District 8C tournament. The Badgers now head to the loser-out bracket in hopes of competing for the Northern C consolation trophy.
Angela Gopher led the Bears with 19 points as she shot 8-for-12 from the field and 3-for-5 from the 3-point line. Kyla Momberg was second on the team with 15 points and she led the team with seven rebounds. As a team, the Bears shot 46.7 percent from the field and went 10-for-20 from the 3-point line.
Box Elder will play tonight against District 8C tournament champion Roy-Winifred. The Outlaws are the defending Northern C champions, but Gopher is confident in his team's ability to keep pace with them.
"Our zone offense is getting a lot better. I'm pretty satisfied with the way it's going," Jerome Gopher said. "Just stick to our game plan of attacking, defensive pressure. I feel good going into there because we've been watching a lot of tape on them."
Box Elder and Roy-Winifred will play tonight at 8:30 p.m. at the Great Falls Four Season Arena.
Box Elder 74, Cascade 43
Cascade 11 15 10 7 – 43
Box Elder 22 15 18 19 – 74
Cascade – Mattison McKamey 11, Caybree Ludvigsor 10, Lexi Mortag 3, Harlie Jackson 0, Graice Orem 2, Sallie Orem 0, Alaina Barger 2, Grace Satterwhite 4, Makaela Pribly 0, Madison Wilson 7, Jessy Barger 4.
Box Elder – Annalise Johnson 3, Angela Gopher 19, Neferti Standing Rock 3, Kendra Gopher 0, Mariah Arkinson 9, Tayleigh Sutherland 2, Brielle Sun Child 7, Tayleigha Sun Child 3, Arial Gopher 0, Kyla Momberg 15, Breanna Bacon 13.
North Star 61, Geraldine-Highwood 32
Geraldine-Highwood 8 6 10 8 – 32
North Star – 15 27 8 11 – 61
Geraldine-Highwood – Addie Lee 0, Emma Bye 4, Jonna McCullough 9, Ellie Laws 0, Ellie Aron 8, Azzia Rowland 4, Cami Prosser 2, Trinity Tinsen 3, Lydia Nelson 0, Lauren Crowder 0, Sarah Davidson 0, Lyzzie Summers 2.
North Star – Laynie Sattoriva 12, Kira King 3, Jade Wendland 16, Skyla Gilead 0, Kenidee Wolery 2, Laramie Peterson 0, Shayla Borlaug 21, Mackenzee Sargent 0, Kaytlyn Domire 4, Rainee Watson 3.
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