District 9C 2022: Bears, Beeters lead deep and talented 9C girls field

They're back! That's right, the District 9C girls tournament is back in the Havre High gymnasium this week, following a year in which the tournament format was altered due to the pandemic.

And, as usual, the 9C girls tournament, which starts Thursday morning and runs through Saturday night, will be as tough, and as entertaining as it always is.

As always, the tournament has its favorites to take the three coveted spots to next week's Northern C, but the field is also very deep and balanced, so the 9C championship is definitely up for grabs.

"The 9C tournament is wide open and will depend on who puts all phases of the game together for three days." Box Elder head coach Joel Rosette said.

Rosette's team is definitely one of the favorites to cut the nets down Saturday night. The Bears, led by Kyla Momberg and Angela Gopher are the No. 1 seed and will face Turner in the opening round Thursday at 11 a.m.

"For our team to be successful we need to be disciplined at both ends of the floor," Rosette said, "Taking care of the ball and playing solid defense."

The Tornadoes come into this week off a difficult season. Turner has played for a trophy in each of the last five seasons, but the Tornadoes have been in a rebuilding mode this winter. Still, Dakota Krass is a talented scorer, and like every year, the Tornadoes will be no easy out.

Defending champion North Star is also in the top half of the bracket, and the Knights will face off against defending Class C state champion in the first round. The game is a rematch of last year's championship game thriller. But, both teams suffered key losses from last year's squad, and now, they have a big first-round matchup.

The Knights are deep still, with Laynie Sattoriva, Rainee Watson and so many others contributing to their success this season. Of course, Fort Benton, despite finishing fifth in the regular season, and losing a key standout in Emerson Giese to injury, will still be a tough opponent for North Star, and everyone else in the field. Led by Hailee and Ashlee Wang, among others, the Longhorns still have a ton of 9C experience and are still coming off a magical season of a year ago, so they'll look to use that experience to see them though this week's district tournament.

Fort Benton and North Star meet at 12:30 p.m. Thursday, and will play the winner of the Box Elder and Turner semifinal game Friday afternoon.

On the bottom half of the girls draw sits third-seeded Hays-Lodge Pole. The Thunderbirds have had a big rebound season after not even being able to play in the 9C a year ago due to COVID. And with star power like Jadeyn Chandler, and many other key players, the T-Birds are looking to make a similar run to the Northern C, like they did in 2019.

HLP will face off against upstart Chester-Joplin-Inverness Thursday at 4 p.m. The Hawks have had a good season, especially with star forward Tatum Hull back healthy after missing last year with an injury. Haddie Woods is another key player for CJI, which will be yet another tough team in the already deep 9C girls field.

The winner of the HLP/CJI matchup will face either second-seeded Chinook or seventh-seeded Big Sandy in the second semifinal Friday night. The Sugarbeeters have emerged and as a powerhouse program again, led by the 9C's leading scorer. Hallie Neibauer. But head coach Mike Jones' squad has plenty of firepower around Neibauer, so the Beeters are once again a legitimate contender to cut the nets down Saturday night.

Chinook will face the Pioneers at 5:30 p.m. Thursday night. Though Big Sandy is still an underdog this week, the Pioneers have had their best season in a decade, with the likes of Eva Wagoner, Eva Yaedon and others helping really breathe new life into the program. And so, for the first time in a long time, Big Sandy comes into the 9C tourney with the absolute ability to spring an upset, and perhaps go even further than that.

"We want to be in every game we play during the tournament," Big Sandy head coach Travis Baumann said. "It would be nice to play on Saturday."

Everybody wants to play on Saturday night, through Baumann says the Bears are the favorite.

"The Box Elder Lady Bears are the hands down favorite in the 9C," he noted.

The tournament is always wide open and with so many good teams in the field, it will be a thriller right to the very end.

The 2022 District 9C Tournament will begin with four first-round games Thursday, followed by a pair of loser-out games Friday morning. The semifinals will be played Friday night, followed by loser-out games Saturday morning, the consolation game at 4 p.m. Saturday and the championship game at 5:30 p.m. Saturday night. All of the action takes place at the Havre High gymnasium.The top three teams from the tournament advance to next week's Northern C at Great Falls.