LONGHORNS REPEAT

GREAT FALLS - Fort Benton went into this year's Northern C Divisional Boys Basketball Tournament as the defending champions. The Longhorns won their first two games of the tournament to make it to the championship game Saturday night at the Great Falls Four Seasons Arena. Their opponent, Belt, gave the Longhorns all they could handle as the teams fought through two overtimes to decide a champion.

The game came down to the final seconds of the second overtime. After Cody Evans hit two free throws to tie the game at 45-45 for the Longhorns, a Husky foul sent Nick Marias to the free-throw line to take the lead with 1.5 second left on the clock. After missing his first free throw, he hit the second one to give the Longhorns a 46-45 lead. Fort Benton disrupted the Huskies' inbound pass to hold on for the win and repeat as Northern C champions.

Fort Benton had led by three near the end of regulation, but the Huskies made a 3-pointer before time expired to send the game to OT.

"I missed the first free throw, I was like 'Aww shoot. Better make the second one,'" Marias said about what was going through his mind on his final free throw attempt. "Focus in, made it, make sure we play hard defense at the end."

Fort Benton head coach Tyler Pasha experienced a variety of emotions after his team held on for the win.

"Relief, happiness, proud of these boys," Pasha said. "To see those kids fight and still play defense with everybody that we threw on the floor and then Nick Marias making that last free throw there, fighting for rebounds. I'm so proud of these kids."

These past two weekends, Fort Benton repeated as both champions of the District 9C Tournament and the Northern C Tournament. As they add to the program's legacy, Pasha believes this recent success also builds the foundation for a bright future for the Longhorns.

"We're just getting started," Pasha said. "A great group of older kids and a good group of young kids coming up so hopefully they get to experience this and being on the floor in this atmosphere and being able to continue that for years to come."

Hayden Diekhans led the Longhorns with 20 points on 7-for-17 shooting from the field and nine rebounds. However, the Longhorns' offense struggled as they shot 34.1 percent from the field and 16.7 percent from the 3-point line. But, Pasha expressed pride in his team's performance.

"These kids are just going to continue to fight and that's what it takes," Pasha said. "Not every game are we going to play stellar offense, but defense will always be there."

The Longhorns' defense did come to play as they limited the Huskies to shooting 26.2 percent from the field. While Aidan McDaniel scored 13 points for Belt, 11 of them came at the free-throw line. Bridger Vogl also scored nine of his 12 points at the free-throw line.

One night earlier, Fort Benton defeated Simms, 52-43, in the semifinal to make the championship game. Jace Thompson led the Longhorns with 13 points while Diekhans and Devin Bird chipped in 12 points each.

Both Fort Benton and Belt clinched bids to the Class C State Boys Basketball Tournament that starts March 10.

Pasha will use the week off to get ready for the tournament.

"We've got to play our kind of basketball. We've got to make sure that we stay focused, we tighten a few of our cuts up on our offensive side and really work on our defensive rotations," Pasha said. "It's going to be a tough first game so we got to come prepared."

Fort Benton begins play in the state tournament March 11 at 11 a.m. at Lockwood High School in Billings.

Chinook claims Northern C consolation

The Northern C Divisional Boys Basketball Tournament consolation game Saturday saw a rematch of an earlier game in the tournament. Thursday, Chinook defeated Heart Butte, 68-28, to open Northern C play. Saturday night at the Great Falls Four Seasons Arena, Heart Butte put up more of a fight, but Chinook won 76-59 and won the consolation trophy.

It was the Sugarbeeter's third game in a 24-hour span. In the semifinal Friday night, they lost, 63-62, in an overtime thriller to Belt. Saturday morning in a loser-out game, the Sugarbeeters defeated Roy-Winifred, 65-41, to advance to the consolation game. Roy-Winifred had just defeated Chester-Joplin-Inverness, 50-38, Friday morning. Chinook head coach Mike Seymour admired his team's performance over the three games.

"I am damn proud of my squad," Seymour said. "They showed a tremendous amount of character, a tremendous amount of grit after last night's overtime loss. I couldn't be prouder."

The Warriors came out much more competitive Saturday as Chinook only had a 16-14 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Sugarbeeters ramped up the intensity in the second quarter as they outscored the Warriors 20-4 in that frame to take a 36-18 lead into halftime. Heart Butte kept battling but was never able to cut the deficit to single digits.

Chinook shot 59 percent from the field and 57.7 percent from the free-throw line. Ethan Bell led the Sugarbeeters with 29 points as he shot 6-for-8 from the field and 16-for-16 from the free-throw line. Bell led Chinook in scoring in all three games over the course of Friday and Saturday as he scored 22 against Belt and 24 against Roy-Winifred. Other contributors against Heart Butte include Toby Niederegger with 16 points and Reese Elliot with 14.

The Warriors shot 34.3 percent from the field Saturday night. Jordan Calf Looking led Heart Butte with 15 points and Cameron Falcon chipped in 13. Heart Butte came into the Northern C after finishing second in the District 10C Tournament.

With Fort Benton defeating Belt in the Northern C title game later Saturday night, Chinook was unable to challenge for a bid to the Class C State Boys Basketball Tournament. With their season now over, Seymour looks ahead to what he believes will be a bright future for the Sugarbeeters.

"We've got a pretty good foundation here in the Sugarbeeter basketball program and I look forward to good things in the future out of our younger crew," Seymour said. "You can look for the Sugarbeeters to be a strong contender in the years to come."

Roy-Winifred 50, Chester-Joplin-Inverness 38, lo

CJI 6 12 6 14 – 38

Roy-Winifred 9 7 15 19 – 50

CJI – Blake Harmon 17, Kyle Harmon 7, Nate Nelson 3, Braden Mattson 3, Bryce Kammerzell 3, Kealy Haaland 3, Pat Dahlin 2.

Roy-Winifred – Justin Stulc 12, Blake Donsbach 11, Anthony DeMars 9, Brody Geer 6, Carter Pendergrass 6, Keith Kalal 2, Dylan Heble 2, Ethan Carlstrom 2.

Fort Benton 52, Simms 43, SF

Simms 16 2 12 13 – 43

Fort Benton 13 9 18 12 – 52

Simms – Kyler Smerker 2, Caden Smerker 10, Brennyn Rushton 5, Carter McDowell 8, Dallin Nelson 8, Jacob Remsh 5, Kaidin Thibert 5.

Fort Benton – Devin Bird 12, Jace Thompson 13, Jaxen Dehaven 2, Nick Marias 4, Hayden Diekhans 12, Cody Evans 6, William Ulery 3.

Belt 63, Chinook 62 (OT), SF

Belt 13 18 14 11 7 – 63

Chinook 13 18 14 11 7 – 62

Chinook – Ethan Bell 22, Oskar Pula 17, Benton Elliot 8, Toby Niederegger 8, Reese Elliot 7.

Belt – Aidan McDaniel 20, Bridger Vogl 18, Kaimen Evans 9, Garrett Metrione 8, Reese Paulson 5, Treyton Hennes 3.

Chinook 65, Roy-Winifred 41, lo

Roy-Winifred 7 14 10 10 – 41

Chinook 16 20 13 16 – 65

Roy-Winifred – Justin Stulc 25, Brody Geer 6, Anthony DeMars 4, Blake Donsbach 4, Ethan Carlstrom 2.

Chinook – Ethan Bell 24, Reese Elliot 16, Toby Niederegger 10, Oskar Pula 8, Damon Hannum 2, Benton Elliot 2, Jackson Nordboe 2, Flint Annis 1.

Chinook 76, Heart Butte 59, 3rd

Heart Butte 14 4 17 24 – 59

Chinook 16 20 17 23 – 76

Heart Butte – Jordan Calf Looking 15, Cameron Falcon 13, Thomas Young Running Crane 11, Dillon Kipp 10, Marcus Rutherford 8, Joseph Murray 2.

Chinook – Ethan Bell 29, Toby Niederegger 16, Reese Elliot 14, Oskar Pula 11, Damon Hannum 4, Benton Elliot 2.

Fort Benton 46, Belt 45 (2OT), 1st

Belt 6 9 6 13 7 4 – 45

Fort Benton 13 4 10 7 7 5 – 46

Belt – Aidan McDaniel 13, Bridger Vogl 12, Garrett Metrione 9, Treyton Hennes 6, Reese Paulson 3, Kaimen Evans 2.

Fort Benton – Hayden Diekhans 20, Jaxen Dehaven 9, Jace Thompson 5, Nick Marias 5, Devin Bird 3, Cody Evans 2, William Ulery 2.