Bears blast Tornadoes in 9C girls opener

The District 9C girls basketball tournament returned to the Havre High Gymnasium on Thursday. Eight teams will battle for the three spots to next week's Northern C Divisionals, so everyone will be looking to be at their best this weekend.

In the first game of the tournament, No. 1 seed Box Elder looked primed for a run as they defeated No. 8 seed Turner 66-22.

"We came out with a lot of energy," Box Elder head coach Joel Rosette said. "I thought we did well executing the game plan, so the girls came out with everything we wanted to start the game."

The Bears knocked down some shots to take an early 4-0 lead. After Dakota Krass made a free throw to get Turner on the scoreboard, the Bears dominated the rest of the first quarter. Both Meiyah Sutherland and Tayleigh Sunchild scored five points during the run. The Box Elder defense also shut down the Turner offense as the Bears had a 21-1 lead to end the quarter.

Looking to get back in the game, the Tornadoes started the second quarter on a 9-4 run. The Tornadoes finally got their first field goal of the game with about seven and a half minutes left in the first half. After Box Elder scored, Krass responded with a score of her own. After another Box Elder score, Krass knocked down a three and Bridget Reed knocked down some free throws to cut the deficit to 25-10 with just under five minutes remaining in the first half.

But the Bears did not let go of momentum as they ended the half on a 20-0 run. Along with their defensive pressure that shut out Turner the rest of the way, the Bears got rolling on offense. Seven players scored for Box Elder down the stretch, including Kyla Momberg who scored six points during this stretch. As they went into halftime, the Bears held a 45-10 lead.

"We were able to execute," Rosette said about their first-half performance. "We put a lot of pressure on them, stayed on the defensive rebounds and got a lot of easy buckets."

Even with the big lead, the Bears started the second half strong with a 10-2 run. With a 55-12 lead, the Bears started a running clock halfway through the third quarter. The Bears maintained their advantage as they led, 62-18, heading to the fourth. Even though they only scored four points in the fourth quarter, their lead and the running clock allowed the Bears to easily go on to win.

Momberg led the Bears with 14 points as she shot 7-for-12 from the field. Sunchild had a strong game for Box Elder as she scored 10 points on 3-for-9 shooting from the field and 4-for-6 shooting from the free-throw line. As a team, the Bears shot 40.3 percent from the field and 72.2 percent from the free-throw line.

Krass finished the game with 12 points on 4-for-15 shooting from the field and 3-for-9 shooting from deep. With the loss, Turner heads to the consolation bracket. If the Tornadoes want to keep their seasons alive, they will need to execute better.

"If they handle the press and control the boards, hopefully we can play a little better and come out with a victory," Turner head coach Julie Welsh said.

The Box Elder Bears now head to the semifinals tonight. If the Bears want to advance to the championship and clinch a spot in the Northern C Divisionals, Rosette believes they just need to stick to their game plan.

"No matter who we line up with, we want to make sure that we're using our strengths," Rosette said.

Box Elder will play Fort Benton in a semifinal tonight at 4 p.m. at HHS Gymnasium. Turner played North Star in a consolation game earlier this morning.

Box Elder 66, Turner 22

BE - 21 24 17 4 - 66

TUR - 1 9 8 4 - 22

BE - Kyla Momberg 14, Tayleigh Sunchild 10, Meiyah Sutherland 9, Annalise Johnson 8, Angela Gopher 6, Breanna Bacon 6, Makaela Kelly 5, Mariah Arkinson 4, Brielle Sunchild 2, Ariel Gopher 2.

TUR - Dakota Krass 12, Meridian King-Snider 5, Bridget Reed 5.

3-pointers: BE 3-15 (Annalise Johnson 1, Makaela Kelly 1, Meiyah Sutherland 1), TUR 4-17 (Dakota Krass 3, Meridian King-Snider 1). Fouls: BE 6, TUR 13. Fouled Out: None.