ORANGE PUNCH

In a rematch of last year's championship game, the Chinook Sugarbeeters and Fort Benton Longhorns met up at Havre High Gymnasium Wednesday for the District 9C boys basketball tournament. Last year, the Longhorns won their second straight district title but Wednesday Chinook got the better of them with a 63-33 victory.

"We came out the exact way we wanted to," first-year Chinook head coach Chad Jones said. "All year long, we've used our defensive intensity to generate our offensive momentum and so we did that today."

The No. 4 seed Sugarbeeters came out strong as a pair of buckets from Oskar Pula and Hunter Molyneaux gave them an early 4-0 lead. After Landis Arganbright scored to get No. 5 seed Fort Benton on the board, Brenden Fetter and Toby Niederegger knocked down some shots to give Chinook an 8-2 lead.

The Longhorns responded with 3-pointers from Brock Grossman and Mateo Soccorro to tie the game with less than a minute remaining in the quarter. Even with little time left, Niederegger went on a personal 7-0 run to give Chinook a 15-8 lead at the break. He first gave Chinook the lead with a three that he banked in. He then knocked down back-to-back baskets to keep momentum going.

Braden Eoff and Fetter kept things rolling for Chinook with a pair of buckets to start the third. After a three from Jacob Giles to cut the deficit to 19-11, the Sugarbeeters ended the half on a 7-0 run to take a 26-11 lead into halftime. Pula continued to make plays with a three and a layup during the run.

"We executed right on the offensive end and we moved the ball," Jones said. "That was the one thing we talked about leading up to the tournament. Moving the ball and getting into those passing lanes so we did better and executed offensively."

The Sugarbeeters opened the second half on a 10-4 run to stretch the lead to 36-16. Both Niederegger and Fetter scored four points during the run. The Longhorns tried to get back in the game but they still trailed, 44-25, heading to the fourth quarter.

After Andrew Ballantyne scored to start the fourth, Chinook responded with an 8-0 run to stretch the lead to 52-27. Eoff led the way with five points during the run. With the large lead, the Sugarbeeters cruised the rest of the way for the victory.

Both Niederegger and Pula scored 13 points to lead Chinook. Niederegger shot 6-for-9 from the field while Pula went 6-for-8. Eoff scored 11 points as he shot 4-for-7 from the field and 2-for-2 from the free-throw line. Arganbright led Fort Benton with 11 points as he went 5-for-9 from the field.

If they want to reach the Northern C Divisionals again, the Longhorns will need to make a run through the consolation bracket starting with a game against Turner. The Turner Tornadoes have given Fort Benton trouble throughout the year, so the Longhorns will need to be ready.

"Turner's played us well all season," Fort Benton head coach Tyler Pasha said. "It should be a good game. We've got to prepare ourselves because that could be a dogfight so we just got to wake up and get going."

The Sugarbeeters will play in the semifinals tonight where they will play top seed Chester-Joplin-Inverness. If the Sugarbeeters want to make it to the 9C championship again, they will need to limit the Hawks' rebounding and shooting.

"They have a lot more shooters than Fort Benton does," Jones said. "We need to recover to the shooters on the drives a little bit better and close out and rebound."

Chinook will play CJI in the semifinals tonight at 7 p.m. at HHS Gymnasium. Fort Benton played Turner in a consolation game earlier this morning.

Chinook 63, Fort Benton 33

CHI - 15 11 18 19 - 63

FB - 8 3 14 8 - 33

CHI - Toby Niederegger 13, Oskar Pula 13, Braden Eoff 11, Brenden Fetter 6, Levi Jensen 4, Hunter Molyneaux 4, Jackson Nordboe 4, Carson Nissen 2, Braxton Inman 2, Flint Annis 2.

FB - Landis Arganbright 11, Jacob Giles 6, Mateo Soccorro 3, Tim Lane 3, Brock Grossman 2, Kellan Diekhans 2, Andrew Ballantyne 2, Brett Evans 2, Jon Strongbear 1.

3-pointers: CHI 2-3 (Toby Niederegger 1, Oskar Pula 1), FB 2-16 (Mateo Soccorro 1, Jacob Giles 1). Fouls: CHI 15, FB 16. Fouled Out: Landis Arganbright.